copper? really that bad?

jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Ok folks iam bringing up a touchy subject I know. I generally avoid mentioning its use. But last nt perplexed me. I am in the process of shutting down my 20 qt tank. Fish came out sat, heater, filters, ect off since sunday. This is a tank I have and did use copper in. Recently no less. Yet to my absolute shock , I found hundreds of pods!! Amph and cop, plus 2 bristle worms. Alive and well. My question how???, copper is an know killer of inverts and such. Are these critters just more tolerant?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
I'm actually shocked at this. The Amphipods do have the ability to cleanse their system by storing toxins in their exoskeleton but I have no ability to understand how the polychaete survived.

If you find a snail then I'd have to say the product you thought had copper in it doesn't or it's so chelated as to be non-toxic.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
No snails. Only thing I can think of is the dose was low enough. But I do it per instruction. Its mardel copper safe
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I have a couple snails and hermits as well as pods in my QT. They snuck in when I was moving everything to my 125. I used it to hold some of my rocks. Since then I put a fish that came out of a questionable tank at ***** in it and am treating it with copper now (almost 4 weeks now) I tested the copper and it is at the recommended level. Critters seem fine and there is plenty of algae for them to eat. I am using Kordon copper aid. Not sure if it the best choice but the only brand I could get locally. Fish shows no sign if ich.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Yea idk. Originally it was a qt tank. Treated 2 clowns and a fox for ich. Killed the ich w in 2 days fish have been good since. That was 2 yrs ago. Then had a problem dotty back living in a tote lol so I moved him to the 20. Added lr, sand, ect. Then a yellow tail damsel, maroon clown, spotted mandy and scooter blenny. Added hermits but they never lived very long, had an urchin maybe 2-3 months but then it died. I figured residual from the original copper ok. So the clown doubled in size from a small 1" to 2-2.5" , so iam like these guys need a new tank. Upgraded them, took all rock out. Saw a nice coral beauty so I figured ok the tanks still running so into qt mode again. The angel came down w ich. I dosed w copper ich was gone.Angle was in qt for about 5-6 wks all w copper treatment. Water changes, new copper added. So after it came out and I saw what I did iam like huh? Lol even low dose copper should be deadly to inverts.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Ha ha it was. The dotty is still a mofo. But the clown and damsel can hold there own. It sucks bc he's a nice looking fish w purple and yellow. But nasty lol
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
From what I understand copper does not last long especially in a marine tank with thriving algae. But on the other side even very small amount of copper have a great affect on corals.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I do have thriving algae in my QT. I do test the copper weekly to make sure it is at the right level.

On a side note I've had my maroon clown in QT for almost 4weeks with copper. He never showerd any signs of ich but it was in the tank he came from and the other fish I bought there showed signs the day after I bought him then died the next day. How long should I keep the clown in QT with copper to prevent ich from getting into my DT.
 
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