Wrasse not doing well in copper.

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

Im treating my carpenters wrasse and yellow tang for ich in my qt tank. Im not at therapeutic levels yet and the wrasse doesn't seem to be doing great. He swims at the very bottom of the tank and sometimes will just rest on the bottom with his mouth open. I been slowly dosing cupramine in the tank. Im 2 days away from therapeutic levels not counting today. Im using cupramine. I don't have an extra tank for TTM and im scared if i go hypo it might be a resistant strain of ich. Im kinda stuck at what I should do. Do i risk dosing the tank 3 more times and maybe killing the wrasse? I am running an ammonia badge and it's yellow. The wrasse eats and swims when i feed.

Cherub · May 21, 2018

that's hard, did you use existing tank water to fill your QT or is it new saltwater? Did you try to make it comfortable for them? Do you have a bowl of sand in there for him or PVC pieces for him to hide?

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

Cherub said:
that's hard, did you use existing tank water to fill your QT or is it new saltwater? Did you try to make it comfortable for them? Do you have a bowl of sand in there for him or PVC pieces for him to hide?

The tank has been cycled 3 months ago with green chromis and they still are in the 29g qt. I have 4 pieces of pvc. No sand since they dont bury. The yellow tang is 2inches and doesnt bother him. He was doing good for a week but since the copper he seems to not be as active.

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

Humblefish · May 21, 2018

IME; wrasses seem to do better in chelated copper (e.g. Copper Power).

I treat @ 1.75ppm using the Hanna colorimeter to ensure my Cu level is accurate.

deedubz · May 21, 2018

Humblefish said:
IME; wrasses seem to do better in chelated copper (e.g. Copper Power).

I treat @ 1.75ppm using the Hanna colorimeter to ensure my Cu level is accurate.

Agreed. I've ran several wrasses through Coppersafe (chelated) with zero problems. Given coppersafe's potency problems of late I'll be switching to Copper Power, which I won't hesitate to administer.

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

Humblefish said:
IME; wrasses seem to do better in chelated copper (e.g. Copper Power).

I treat @ 1.75ppm using the Hanna colorimeter to ensure my Cu level is accurate.

There any other way to measure copper power? Im going to go get it. What's the fastest way to remove the cupramine? Water change and carbon for 24hours? How slow should i get copper power to therapeutic for the wrasse?

HotRocks · May 21, 2018

Grossman90 said:
There any other way to measure copper power? Im going to go get it. What's the fastest way to remove the cupramine? Water change and carbon for 24hours? How slow should i get copper power to therapeutic for the wrasse?

You can test with the API kit but it will be harder to read.
IME wrasse do much better in chelated copper, I also have been using copper power with the hanna checker at 1.75ppm. Fish are seemingly unaffected.

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

HotRocks said:
You can test with the API kit but it will be harder to read.
IME wrasse do much better in chelated copper, I also have been using copper power with the hanna checker at 1.75ppm. Fish are seemingly unaffected.

Dosage on bottle says 2.5ppm. Whats 1.75ppm for gallons per one fluid ounce?

HotRocks · May 21, 2018

Here you go. This should help.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ratios-for-dosing-copper-power.385871/

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

HotRocks said:
Here you go. This should help.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ratios-for-dosing-copper-power.385871/

Thanks. Would going a little over 1.75 be fine if i dosed a little too much?

HotRocks · May 21, 2018

Grossman90 said:
Thanks. Would going a little over 1.75 be fine if i dosed a little too much?

If it were me and I was not using the Hanna checker, I would shoot for 2.0ppm. 1.75ppm is too close to the minimum only having a visual test method like the API kit since the swatches to match jump from 1.0ppm-2.0ppm.

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

HotRocks said:
If it were me and I was not using the Hanna checker, I would shoot for 2.0ppm. 1.75ppm is too close to the minimum only having a visual test method like the API kit since the swatches to match jump from 1.0ppm-2.0ppm.

Sounds good. Thanks for the help

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

HotRocks said:
If it were me and I was not using the Hanna checker, I would shoot for 2.0ppm. 1.75ppm is too close to the minimum only having a visual test method like the API kit since the swatches to match jump from 1.0ppm-2.0ppm.

One last thing. I was using polyfiber filter pads and cutting them to fit in my hob filter to replace my filter pad that had carbon. I was just reading that removes copper. This is what i am using. Should i not be?

Zack K · May 21, 2018

So does chelated copper need a higher concentrate to be therapeutic. 1.75-2.5 vs Ionic only at .5. Or is the .5 non therapeutic?

HotRocks · May 21, 2018

It may possibly absorb some copper, I doubt it will completely remove it.

I just do large WCs and then run carbon afterward.

HotRocks · May 21, 2018

Zack K said:
So does chelated copper need a higher concentrate to be therapeutic. 1.75-2.5 vs Ionic only at .5. Or is the .5 non therapeutic?

Ionic copper is completely different than chelated. So to answer your question, yes chelated 1.5ppm min therapuetic. Ionic .5ppm.

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

HotRocks said:
It may possibly absorb some copper, I doubt it will completely remove it.

I just do large WCs and then run carbon afterward.

I don't want it to remove anything. The guy at the fish store recommended me the polyfiber filter stuff to replace my carbon filter pads so i can treat my fish with copper. If its removing it im not sure what else to use since i built all the bacteria on a piece in my hob so my ammonia doesnt spike. I hope that makes sense.

HotRocks · May 21, 2018

Grossman90 said:
I don't want it to remove anything. The guy at the fish store recommended me the polyfiber filter stuff to replace my carbon filter pads so i can treat my fish with copper. If its removing it im not sure what else to use since i built all the bacteria on a piece in my hob so my ammonia doesnt spike. I hope that makes sense.

Sorry, I missed that part. I use filter floss in my QT to house biofilter. It does slightly absorb copper.

I know humble has tested seachem matrix with no absorption. I have Biomax ceramic media seeding in my DT currently. The slight absorption I have encountered was easily monitored with the Hanna checker. I never would have known with visual methods.

Grossman90 · May 21, 2018

HotRocks said:
Sorry, I missed that part. I use filter floss in my QT to house biofilter. It does slightly absorb copper.

I know humble has tested seachem matrix with no absorption. I have Biomax ceramic media seeding in my DT currently. The slight absorption I have encountered was easily monitored with the Hanna checker. I never would have known with visual methods.

Hmmm...this kinda sucks. Any suggestion to deal with having filter floss for my biofilter and running copper power for 30 days? Im sorry for all the questions. Lol