Removing Cupramine from a display tank..

I know I can never fully get rid of copper as it leaches in to the rocks, etc.. However if I treat my tank (220 gallon) with Cupramine, and then use carbon and other forms of filtration. How long with will it take for the carbon to remove most of the copper making it safe to put the fish back in the aquarium?

 

Try some Cuprisorb.

Test for copper, I believe you want less than 10ppb, but double check that.

Any residual copper left will not kill you fish or harm them. Your issue with be with inverts should you have residual copper.

Please clarify what you are treating and if you intend to treat the display rocks and all?
No one can really tell you how fast Cuprisorb will work, to be sure you will need to test.

 

Thanks for the reply. I thought there may have been a specific timeframe for copper removal known amongst aquarists, such as (3 days of Carbon and Cupisorb filtration will remove enough copper to render an aquarium safe for fish).

Yes, Cuprisorb was one of the methods I was going to use for Copper removal. I just could not remember the name when I made the post. I am treating a 220 Gallong FOWLR tank for ICH. The Rocks will also be treated because my rockscape is one solid piece and I would not be able to remove them.

 

+1 to what Cheryl said. The Cuprisorb will take many weeks, not days to remove the copper. It can be recharged, so just keep it in long term. As long as it turns a minty green color, its removing copper.

 

Don't use copper or any treatment if there isn't anything in there. That is silly. I'd just heat the tank up to a high temperature and drop salinity.

 

Bears repeating, raising the temp is a treatment for fresh water ich, a completely different organism. Not an effective treatment for Marine Ich. With the method suggested he would have to completely recycle his tank.

Leaving the display fallow and treating the fish in a QT seems prudent.

The link below offers of what I believe to be good advice.

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

 

Your own link contradicts what you just told me.

7. MI can live and reproduce in temperatures as low as 50F and as high as 90F. Thus temperatures that would kill MI would first kill or severely stress most tropical marine fishe

I'd much rather repay for cheap snails than never having the ability to keep coral/etc

If there is belief good bacteria would die, BioSpira works wonders.

 

And that is the reason I suggested moving his fish to a QT and leaving the tank fallow. I would first try other methods within the display such as stress reduction and supplemental feeding before QT, but sometimes QT is a good alternative.



The parasite dies when it does not have a host to feed on for 60-90 days ( depending on the strain) hence fallow.

Seems extreme to kill off all nutrifying bacteria and treat rock work with copper when there are other methods that are appropriate and less extreme then turning the temp up to greater than 90 F.

"Don't use copper or any treatment if there isn't anything in there. That is silly. I'd just heat the tank up to a high temperature and drop salinity." Your post not mine.

 

Thanks everyone for the advice. It seems that there are so many conflicting opionions when it comes to ICH. Before I read that only freshwater ICH's lifecycle sppeds up at high temperatures, I had my tank up to 98 degrees for over a week. (no fish obviously). I was afraid that temps that high would kill any nitrifying bacteria so I called up a Dr.Tim's representative and they advised me that

"High temperatures actually help bacteria grow. They consider 84-86 degrees optimal for bacteria groth, however that is usually because fish are still in the tank". As I do not have fish in my tank I should be fine. Furthermore they stated that bacteria begins to die off at a temperature of 120 degrees which I would not be able to get my tank that high, even if I tried.

So I just dropped the salinity today because I have read that, that is a pretty effective method for killing ICH. I know keeping it fallow for 72 days would work even btter but I'll be honest I just dont have the patience. Plus I currently have my fish in a friends tank and dont want to be an inconvinience to him. If this doesnt work and the fish get ICH then I will go ahead and use the cupramine.

Corailine- You're saying that by dropping the salinity I will have to recycle the tank all over again? I heard that it wont have to. However I heard it will supress bacteria growth.

 

Might call Dr tim rep back and see what salinity the good bacteria will die at and drop your salinity to just above it. I'm about to drop salinity to 1.009 myself.