Must You Taper Down When Using Copper?

[RMS18]

I had a Copperband in qt for Ich. I used Copper power at 2.5ppm for 25 days. Yesterday morning I moved him from qt 15g to my brand new display 120g. He is the first addition to the new system. I wanted him to get acclimated before adding the other fish. He ate like he normally did in it qt the first two feedings. Last night he did not eat anything and this morning he ate 3 pieces. He usually is good for 10-15 mysis/brine per feeding. He seems to be very mellow in this new tank. He was more active in the qt tank. I've noticed a few weird swimming behaviors. On two occasions I've seen him do a inverted swim... He will swim up then do a sideways chasing his tail move like a dog then back to normal. It was weird, he never did that in qt. Also have seen him do this weird movement with his mouth and gills as if he was going to regurgitate. He went from qt water with 2.5ppm of copper straight into a copper free tank. Could this be affecting him?

I'm not going to add any fish until further notice.

 

[TheEngineer]

Not sure why the suppressed appetite. You can go immediately to zero copper

 

[HotRocks]

As mentioned above. You can without any issue, move them from therapeutic copper to copper free.

Has your new tank gone through a proper 76 day fallow period?

 

[RMS18]

As mentioned above. You can without any issue, move them from therapeutic copper to copper free.

Has your new tank gone through a proper 76 day fallow period?

The new tank was not existing, I literally just built it. The cb came in from bluezooaquatics with ich over a month ago.

If the 25 days in copper did not work and some how he still has ich even though he has not showed signs of it for 2 weeks it will be surprising.

 

[HotRocks]

As far as the new tank, did you add any coral or rock/sand from an existing system?

 

[JumboShrimp]

I agree that going immediately to zero-copper would only make a fish want to kiss you on the lips. (Lol)
That being said, I did progressive water changes in my copper tank to continue to observe the fish, and of the 7, their appetites returned to varying degrees over the course of several days to a week; only my Bi-Color Angel is still currently on a hunger strike. Hope this shared experience helps. Best wishes!

 

[RMS18]

As far as the new tank, did you add any coral or rock/sand from an existing system?

Nope all brand new live sand, dry rock. Nothing was used all brand new. 2 bottles of Dr. Tim's bacteria. Ran carbon for 24 hours before adding the fish to remove any oils or containments from manufacturing of the tank and or equipment. Water is clear.

 

[RMS18]

I agree that going immediately to zero-copper would only make a fish want to kiss you on the lips. (Lol)
That being said, I did progressive water changes in my copper tank to continue to observe the fish, and of the 7, their appetites returned to varying degrees over the course of several days to a week; only my Bi-Color Angel is still currently on a hunger strike. Hope this shared experience helps. Best wishes!

Yea I was surprised how much he was eating when on copper. Especially for a Copperband. He did not eat at all for the first 4 days, he was covered in ich once of the worst I've seen. He used to hover over the airstone during the worst part of the infection. Once it started to clear his hunger took over.

 

[Swoody]

Check ammonia...just adding the bottled bacteria is not a full tank cycle...it will still take time for your tank to develop into a self sustaining little ocean....& if any ammonia shows you should do a partial water change and add some more bottled bacteria. Bio Spira, Dr. Tims or Fritz Turbo 900......

 

[Billldg]

I wonder if its just the new environment. Fish sometimes do take a little while to adjust. I just moved 5 fish from QT to sterile tank and then into my DT. The difference between the 3 moves was like night and day. The chromis were shy in the QT tank, then a little more open in the next tank and then they r show offs in the DT while the purple tang did the opposite. Eventually they all settled down and eat like pigs.

Have you treated for internal parasites previously or currently?

@HotRocks

 

[RMS18]

Check ammonia...just adding the bottled bacteria is not a full tank cycle...it will still take time for your tank to develop into a self sustaining little ocean....& if any ammonia shows you should do a partial water change and add some more bottled bacteria. Bio Spira, Dr. Tims or Fritz Turbo 900......

Yea I don't know if one little fish would cause ammonia to accumulate in 120 gallons In less than 24 hrs. I use that bacteria in 15 gallon qt.

 

[RMS18]

I wonder if its just the new environment. Fish sometimes do take a little while to adjust. I just moved 5 fish from QT to sterile tank and then into my DT. The difference between the 3 moves was like night and day. The chromis were shy in the QT tank, then a little more open in the next tank and then they r show offs in the DT while the purple tang did the opposite. Eventually they all settled down and eat like pigs.

Have you treated for internal parasites previously or currently?

I only treated for Ich. Because of how strong his appetite was with no signs of any other infections or parasites I skipped prazi.

 

[RMS18]

My fiance suggested we add the Lineatus wrasse who was next to go in... She said she had a good feeling if we added him. As soon as the Wrasse hit the water the copperband came out and since then it's been exploring the tank and is eating better. Not as good as when in qt but much better than before adding the Wrasse. May be foolish to think but possibly the cbb was lonely? Lol

 

[Maritimer]

It's possible that the absence of other fish in the water column hinted at a threat for the copperband. On the reef, there are usually plenty of fish out and about, plenty of eyes watching for predators. When the other fish dart for shelter, it generally means predators are on the hunt - sharks, barracuda, giant trevally . . .

~Bruce

 

[4FordFamily]

Brand new rock is generally still not “fallow”. Most LFS that have it keep fish in with it or move new and old rock in and out so much I run all rock fallow except for dry rock.

Copperbands do a “twitch” on occasion, I wonder if that is part of what you’re experiencing.

Aggressive or boisterous tankmates often cause Copperbands to stop feeding or hide. It doesn’t sound like that applies, however.