CopperSafe (or other copper product): Opinions?

[tcarswell]

It's certainly true that copper is toxic to inverts. However, that aside, personally, I think that the negative claims against copper are largely exaggerated and unfounded As a matter of fact, copper is an effective ectoparacide (among other things) and can be used to treat a range of parasites (including ich), without staining silicone or acrylic as other medications will do. It is cheap, easy to deploy and will not harm biological filtration. Can you imagine spending several thousand dollars on a new acrylic tank and then seeing it discolored blue or green because you treated an ich infection?

I read in the freshwater encyclopedia it absolutely ruins your BB. Does not seem to be the result with people here..

 

[brianp]

I read in the freshwater encyclopedia it absolutely ruins your BB. Does not seem to be the result with people here..

I see that copper is used to kill bacteria in hot tubs. Perhaps it's dose-related.

 

[JakeH]

I read in the freshwater encyclopedia it absolutely ruins your BB. Does not seem to be the result with people here..

This is why I started this thread.

 

[tcarswell]

This is why I started this thread.

I have found many errors in the fish books its sad really. And BrianP I am pretty sure you are right its most likely a dose related thing.

 

[JakeH]

Arise dead thread....ARISE!!! Bumpity for more opinions. Thanks!

 

[BadOleRoss]

Let me start by saying that I did this in a saltwater tank. I added a copper treatment to my 220G reef tank that contained 400lbs of live rock. Within hours, the LR began to die off giving me the ammonia spike from hell killing all of my live stock...which in the SW community is crazy exspensive. It is my opinion that copper does kill of bacteria. I'd stay away from copper if at all possible.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Arise dead thread....ARISE!!! Bumpity for more opinions. Thanks!

LOL.
I've used copper on many occasions and stand with those who have not had their BB crash. Aqueous copper is an effective algaecide, but a very poor bactericide. (Ionic silver on the other hand is a major bactericide but a poor algaecide.)

 

[CHOMPERS]

... I added a copper treatment to my 220G reef tank...

That's a Cardinal sin of the Nth degree in reef keeping.


It wasn't the death of the bacteria that sent it into the downward spiral. It was the death of absolutely everything. Copper has no place in reef tanks. That's covered in SW 101. It's not really fair to use such a gross conceptual error as evidence in fresh water applications. (Sorry if this comes across as harsh.)

 

[JakeH]

That's a Cardinal sin of the Nth degree in reef keeping.


It wasn't the death of the bacteria that sent it into the downward spiral. It was the death of absolutely everything. Copper has no place in reef tanks. That's covered in SW 101. It's not really fair to use such a gross conceptual error as evidence in fresh water applications. (Sorry if this comes across as harsh.)

I gotta agree. The bottle says (in 3 different places) not to use in SW or with inverts. Not blasting you or anything, I really appreciate your input, but going forward, lets just talk freshwater. Thanks for contributing MFK'ers!

 

[JakeH]

One of my new batches of 1" clown loaches came with a SWEET case of super-Ick. As I've said before, I use CopperSafe on all my Loach tanks including the 2 quarantine tanks. The super-Ick was knocked out in just over a week (8 days). Regular Ick never makes it past 3 or 4 days because the spots just fall off & dont come back...