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roger saltwaters
Active Member
I seem to do ok with the coral. But I have no luck at all with fish.
Help!!! Fish emergency!!
- Thread starter roger saltwaters
- Start date
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Ok, as asked above did you Test the sg of the water the fish came from compared to yours?
Can you make more water tonight?
Don't add copper til you have a test. It is a poison, you need to be able to make sure you are not overdosing, or underdosing.
I would recommend to look into tank transfer method, and if you are set on using copper. Try the Coppersafe, you need the api copper test kit for that brand
If you stick with Cupramine, you need seachems copper test
Hope he makes it
Can you make more water tonight?
Don't add copper til you have a test. It is a poison, you need to be able to make sure you are not overdosing, or underdosing.
I would recommend to look into tank transfer method, and if you are set on using copper. Try the Coppersafe, you need the api copper test kit for that brand
If you stick with Cupramine, you need seachems copper test
Hope he makes it
It's ok, they don't all make it out of quarantine but each experience will teach you something and you will become better at it and have more successful experiences.
OP
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roger saltwaters
Active Member
Can't make any more water. It's the same fish store I always use ( to try and avoid problems). Salt is 1.26. I added only half of the copper that the bottle said to add.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Woof! I bet this has been a crazy day for you. Sorry you had to go through it.
melypr1985
totally addicted
You can shock a fish with copper by putting them directly in full strength copper no matter what kind. As already stated Cuppramine can be more harsh on the fish than coppersafe. It does sound like the wrasses may be having an issue with the copper since it wasnt' brought up slowly for him. The clown wasn't as effected because they are very tolerant of copper compared to other species. Best bet it to remove the copper with carbon and water changes.
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roger saltwaters
Active Member
Ok update time. Believe it or not this guy made it through the night somehow. I was sure he would be dead by morning but somehow he is still kicking. Still looks terrible but he is alive. Before I went to bed I actually dumped a little carbon straight in the tank. Don't know if he is gonna get better or not.
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roger saltwaters
Active Member
If that is true then why doesn't it say that in the instructions?? Seems like something that they should tell people about.
4FordFamily
Tang, Angel, and Wrasse Nerd!
It's a catch 22 some wrasse tend to struggle with cupramine and some angels with coppersafe and other chelated copper.
It's a necessary evil just increase copper slowly, half or less as fast as directions state.
It's a necessary evil just increase copper slowly, half or less as fast as directions state.
WVReefJunkie
Valuable Member
Since you set up a hospital tank yesterday for your sick fish. I would check your ammonia levels, they can spike.
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roger saltwaters
Active Member
That's what I did. It was half tank water.
OP
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roger saltwaters
Active Member
The weird thing is I had only added half of the cupramine. I hadn't even added the second half yet.
WVReefJunkie
Valuable Member
Just because you added water from your display doesn't mean ammonia will be eliminated. Since you are using copper medications I would assume you have removed the filter pads in the hospital tank? Have you tried to feed the fish in the hospital tank? Usually when a fish is lethargic, ammonia is to blame. Just keep a eye on it.
Myka
Valuable Member
Was the copper in the QT already when you added the fish? I don't usually start medicating for at least a few days or even a week sometimes to make sure the fish is swimming ok and feeding well.
Someone mentioned test kits - Salifert is also compatible with Cupramine. That's what I use. I've treated a lot of wrasses, and they seem to do fine with it in the 0.5-0.6 ppm range. For ammonia I like to use the SeaChem Ammonia Alert badges. They hang in the tank and change color if there is ammonia present - they last a year (I write the open date on them with a small Jiffy marker). I don't find that they give an accurate reading of the ammonia level, but they have been very reliable for me simply to change color when there is ammonia. I've used dozens of them on tanks in a small commercial breeding set up and they never failed me. Ammonia detoxification products like Prime, AmQuel, and ClorAm-X are NOT compatible with Cupramine - you have to do waterchanges to lower the ammonia level. Also, Cupramine doesn't affect the biological filter very much (it does a little ime) so you can use filter pads "seeded" from in your main tank to help with natural ammonia reduction. Don't remove filter pads when you use Cupramine (though you do have to remove any carbon).
