Fritz Coppersafe- dose all at once?

[hannernanner]

Hi all,
I've got a pair of Bangaii Cardinals in my QT tank. I wanted to give them a couple days sans copper to make sure they were active and eating before stressing them out. They're doing well, so now I want to treat them with Coppersafe (chelated copper sulfate) for 30 days before intro into my DT. The bottle gives the proper dose, but seems to indicate it should be dosed all at once. I've heard other folks mention that it's less stressful for the fish if the copper level is raised over the course of a couple days. What should I do, does it make that much difference?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I dose Coppersafe all at once in my quarantine systems, and the fish are always fine. However, I know the exact water volume (not the rated volume) of my systems, so I can dose accurately. I also use pipettes or volumetric flasks to accurately measure the amount I dose. What I suggest for home aquarists is to try and calculate their actual water volume as best they can, that then dose Coppersafe at 50%. Let the water circulate for a few hours and test the tank with a good copper test kit (Hanna checker by far is the best way to go!). Then, see if you are at half a dose (should be around 1.25 ppm). If so, then dose another 50% to get to a full dose. If at a half dose, you are higher or lower than you should be, then your tank volume is off, and you need to adjust the second dose accordingly.

Jay

 

[hannernanner]

Thanks Jay!

 

[EakTheFreak]

I dose Coppersafe all at once in my quarantine systems, and the fish are always fine. However, I know the exact water volume (not the rated volume) of my systems, so I can dose accurately. I also use pipettes or volumetric flasks to accurately measure the amount I dose. What I suggest for home aquarists is to try and calculate their actual water volume as best they can, that then dose Coppersafe at 50%. Let the water circulate for a few hours and test the tank with a good copper test kit (Hanna checker by far is the best way to go!). Then, see if you are at half a dose (should be around 1.25 ppm). If so, then dose another 50% to get to a full dose. If at a half dose, you are higher or lower than you should be, then your tank volume is off, and you need to adjust the second dose accordingly.

Jay

I thought that 1.5 - 2.0 was the full dose. If you end up @ 2.5 ppm aren’t you over the therapeutic dosage recommended?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I thought that 1.5 - 2.0 was the full dose. If you end up @ 2.5 ppm aren’t you over the therapeutic dosage recommended?

IDK, I ran a series of carefully pippetted samples and it averaged 2.53 mg/l. It doesnt say on my bottle.
Jay