Copper and beneficial bacteria

To(meany)Tang

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Hey everyone. I had a question hoping to get answered. As im new to the saltwater and I don't want to mess up.

So I'm treating my DT with copper. Not planning on owning corals anytime soon and I'm aware that dosing copper will kill off some beneficial bacteria. Is it okay to dose new bacteria to boost my biofilter or will it counteract the copper? Should I wait until the copper treatment is over? My last question is if I'm doing water changes how can i safely do water changes without removing too much copper and dropping below therapeutic levels? Thank you!!
 

MnFish1

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Okay thank you so much. So I can dose a good amount of bacteria and it won't affect my copper treatment?
IMHO - No.
EDIT - IMHO, No, Because many people add bacteria to their QT tanks upon initial set-up. I think it may depend on the brand of bacteria/type - but - Yeah - its all good
 

MnFish1

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Thank you! <3
One problem - is that there is never a perfect answer - there are (for the most part) - no scientific studies - randomized - controlled that answer these questions-- all of us except @Jay Hemdal are just giving - for the most part - our peronsal experience. Which is also valuable IMHO
 
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To(meany)Tang

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One problem - is that there is never a perfect answer - there are (for the most part) - no scientific studies - randomized - controlled that answer these questions-- all of us except @Jay Hemdal are just giving - for the most part - our peronsal experience. Which is also valuable IMHO
Ummm it's too late lol. I dosed 50 gals worth of Fritz Zyme turbo start into my 55 gal. We will have to now wait and see. I wouldn't know either way without doing the science behind it but I'm hoping for the best thank you
 

MnFish1

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Ummm it's too late lol. I dosed 50 gals worth of Fritz Zyme turbo start into my 55 gal. We will have to now wait and see. I wouldn't know either way without doing the science behind it but I'm hoping for the best thank you
All good - I would get a Seachem alert badge for ammonia - my guess is though - its not perfect - its better than nothing (and I think its accurate) - its looking at free ammonia - so if the ammonia is rising - change water - there are multiple water change calculators below that can help- like https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/EffectOfWaterChanges.php
 

MnFish1

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BTW I Do not think its 'too late'
 

vetteguy53081

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Hey everyone. I had a question hoping to get answered. As im new to the saltwater and I don't want to mess up.

So I'm treating my DT with copper. Not planning on owning corals anytime soon and I'm aware that dosing copper will kill off some beneficial bacteria. Is it okay to dose new bacteria to boost my biofilter or will it counteract the copper? Should I wait until the copper treatment is over? My last question is if I'm doing water changes how can i safely do water changes without removing too much copper and dropping below therapeutic levels? Thank you!!
you can add to restore in a sense of speaking as you want denitrification working for you since copper affects the microbe population to a level somewhat unknown. rarely if ever are there ammonia spikes in a QT tank to raise concern regarding bacterial impact.
This is where seeding a sponge becomes valueable
 

Jay Hemdal

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Ummm it's too late lol. I dosed 50 gals worth of Fritz Zyme turbo start into my 55 gal. We will have to now wait and see. I wouldn't know either way without doing the science behind it but I'm hoping for the best thank you
Copper isn’t highly toxic to nitrifying bacteria - in established tanks you’ll not notice any change in ammonia. In new tanks that don’t have a full complement of bacteria, you might see perhaps a 25% drop in activity.
Jay
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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we just had a thread 1 month ago where a massive display tank was ran with copper for like 6 straight weeks/no cycle issues which I was amazed at. I didn't know it's a low-level risk/surely is it seems. it didn't seem to hurt anything, if I'm not mistaken even his inverts were alive still.
 
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To(meany)Tang

To(meany)Tang

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To(meany)Tang

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you can add to restore in a sense of speaking as you want denitrification working for you since copper affects the microbe population to a level somewhat unknown. rarely if ever are there ammonia spikes in a QT tank to raise concern regarding bacterial impact.
This is where seeding a sponge becomes valueable
Yes exactly what I was hoping for. The denitrification. Thank you!!!
 
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To(meany)Tang

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Copper isn’t highly toxic to nitrifying bacteria - in established tanks you’ll not notice any change in ammonia. In new tanks that don’t have a full complement of bacteria, you might see perhaps a 25% drop in activity.
Jay
Okay awesome thank you for the advice. I feel alot more secure now lol
 
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To(meany)Tang

To(meany)Tang

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Copper isn’t highly toxic to nitrifying bacteria - in established tanks you’ll not notice any change in ammonia. In new tanks that don’t have a full complement of bacteria, you might see perhaps a 25% drop in activity.
Jay
Okay awesome thank you for the advice. I feel alot more secure now
we just had a thread 1 month ago where a massive display tank was ran with copper for like 6 straight weeks/no cycle issues which I was amazed at. I didn't know it's a low-level risk/surely is it seems. it didn't seem to hurt anything, if I'm not mistaken even his inverts were alive still.
Wow that's awesome. I don't know if maybe the copper topics have been overhyped and that's the gas that's fueling me lol. But that's why I love r2r because yall always here for us! Thank you
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Taricha has always been good about pointing out the accessory ammonia command in reef systems being the sum total of all photosynthetic plants in the system, micro and macro, in any common reef tank or rock stack that had lights + fish going a while

that's in addition to what bacteria metabolize, which is a lot of ammonia.

it's neat to envision that if the bacteria are suppressed temporarily, the plant action may not be/for sure some synergy keeps biofilters pumping.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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found the thread too
 
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