UV?

[manny14]

Can I run my uv with 0.05 copper according to Hanna? I dozed cupramine back in December.

 

[Fish Styx]

Absolutely not. The UV light will spike your copper ions to deadly levels.

Edit: not sure on cupramine, since it is already ionic copper and not chelated. As a rule, I don't run UV on QT systems out of precaution. We may want to wait for someone more knowledgeable to jump in.

 

[Fish Styx]

@Randy Holmes-Farley any input here?

 

[bushdoc]

Question is why would you like to run UV with copper medication?
I presume you are doing it in QT or treatment tank. Copper is much more efficient in killing free swimming form of parasites (Theront) then Hobby grade UV sterilizers.

 

[maroun.c]

I stop my Uv in the qt after I dose copper, I'll turn it on again after I do water changes and have fish in there without ant treatment. Uv is said to make copper much more potent/toxic... not sure how that would be different with different copper brands but again don't see the value of UV when u have copper in the water.

 

[Fish Styx]

I stop my Uv in the qt after I dose copper, I'll turn it on again after I do water changes and have fish in there without ant treatment. Uv is said to make copper much more potent/toxic... not sure how that would be different with different copper brands but again don't see the value of UV when u have copper in the water.

UV light destroys the bonds in chelated copper, turning it into ionic copper. The amount in the conversion is generally sky high and lethal.

 

[manny14]

UV light destroys the bonds in chelated copper, turning it into ionic copper. The amount in the conversion is generally sky high and lethal.

Even at 0.05?

 

[gbroadbridge]

Even at 0.05?

0.05 on a Hanna is meaningless. The error on a Hanna HR is +-0.05 +- 5% so you could have zero or you could have over 0.10 ppm.

I don't know why you want to do it- the risk outweighs any benefit.

 

[Fish Styx]

Even at 0.05?

I'm not astute enough to do the exact calculation of the conversion, so I do apologize. As a rule of thumb, though, do not run UV on QT / hospital tanks. There isn't a need, because, as stated, their efficacy at treatment and prevention pales in comparison to copper or other medications. Additionally, the risk of spiking ionic copper levels is just too high.

 

[maroun.c]

I do use them in qt when not quarantining and my reasoning behind it is many times I qt multiple fish together. First few days I just get the fish to eat before running copper and then prazi. If I see symptoms of disease I'll treat earlier but then a UV would have minimized the contagion to other fish from the one who brought it till copper kicks in. Believe this will decrease mortality to the diseased fish as well to other ones in the qt simply by cutting down on a considerable percentage of photomontage and theronts reinfecting fish till I have copper in to take care of them. A properly sized uv and low flow is of course a must here.

 

[Fish Styx]

I do use them in qt when not quarantining and my reasoning behind it is many times I qt multiple fish together. First few days I just get the fish to eat before running copper and then prazi. If I see symptoms of disease I'll treat earlier but then a UV would have minimized the contagion to other fish from the one who brought it till copper kicks in. Believe this will decrease mortality to the diseased fish as well to other ones in the qt simply by cutting down on a considerable percentage of photomontage and theronts reinfecting fish till I have copper in to take care of them. A properly sized uv and low flow is of course a must here.

Excellent points.

 

[mosreef]

Thank you so much for this thread - I would never have known the dangers of UV and copper.

Currently quarantining a purple tang in Copper and the water is cloudy because he eats and poops a HUGE amount. Was considering UV but of course searched Reef2Reef first.

Many thanks!!!

 

[mnl119]

0.05 on a Hanna is meaningless. The error on a Hanna HR is +-0.05 +- 5% so you could have zero or you could have over 0.10 ppm.

I don't know why you want to do it- the risk outweighs any benefit.

This is not "0.05 +/- 0.05" as you've outlined. It is "0.05 +/- 0.05*(.05)" or "0.05 +/- 0.0025."

The 5% applies to the measured 0.05.

 

[gbroadbridge]

This is not "0.05 +/- 0.05" as you've outlined. It is "0.05 +/- 0.05*(.05)" or "0.05 +/- 0.0025."

The 5% applies to the measured 0.05.

The two are cumulative