Benggai Cardinal vs. copper

[KWolfe81]

Does anyone know if Banggai cardinals are susceptible to copper? I searched and couldn't find info one way or the other.

I just picked up the cardinal, he was looking great in a fresh QT tank for a few hours (using DT tank water). I treated him with a 1/5 dose of Fritz Coppersafe and about 60 minutes later, he's up-side-down. I don't have test strips yet to check the copper level (they're in the mail), but wow, that was fast. I have another royal gramma that was going to go through the same treatment and he's looking fine. In any case, I'm kinda stumped what happened.

 

[Spare time]

They are fine in copper

 

[MnFish1]

check levels. etc

 

[Spare time]

I also would not use copper strips. You need a quality test kit.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Does anyone know if Banggai cardinals are susceptible to copper? I searched and couldn't find info one way or the other.

I just picked up the cardinal, he was looking great in a fresh QT tank for a few hours (using DT tank water). I treated him with a 1/5 dose of Fritz Coppersafe and about 60 minutes later, he's up-side-down. I don't have test strips yet to check the copper level (they're in the mail), but wow, that was fast. I have another royal gramma that was going to go through the same treatment and he's looking fine. In any case, I'm kinda stumped what happened.

Given the timeline, I would suspect that there was a salinity difference between the tank the cardinal came from and the QT. This species handles copper fine, and a 1/5 dose of coppersafe - even shrimp can handle that.

Jay