Goby versus copper

[RedFrog211]

I bought a beautiful red stripe goby from the LFS today. Upon getting home, I noticed a spot on his dorsal fin; not a huge issue, cause I already planned to QT for 3 weeks. As far as treatment goes, I only have Seachem Cupramine right now. Should I dose at suggest levels? I know dosing under could have little/no effect on the parasite. Thank you

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

What size is the fish? Smaller fish sometimes have trouble with copper, but gobies are generally o.k. with it, so it might balance out the risk.

Under dosing is commonly suggested, but is a huge mistake, as it won't cure the fish. The biggest challenge is accurately measuring the copper - what test kit do you have?

Jay

 

[RedFrog211]

What size is the fish? Smaller fish sometimes have trouble with copper, but gobies are generally o.k. with it, so it might balance out the risk.

Under dosing is commonly suggested, but is a huge mistake, as it won't cure the fish. The biggest challenge is accurately measuring the copper - what test kit do you have?

Jay

The fish is about 2.5-3” long- I don’t currently have a copper test kit. I will be buying one from hanna’s instruments eventually, but have yet to do so.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The fish is about 2.5-3” long- I don’t currently have a copper test kit. I will be buying one from hanna’s instruments eventually, but have yet to do so.

If you are going to dose copper without a test kit, I would strongly urge you to use Coppersafe, and dose it for the tank's actual, not rated volume....I've done that safely many times. Cupramine seems to have more issues, I think it is a stronger med, but then, has more side effects.

Jay

 

[RedFrog211]

If you are going to dose copper without a test kit, I would strongly urge you to use Coppersafe, and dose it for the tank's actual, not rated volume....I've done that safely many times. Cupramine seems to have more issues, I think it is a stronger med, but then, has more side effects.

Jay

Thank you very much Jay, I’ll pick some up tomorrow