Copper Quarantine for Carpenter’s Wrasse

[Instigate]

Hello! I'm going to be quarantining for the first time and would like some clarity on the process. Four Carpenter’s Wrasse are going to show up on Friday. What is the target level of copper? I have purchased Fritz Coppersafe if that matters. Do I dose the water with copper before or after adding fish? If after, how long after? Do I dose it all at once or in steps? Thanks so much!

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I would give the wrasses 48 hours to settle in, and assess them for feeding, etc. Be certain the check the specific gravity of the shipping water and match your tank to that as opposed to trying to acclimate them up slowly. Nots sure if you know, but shipped fish develop ammonia in the shipping bags. The pH of the bag drops though, rendering the ammonia non-toxic. If you acclimate for a long time, the pH rises faster than the ammonia is being diluted and you can burn the fish. So: if the fish arrive at 1.020 and your tank is at 1.025, lower the tank to 1.020 and then acclimate them over. Good dealers will be able to tell you the specific gravity of your fish before they arrive.

Once acclimated, I bring the coppersafe up over one day: Using the tank's actual volume, I dose half the amount of copper. Then I allow it to mix well and test the tank. That helps confirm I am at half dose. I then know I can add the remaining half dose and be right where I need to be.

Jay

 

[Instigate]

Thanks for the reply. And I assume the target level is 2.0 per instructions on the Coppersafe bottle?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I think the full dose for coppersafe is a bit below 2ppm. I have the old gallon jugs, and they just list the 5ml to 4 gallons dose. I then use the API test and a Hach DR2000 spec to read it. What test kit are you using?
Jay

 

[KevinC]

*****important findings from my recent quarantine.

Most of the small fish that might not eat right away or in quarantine tank. However I found out they eat trigger pods!!! Ever since then I have a bottle of triggers in my fridge.