Salinity and copper

[Spare time]

In this video (at about 8:40 ish), , they state that copper becomes more toxic as the salinity drops. Does anyone know at what salinity level that one would expect or might expect issues with copper toxicity in some fish?

 

[threebuoys]

I have not watched the video, but I believe the issue here is that you should not attempt to use hypo-salinity and copper simultaneously because of the increased toxicity. If you have salinity in the normal range of 1.020 - 1.026, you should not have any issues with copper. Often, fish purchased on-line are shipped in water with salinity around 1.019 - 1.020. In those cases, it's best to gradually increase the salinity over several days to the target 1.026. However, you can begin the copper treatment before the salinity reaches the target if necessary to fight a visible infection.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

In this video (at about 8:40 ish), , they state that copper becomes more toxic as the salinity drops. Does anyone know at what salinity level that one would expect or might expect issues with copper toxicity in some fish?

That isn't true with copper power or coppersafe (coppersafe can actually be used in FW). I don't know where Cupramine stands.

This idea stems from using ionic copper, back in the day. It is toxic in soft, acidic water, with low alkalinity, it isn't the salinity per-se that makes it less toxic, just that higher salinity water also has higher alkalinity.

My reason for not using hypo along with copper is that it increases the stress on the fish, plus hypo has been shown to increase the chance of Uronema, so that is an added risk.

Jay

 

[threebuoys]

That isn't true with copper power or coppersafe (coppersafe can actually be used in FW). I don't know where Cupramine stands.

This idea stems from using ionic copper, back in the day. It is toxic in soft, acidic water, with low alkalinity, it isn't the salinity per-se that makes it less toxic, just that higher salinity water also has higher alkalinity.

My reason for not using hypo along with copper is that it increases the stress on the fish, plus hypo has been shown to increase the chance of Uronema, so that is an added risk.

Jay

My misunderstanding, thanks for the correction!