deadfish11
Member
I have a tank that is full of ick. I have poured in copper to treat this disease. I was wondering if i am suppose to remove the bio wheel too?
Copper
- Thread starter deadfish11
- Start date
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stevenpro
Guest
No, you should not remove the biowheel, but you should know that any invertebrates will be killed. Also, the copper will bind to anything calcium based such as crushed coral gravel, aragonite sand, liverock, or bleached skeletal corals. This does two things. It ruins the substrate from ever being used in the presence of invertebrates. And, it makes the copper ineffective for treating the disease.
murph
Active Member
Agreed. If using a reliable copper test kit however it should be possible to maintain copper levels at therapeutic doses if the addition of poison can be considered therapeutic.
Also agreed that from here on out the tank can only be considered fish only. Which is not the end of the world, especially for the casual hobbyist and observer. We had em like that for years before the advent of LR and reef tanks. Could still make for a nice aggressive schemed tank if large enough.
Also agreed that from here on out the tank can only be considered fish only. Which is not the end of the world, especially for the casual hobbyist and observer. We had em like that for years before the advent of LR and reef tanks. Could still make for a nice aggressive schemed tank if large enough.
deadfish11
Member
ok thx. also i had some feeder shrimps in the tank and it doesnt seem to die after i had the treatment on for 3 days. does anybody know why?
deadfish11
Member
if da copper does not make my fish any sign of distress, should i pour more? and how much?
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emeralcrab
Guest
When using copper for treatment you must know what you are doing, it is a toxin. Make sure you have a test kit that the copper u are using is compatible with. I did copper for one round of ich, hated the test kit, really hard to tell what level you are at. I now do the hypo, much easier once you get your salinity down to the 1.009, good luck, but make sure you get a test kit so you don't poison your fish.
deadfish11
Member
well i poured in one drop for every gallon and the next i tested it and it said that the copper level is zero
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emeralcrab
Guest
that is why I hated the copper treatment. I started out like my LFS told me to. It seemed like I was always putting copper in. But I did have CC in tank with other things so fish had places to hid. The CC absorbs the copper and anything else in there. Rock and etc. So sometimes it takes a lot of time and adding to get copper level up there. Once it is at the level it needs to be then it is a little easier to maintain. I just found that the colors were hard to match, I would look at it and see one level and have my LFS look at it and they would say it was at a higher level. I really did hate using it. Good luck though. Search these threads on it I'm sure there is lots about it.
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stevenpro
Guest
Be aware that not all brands of copper test kits measure all the different copper medication formulations. Make sure you are using the test kit that goes with the brand of medication you are using.
deadfish11
Member
yes my tank is fish only no live rocks