Fwiw, I've had really good luck keeping a "permanent" quarantine tank set up. It has a small amount of sand in it, a couple 6" clay pots, and a couple clay pot broken pieces. It has a hang on filter and a powerhead. I "ghost feed" the tank when there are no fish in it. I use Cupramine in this tank and PraziPro for new fish. The sand and pots suck up some Cupramine, so I have to test everyday, but the point is that it is always running, it is always cycled, and I never have any issues with ammonia. If I have to treat with something like Furan2 or another antibiotic that will significantly damage the biological bacteria, then I will move the fish into a traditional QT with no sand (bottom is painted black on the outside of the tank) and just some fresh clay pots because using it in the QT with all the sand and clay pots will definitely cause an ammonia spike as the beneficial bacteria die off which is soooo working backwards. Ha!
I do find that fish are much more comfortable in the tank with the sand in it, and they also seem to be more comfortable with the darker coloring of the clay pots rather than white PVC elbows. Even black ABS elbows work better than white PVC ime. Fish don't like white. I also paint the back, sides, and bottom black on both my QTs which helps the fish feel safer. I use a single T8 20,000K bulb for enough light to see the fish clearly, but the blue is more dim and not so shocking to them. I leave the lights off for the first 12-18 hours that a new fish is in the tank. I lose very few fish in QT.
I hope this helps you for future use.
Someone mentioned test kits - Salifert is also compatible with Cupramine. That's what I use. I've treated a lot of wrasses, and they seem to do fine with it in the 0.5-0.6 ppm range. For ammonia I like to use the SeaChem Ammonia Alert badges. They hang in the tank and change color if there is ammonia present - they last a year (I write the open date on them with a small Jiffy marker). I don't find that they give an accurate reading of the ammonia level, but they have been very reliable for me simply to change color when there is ammonia. I've used dozens of them on tanks in a small commercial breeding set up and they never failed me. Ammonia detoxification products like Prime, AmQuel, and ClorAm-X are NOT compatible with Cupramine - you have to do waterchanges to lower the ammonia level. Also, Cupramine doesn't affect the biological filter very much (it does a little ime) so you can use filter pads "seeded" from in your main tank to help with natural ammonia reduction. Don't remove filter pads when you use Cupramine (though you do have to remove any carbon).
Fwiw, I've had really good luck keeping a "permanent" quarantine tank set up. It has a small amount of sand in it, a couple 6" clay pots, and a couple clay pot broken pieces. It has a hang on filter and a powerhead. I "ghost feed" the tank when there are no fish in it. I use Cupramine in this tank and PraziPro for new fish. The sand and pots suck up some Cupramine, so I have to test everyday, but the point is that it is always running, it is always cycled, and I never have any issues with ammonia. If I have to treat with something like Furan2 or another antibiotic that will significantly damage the biological bacteria, then I will move the fish into a traditional QT with no sand (bottom is painted black on the outside of the tank) and just some fresh clay pots because using it in the QT with all the sand and clay pots will definitely cause an ammonia spike as the beneficial bacteria die off which is soooo working backwards. Ha!
I do find that fish are much more comfortable in the tank with the sand in it, and they also seem to be more comfortable with the darker coloring of the clay pots rather than white PVC elbows. Even black ABS elbows work better than white PVC ime. Fish don't like white. I also paint the back, sides, and bottom black on both my QTs which helps the fish feel safer. I use a single T8 20,000K bulb for enough light to see the fish clearly, but the blue is more dim and not so shocking to them. I leave the lights off for the first 12-18 hours that a new fish is in the tank. I lose very few fish in QT.
I hope this helps you for future use.
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roger saltwaters
Active Member
Good information. Thanks
