Tang and Copper

pken40 · Mar 18, 2023

I have been noticing at my LFS a tang (blue hippo) that has been in a copper treated system for at least 90 days, if not longer. Is this poor guy a goner or is he perfectly safe? Appears healthy. Eats, swims well and no exterior signs of problems. It makes me wonder if a fish in this situation should be avoided.

MERKEY · Mar 18, 2023

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but a lot of shops keep their for sale fish tanks under copper.

It's the easiest way to keep their stock from getting parasites.

pken40 · Mar 19, 2023

MERKEY said:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but a lot of shops keep their for sale fish tanks under copper.

It's the easiest way to keep their stock from getting parasites.

I was half thinking of getting this fish. Should I avoid a fish in copper this long?

MERKEY · Mar 19, 2023

I don't know exact science on the topic but over on another forum it was said months won't hurt the fish but have a QT so you can get the fish out of copper and see if any parasites have made it through the copper.

Also on the other forum Some velvet strains have been seen post copper due to the over use of the med in wholesalers to keep stock alive.

I buy from a store that has copper tanks and I always QT the fish to see if it shows signs of anything before it goes in my DT.

vetteguy53081 · Mar 19, 2023

pken40 said:
I have been noticing at my LFS a tang (blue hippo) that has been in a copper treated system for at least 90 days, if not longer. Is this poor guy a goner or is he perfectly safe? Appears healthy. Eats, swims well and no exterior signs of problems. It makes me wonder if a fish in this situation should be avoided.

Not abnormal and as with my LFS, I ran Low level copper in certain tanks as a preventative opposed to full therapeutic treatment. Not abnormal and this fish should be more than clean as long as its eating and no skin imperfections would be a safe purchase.

sc50964 · Mar 19, 2023

Do you know what brand of copper do they use?

IME, prolonged use of cupramine is harmful but the same can’t be said for coppersafe & copper power as long as they stay at or below 2.0 ppm.

pken40 · Mar 19, 2023

MY LFS is closed today. I have a busy work day tomorrow and LFS closes at 5pm. I will be able to visit them on Tuesday night. I will post what I find out. I now think I have a better feel for things. Thank you all for replying and sharing your wisdom/experience with me!!

pken40 · Mar 20, 2023

I was able to sneak away to my LFS today and here's what I found out. They use copper sulfate. They were dosing at 1.0 which is supposedly prevention level. They just recently (last month-ish) switched to treatment level which is 2.0. They only check once a week and they showed me their chart. Most weeks when they check the levels have been anywhere between .3-.7 ie less than one. So, my question is ... has this tang been harmed by staying in copper for 3-4 months?