Cupramine by Seachem...

[bulletsworld]

I have a bare bottom 29gal all ready to go. Have new water put in & using aged bacteria sponges in the aquaclear filter. I have never used copper before, it totally scares me since I have heard overdosing stories from others, killing their fish. But since my battle with Amyloodinium "Marine Velvet", I have little option but copper now. HELP!

Whats the best test kit for cupramine? :question:

Also what is the lowest the salinity that can be used while treating with this copper? Since I was treating hyposalinity 1.09. Have to raise to what level to be safe? :eek:

Also has anyone treated cupramine & used PRIME dechlorinator & had bad effects? I read this one the FAQ seachem site about mixing these products but...so..does this mean if you use Prime & Cupramine then everything will die or is that if you OVERDOSE with prime. Not sure I understood. :eek:

"Q: I've been dosing with Cupramine™ and then I added Product X and everything died. What happened?
A: If Product X is a reducing agent such as ParaGuard™ (or other aldehyde based medications), or if you overdose with a dechlorinator, such as Prime™ then the Cu+2 will be reduced to Cu+. Cu+ is 10 times more toxic than Cu+2." http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Cupramine_faq.html

Any other things i should watch out for when treating with this stuff? Ph drops! False Ammonia readings?
Boy do i need help hey. HELP! :eek: Before I kill all my fishy friends, my puffer, cowfish, regal tang!

Thanks so much in advance for your replys.

[Rick_B]

I use Prime and cupramine from seachem in my quarantine tank with no losses as of yet! The message Seachem wants to get across is follow the dossing instruction, and if you don't know what it is, do not use it. Basically, don't mix product brands and you won't be disappointed. I use Seachem for all of my additives to avoid overdosing. I have only used seachem's copper test kit. It is a pain and takes a long time but I am told it is the best kit on the market. You can use reduced salinity with cupramine. I run my quarantine at 1.017-1.019. Velvet is very hard to get rid of even in copper. You may want to give the fish either freshwater dips daily as well as copper or to really kick the velvets ass give paragaurd dips daily along with the copper. I have success stories from people using both methods.

Rick

[bulletsworld]

Hey Rick, thanks for your reply!

Wow, greatly appreciated! * BIG KISS * hehe So nice to know someone's tried it. Thanks again. Feel better now.

Yeah this Velvet thing for me has been quite the P.I.T.A battle. So try paraguard with copper hey...hmmm... Never tried paraguard. But I have been doing freshwater dips every three days, I just feel so bad doing them to my fishies. :sad: But it helps I know.

Went out over the weekend to buy copper and had my LFS convince me to try "RALLY" product instead. :neutral:

Has anyone tried Rally product with success against Velvet? Wonder if you can use this product in salinity ranges as low as 1.09? :question:

here's a link to the product ....
http://www.jlaquatics.com/cgi-bin/shopping/jalstore.cgi?user_action=detail&catalogno=md-rrr1

I haven't tried this product yet... Looking for others feedback. Product ... Junk? :question:

[Rick_B]

Just remember, don't use the paraguard and the cupramine in the quarantine tank at the same time. You are medicating the tank with cupramine and DIPPING with paraguard. You can freswater dip daily without a problem. If you put an airstone + heater in your dipping pail you can dip in fresh for as long as 30 min depending on what type of fish it is. I have never used Rally's, I prefer to only use Seachem's products so I don't cross medicate / overdose. I also know that seachem's stuff works.

By the way, what does LFS stand for?

[muck]

By the way, what does LFS stand for?

LFS = Local Fish Store

[Rick_B]

I should of also mentioned in the last post that while I don't know anything about Rally's, there are a lot of meds out there that will treat many external parasies. Velvet is not your standard parasite however. It is a real P.I.T.A. Copper is the chemotherapy of aquariums and velvet is the cancer. I would not waste your money on products that may work when copper will work.

[bulletsworld]

Copper is the chemotherapy of aquariums and velvet is the cancer. I would not waste your money on products that may work when copper will work.

Hmm.... :eek: You do have a good point there. :eek:

So copper alone won't beat velvet? :eek: :question: Damn I hate copper. Damn I hate Velvet :cry:

With "Paraguard", no one ever suggested it to me as of yet. So I'm wondering if its because its not safe with scaleless fish :eek: , which I have (puffer, boxfish) Hmm.... I will definately take it into consideration and look into this product. As I do the FW dip method anyway. have you ever tried Paraguard with scaleless fish? I'm off to search for the product info...

Thanks so much for your reply.

[Rick_B]

I have not tried any med on a scaleles fish (unless you count freshwater). The general rule is only give half dose. When using cupramine, you give a half dose on day 1 and then another half dose on day 3. I would be inclined to suggest skip the day 3 dose and leave it at the half dose level. I would also skip the paraguard dips and only do freshwater so you don't stress out the puffers. I would email seachem directly on this one though. They are way more knowlegable about the small details like scaleless fish and the medication interactions. Let us know how it turns out
Rick

P.S. Copper on its own should be velvet but the paraguard or FW dips are just that extra step for the really stuborn parasites. In regards to paraguard, it is a non-reef safe med that directly targets external parasites, great for ick, but only mixed results with velvet. It is not as harsh of a med as copper.

[bulletsworld]

Thanks Rick for all you reply's.

I will email Seachem direct and see what they say. I have unfortuantely already dosed for the first time with "RALLY" before leaving for work this morning. This product turned the QT water yellowish. YUK!

I was told that cupramine if the puffer is breathing heavy already will create excessive mucas making it harder for the puffer to breath. :eek:
I will see how P.Diddy & others are doing after work. Then I will do a FW dip for each, transfer them to a new clean water tank & go buy some cupramine, dose & say my prays. Wish me luck.

Thanks so much again for your replys.