copper for ich with live rock

[1clownman]

I was wondering if I could treat a tank with copper that has live rock, I don't ever want to have corals in this tank. The "live" rock doesn't have anything growing on it anyways, all it has is the benificial bacteria and some coraline algae. Any help would be appreciated, the ick I have is real pain and I want to end it forsure! I always wanted this to be a fish only tank but I knew that fish liked LR to make them feel at home. Any help would be great!!

 

[loopy]

some fish, tangs for example, cannot handle copper. If you have any inverts, snails, crabs etc, they also cannot handle the copper. I would not put copper in the main tank, use a qt tank....take it from me....I am one who did and paid the price...literally. Don't use the copper....I don't know about copper and live rock, but I'm betting, not a good deal.

 

[guineawhop]

like loopy said do not use copper in the main tank....do not use it at all in my opinion. so many fish are sensitive to it it is not a good idea. use formaline. it is safer and works just as good. but cannot use with inverts.

 

[loopy]

"like Loopy said".............

that's a first ha????

Oh, how nice it is that everyone can learn from my humungus mistakes..........and ya, they'll keep happening...

 

[guineawhop]

haha

 

[scubadoo]

Copper will also harm your biological filtration.

 

[1clownman]

well then what should I do? I already tried ick attack and malchite green with no luck. I am pretty upset about all of this, My LFS said I should use organicure but it has 1.25 % copper and 17% formaldehyde. I don't really care if my live rock get's messed up, I just want to kill the ick.

 

[1clownman]

and what about using copper with hypo? I have a lot of exspensive fish in this tank, I need help. I have a clown trigger flame angel, niger trigger, and a large blue tang. they all get along pretty well b/c the niger is pretty large and keeps the clown trigger from being aggresive. I guess I will start the hypo tonight and then maybe a little copper?

 

[guineawhop]

dude don't do the copper....u will regret it...just do the hypo it worked for me. ur gonna have to do the hypo for a few weeks...some say to go as low as 1.010 but i did it at 1.014 and it worked fine

 

[unleashed]

noo copper at all in your main tank you can try the hyposalinaty though just reduce the temp of your tank a bit and gradually work your salt gravity down.alot of fish are extra sensative to copper treatments not knowing who is who you could end up doing more harm than the ich itself. all tanks have the ich paresite but it will only attack fishes with a lowered imune system it thrives on living tissue the more it feeds upon one then it may spread to other tank mates if .if its realy bad on just one either q t it and treat accordingly to species you can also do a fresh water dip.if you go to search engine you can find a site that tells you how to do this also hypo treatment it does work.
ps copper will kill off the life that resides within the LR never add LR that has been treated with copper to a tank with inverts or copper sensitive fish

 

[fishnerd]

I have to agree that hypo is probably your best bet with live rock.
My (late) friend invented and marketed Organicure, and he always said don't use copper OR formalin with invertebrates.
Copper is a poisonous heavy metal
Formalin is dilute embalming fluid (formaldyhyde)
I don't feel FW dips are ever a good idea. Especially if the fish is going back into the main/infected tank. Stress is a major factor in parasitic infections. Moving the fish between Sw to FW and back to Sw will cause enough stress to cause the condition to worsen.

 

[1clownman]

like I said, I started hypo last night and I have brought down the salinity from 1.019 to 1.014 over about 24 hrs. my clown trigger is acting strange(not eating and staying put between some rock breathing heavy) my flame angel isn't eating either and he looks a little bloated, puffed up or something he isn't eating either. my blue tang and niger trigger are doing well though. It doesn't even look like the niger trigger has ick. I am a little worried about my flame angel and clown trigger, do you think I they will bounce back. they both are showing signs of ick, and I know if I can't get them to eat again that they don't stand a chance. :help:

 

[unleashed]

you may have dropped it to fast your salinaty should have been moreon the range of 1.024 origanally although at times i have had mine as low as 1.021 you dont want to drop the parimetrs to quickly dont take it any lower at this point watch therm closly Ill do a lil reading for you maybe i can find something more to help you along if you can email me ill try to send you more info. doggiestlist@yahoo.com

 

[guineawhop]

i agree with unleash i think you dropped it way too fast. i've done hypo and i dropped it from 1.022 to 1.020...then to 1.018 and then again to 1.016 and then to 1.014 over at least a week or 2 period of time

 

[1clownman]

what should I do now? should I place some "saltwater" back into the tank, damn I really messed up. upon futher examination I think the clown trigger is bloated too, I have a bad feeling about all of this!

:help:

:help: :help:

 

[unleashed]

Originally posted by 1clownman
what should I do now? should I place some "saltwater" back into the tank, damn I really messed up. upon futher examination I think the clown trigger is bloated too, I have a bad feeling about all of this!

:help:

:help: :help:
ok yes do some water changes add to your salt level for now dont take it to a normal level take it up to about 1.018 add melafix to the tank this will reduce the bloat and stress of your fish dont worry it wont harm invert or live rock.there are unfortunatly no garenetees with any treatment as of this point .but at least its an effort.me personally would definatly use the melafix asap.remove carbon packs while treating tank.good luck .after you have stablized your fish a bit slowly reduce the salt gravity as others have stated this proccess can be timely and should be taken down at small intervals.

 

[1clownman]

well, I have a little bit of good news My clown trigger was out some today he even ate a litte. but my flame angel passed away. The clown trigger is still a little swollen, so I will go pick up some melafix today!:nervous:

 

[guineawhop]

that blows about ur angel but i'm glad ur clown is doing better. keep it at this level for a couple days until he gets better then start the hypo but this time bring the salinity down a bit slower.

 

[unleashed]

aw im sorry to hear about that little guy i hope all the info I sent you helps you out best of luck with the rest of the crew

 

[1clownman]

clown trigger died tonight