Zebra eel and Cupramine

[Alanc425]

So after 2 years of being clean, I decided to add some new CUC to the tank, and a few days later ich showed up

I'm in the process of setting up a larger hospital tank for all my fish and have pretty good experience with cupramine on my fish with the exception of my zebra eel. I know eels and copper are a generally a no no but I've read some had success with using cupramine. Dont have access to CP unfortunately.

Outside of dosing very slowly, is there a maximum dosage for eels or would I be safe to go to 0.50?

If anyone has any input it'd be greatly appreciated.

 

[melypr1985]

I would say no to an eel and cupramine. If you have to try copper then you can attempt copper safe as it's a chelated copper and a little easier on most scaled fish. I seriously wouldn't do copper at all on the eel. TTM will work much better for him.

 

[charleslotz]

Noooooo,.... This was a discussion on my velvet out brake also from cuc , and
The pro's said no go .... On the positive side don't think mine was effected lived through 8 weeks quarintine and empty reef he is now back in and no issues but ask humble or ford ,... They are the pro's.

 

[Duke4Life]

I would say no to an eel and cupramine. If you have to try copper then you can attempt copper safe as it's a chelated copper and a little easier on most scaled fish. I seriously wouldn't do copper at all on the eel. TTM will work much better for him.

+1 introduce copper and it will probably stop eating and wither away.

 

[Alanc425]

Ughhh ill try it. Never did TTM. He's only about 7", could I get away with transferring him between two buckets, airstone and a small heater?

 

[melypr1985]

Ughhh ill try it. Never did TTM. He's only about 7", could I get away with transferring him between two buckets, airstone and a small heater?

I did TTM with my snowflake eel very easily. Of course I used two 10 gallon tanks that were only half filled the entire time and a lid. You can use buckets certainly, just make sure you can cover them so it doesn't escape. TTM is easy to do, it's just a little time consuming.

 

[Alanc425]

I did TTM with my snowflake eel very easily. Of course I used two 10 gallon tanks that were only half filled the entire time and a lid. You can use buckets certainly, just make sure you can cover them so it doesn't escape. TTM is easy to do, it's just a little time consuming.

Yes that's why I was trying to avoid it, times the one thing I'm short on this month .

I don't have to worry about ammonia either since it's such a short period, correct? I also have amguard which lasts 48 hours I believe.

 

[melypr1985]

Yes that's why I was trying to avoid it, times the one thing I'm short on this month .

I don't have to worry about ammonia either since it's such a short period, correct? I also have amguard which lasts 48 hours I believe.

Ammonia can be a problem, but any product that binds ammonia will work for the short period they are in each bucket. I used Prime for mine along with the occasional water change (I ran out of prime and had to do a water change before I got more)

 

[Alanc425]

Okay thanks! I'll give it a shot in the upcoming days as soon as I manage to catch everyone in the tank

 

[melypr1985]

soon as I manage to catch everyone in the tank

Good luck with that part!

 

[Alanc425]

Just realized I would be short 1 heater, can I wipe it with bleach between transfers or would I need to get a second one?

 

[melypr1985]

Just realized I would be short 1 heater, can I wipe it with bleach between transfers or would I need to get a second one?

It would be better if you had a second one, but if you wiped it with bleach then found a way to make sure it dried 100% completely before adding it to the next bucket, then you could possibly get away with that. Not that I'm advising you to do that.... my advise is to get another heater.

 

[Humblefish]

Good advice from everyone above. TTM is the way to go: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

 

[TylerS]

I didn't realize ich effected eels.

 

[wkscott]

I didn't realize ich effected eels.

Almost any fish can get ich. However, eels are much more resistant to ich because they are slimmy. This slime is a natural protection but in the confines of an aquarium, where ich becomes highly concentrated, the slime doesn't always protect them.

 

[Humblefish]

Almost any fish can get ich. However, eels are much more resistant to ich because they are slimmy. This slime is a natural protection but in the confines of an aquarium, where ich becomes highly concentrated, the slime doesn't always protect them.

^^Perfectly stated.

 

[Aquanaut WA]

I QT my new 20" SFE in a 20g for 6weeks. Cupramine dose was added at 50% ratio over 6 days till .40 max is reached and sustained for 3 weeks. Yes they will not eat beyond .30, but thats ok as some can go months reportedly. I changed the water from DT. Cant use amonia removers toxic! Supplementing SEED Bacteria helps with bio. So water changes were 50% every 3 days and added Cupramine to retain levels above .30 is minimum for ick tho higher is better for MI. SFE regained appetite within 24hrs of entering DT at and of 6wks. That was 3months ago and no illness to report and he has grown fat on 6" Deli Squid 2x week.