Skimmers and medication

[jc74]

I'm currently treating my tank with Coppersafe before making the conversion to reef. I want to be sure that everything is perfect before investing a lot of cash (box fish has a few white spots/gasping).
Do protein skimmers suck the medication from the water? I have a Remora Pro and I think I heard something about this in the past.

 

[elfdoctors]

No. Protein skimmers will not remove copper.
Copper needs to be done in a separate tank. If you have already dosed copper. You need to do a complete water change and discard any live rock and substrate that was in the tank. Otherwise any inverts and future corals you will have may die as the copper leaches out as the substrate and rock slowly break down.

 

[jc74]

Won't the copper go away over time? I knew that the substrate did absorb it but I didn't know that it held it forever or would break down. I think I'll wait a few months and add a couple snails to see what happens...if they croak I'll just stay with FO.
Unfortunately I have no room for a hospital tank, so I had no other choice. I got ich from an infected box fish and the inhabitants look like hell. Maybe I'll set up a small tank in the future. Also, the only way to remove my fish would be to take out 110 lbs of rock. They're impossible to catch otherwise.

 

[beth]

The copper is absorbed in to the silcone seals of the tank. The rule of thumb is not to plan to set up a reef in a tank that has been treated with copper.
Hyposalinity is the safest way to treat fish with ich, but no treatments should be performed in a display with LS, LR.

 

[jc74]

So I'd have to buy an entire new tank since mine was treated with copper?
I wish they'd tell you these things in the directions...
On second thought, a reef tank isn't worth this much trouble. I'm a student who's been laid off, so I can't afford the hassle.
Thanks for the warning before I invested too much...