Scared of a Cupramine/Amquel reaction!

[acronce]

Hi all,

 

I just set up a new 10 gallon hospital tank this weekend to treat ich. This is the first time I've done this. As per my posted plan, I took about 5 gallons from my BC29, and added 5 gallons of fresh salt water.

 

I don't have an RODI unit yet. I make my salt water using 5 gallons of tap water (I know; phosphates) treated with 2.5 ML of Amquel to take out any chlorine.

 

I want to treat the fish with Cupramine. After researching a little more this morning, it looks like you're not supposed to use Cupramine with dechlorinators. Among other sources, here's the entry from the Seachem FAQ:

 

--snip--

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.

--snip--

 

So at this point, the hospital tank set up and ready. The water was made 24 hours ago. The fish have been in the tank for nearly 20 hours, and I've fed them twice.

 

At this stage, I suspect that all of the Amquel has been consumed or dissipated. I'm thinking that I'll put in a half dose of Cupramine to start with and see if there's any negative reaction from the fish.

 

Note that I do have a copper test kit, but it looks like I got the wrong one (API). From what I hear, I really need a test kit that can more accurately measure the Cu+2 in Cupramine, so I'm ordering the Seachem kit. I'll have it in a couple of days. This should let me keep an eye on copper levels.

 

But before I put *any* Cupramine into the tank, I just wanted to double check to see if the fish will be safe. If any of you have experience with this situation, please let me know.

 

And yes, I plan to get a RODI unit. In the mean time, I think I'll buy water from our LFS rather than continue with my Amquel-based recipe during copper treatment.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

Best,

--

Allen Cronce

[Reefmaster1996]

Hi all,

 

I just set up a new 10 gallon hospital tank this weekend to treat ich. This is the first time I've done this. As per my posted plan, I took about 5 gallons from my BC29, and added 5 gallons of fresh salt water.

 

I don't have an RODI unit yet. I make my salt water using 5 gallons of tap water (I know; phosphates) treated with 2.5 ML of Amquel to take out any chlorine.

 

I want to treat the fish with Cupramine. After researching a little more this morning, it looks like you're not supposed to use Cupramine with dechlorinators. Among other sources, here's the entry from the Seachem FAQ:

 

--snip--

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.

--snip--

 

So at this point, the hospital tank set up and ready. The water was made 24 hours ago. The fish have been in the tank for nearly 20 hours, and I've fed them twice.

 

At this stage, I suspect that all of the Amquel has been consumed or dissipated. I'm thinking that I'll put in a half dose of Cupramine to start with and see if there's any negative reaction from the fish.

 

Note that I do have a copper test kit, but it looks like I got the wrong one (API). From what I hear, I really need a test kit that can more accurately measure the Cu+2 in Cupramine, so I'm ordering the Seachem kit. I'll have it in a couple of days. This should let me keep an eye on copper levels.

 

But before I put *any* Cupramine into the tank, I just wanted to double check to see if the fish will be safe. If any of you have experience with this situation, please let me know.

 

And yes, I plan to get a RODI unit. In the mean time, I think I'll buy water from our LFS rather than continue with my Amquel-based recipe during copper treatment.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

Best,

--

Allen Cronce

I wouldn't trust he LFS sometimes they don't replace there RO membranes. I have used purified drinking water from Walmart with out a problem for almost 7 months now.

[RayWhisperer]

Run a filter with carbon on hospital tank for 24 hours. That'll remove any dechlorinator. Just take it off before treatment. Otherwise you'll remove the medication as well.

[acronce]

Run a filter with carbon on hospital tank for 24 hours. That'll remove any dechlorinator. Just take it off before treatment. Otherwise you'll remove the medication as well.

Thanks for getting back to me RayWhisperer. That sounds like a good idea. I've got a completely unused carbon filter that came with the tank kit.

 

I read elsewhere that Amquel dissipates after 12 hours. But running carbon just in case makes a lot of sense.

 

Best,

--

Allen Cronce

[jec11718]

+1 on carbon, u should be using distilled not purified water