Does anyone run copper in there tank?

[mjm889]

about six months ago i had a bad case of the ick. so i bought some copper safe and got rid off it now for over four months, fish are doing great. do i need to continue this copper in the water? my other question is should i run some carbon in my wet dry/ i havent since the copper. thanks for the help- mike

 

[crypt keeper]

copper kills your tank. It will kill any inverts. Snails crabs pods. You can probably never run corals and you need to wait a few months before adding any new snails or hermits. Your rock if you have any is no longer live. It has been killed as well.
The copper killed the ich if you treated correctly. I would run the carbon. I would keep on water changes as you dont really have any bacteria that is beneficial. This will take months to regrow. I wouldnt add any more fish to the tank either.

 

[mjm889]

thanks, its a fish only tank. i was just curious if people run copper all the time or till the ick is gone. i havent had any problems since may when the outbreak occured, i change the water every two weeks 10-15% my water has been good, just a lil high on the nitrate 40 but zero on the nitrite.

 

[geoj]

You are done with the copper. I would get some chaetomorpha and or CupriSorb and when you get a constant copper reading of 0.032mg or less on a kit that can read this low then you will be fine… The chaetomorpha will pull lots of Cupramine out, copper safe I don’t know.

 

[mjm889]

also have a uv sterlizer if that helps

 

[mjm889]

i used seacure

 

[geoj]

I would just keep testing copper for now and see that it stays 0.032mg or under. This would be a good learning exp. If you decided to add invertebrates this would let you know whether you may. There is no reason to waste the copper since there is no Ich or should be no Ich.

 

[mjm889]

i guess my question is, is bad for copper to be in the water for the fish, i will not get any inverts because my triggers will tear them up. Plus do you guys run carbon in your filters on a regular basis.

 

[geoj]

There is no need to run copper all the time. The copper would need to be dosed to keep it at treatment levels. I would use carbon in a fish only if you can find one that dose not leach phosphate...

 

[mjm889]

thanks for the reply - mike

 

[mjm889]

i had placed carbon in there at around 10am today, its says on the carbon box that as long as you rinse it there will be no phosphates