What's the longest someone has had a fish treated with copper?

[jasonrusso]

Let me start by saying I hate copper treatment. I use CP as I feel it is much safer and less toxic to the fish. Copper is a poison and you hope that the parasite dies before the fish, because copper will eventually kill both.

Does copper cause damage to the fish's anatomy where they don't live a full life? I know lionfish treated with copper never live past 3 years.

I'm looking into getting a nice wrasse, but there is anecdotal evidence that wrasses don't tolerate CP. There is an online vendor that treats with copper, but I don't want a fish for 2 years. I want a fish for 20 years.

 

[jasonrusso]

I guess no one wants to answer........... Is it that bad?

 

[mfinn]

@HotRocks
@ca1ore
@4FordFamily

 

[Flippers4pups]

Yes copper is a toxin and depending on the species of fish, can be lethal depending on its level and type of copper.

A great deal of LFS and vendor's keep their live stock in low levels of copper to suppress parasites, not eradicate them. If this is the case, then it should be okay.

Even though a fish has been kept in low levels of copper, one should always quarantine new fish and observe for a period of time. Treat only if signs of disease or parasites when needed going forward.

 

[jasonrusso]

This kind of matches my opinion of copper.

Copper - Treatment, Use, Problems

Thank goodness for copper! Thank goodness that the most troublesome and devastating parasites :eek: to our ornamental marine fishes are killed by the use of copper. But it can't be used casually or as a kind of 'answer-to-all' problems. It's use by aquarists comes with the need for...

www.reefsanctuary.com

 

[jasonrusso]

Yes copper is a toxin and depending on the species of fish, can be lethal depending on its level and type of copper.

A great deal of LFS and vendor's keep their live stock in low levels of copper to suppress parasites, not eradicate them. If this is the case, then it should be okay.

Even though a fish has been kept in low levels of copper, one should always quarantine new fish and observe for a period of time. Treat only if signs of disease or parasites when needed going forward.

I'm not really talking about dying in QT, but does a fish get some sort of anatomical issues from copper. It may show up years later.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I'm not really talking about dying in QT, but does a fish get some sort of anatomical issues from copper. It may show up years later.

Not that I've seen from low levels of copper. Treating parasites with therapeutic levels of copper for the right amount of time has never done any long-term damage from my experience.

 

[mfinn]

I'm not really talking about dying in QT, but does a fish get some sort of anatomical issues from copper. It may show up years later.

where did you hear this?

 

[jasonrusso]

where did you hear this?

It's a theory. I'm just asking if people have experienced it as well. Immersion in a poison can't be good.

Lionfish don't live longer than a few years after copper exposure, and I always have a lionfish.

 

[mfinn]

It's a theory. I'm just asking if people have experienced it as well. Immersion in a poison can't be good.

I really don't think " properly" copper treated fish have any shorter life spans than non copper treated fish.
It's a medication.
Used incorrectly it can harm the fish.

 

[mfinn]

One more thing, while treating with copper in the past using the color comparison test kits it was pretty hard ( for many of us) to accurately determine the true copper strength in the qt tank, but since the discovery that the Hanna High Range tester works accurately using copper has IMO changed the issue of using copper.

 

[4FordFamily]

I really don't think " properly" copper treated fish have any shorter life spans than non copper treated fish.
It's a medication.
Used incorrectly it can harm the fish.

My thoughts are in line with this. However, I see copper as a necessary evil. I kept fish for fewer years before I quarantined, as something would always be introduced and it was horrific -- hence me "switching teams" later.

 

[mfinn]

This kind of matches my opinion of copper.

Copper - Treatment, Use, Problems

Thank goodness for copper! Thank goodness that the most troublesome and devastating parasites :eek: to our ornamental marine fishes are killed by the use of copper. But it can't be used casually or as a kind of 'answer-to-all' problems. It's use by aquarists comes with the need for...

www.reefsanctuary.com

The thread starter leebca wrote that back in 07 and he even advocates using copper, or atleast gives good instruction on how to use it.
But the thing he said about copper shortening the lives of the fish treated in it was used in the first paragraph. He said the " abuse" of copper can shorten a fishes life.

One thing is certain with fish going through the wholesalers system these days, is if you don't treat fish ( with copper, CP, hypo, or TTM ) you run the risk of shortening ALL of your fishes life spans.

 

[Brew12]

I have multiple fish that were treated with copper and are still going strong at the 3 year point. Off the top of my head, a Hippo Tang, Kole Tang, Magnificent Foxface, 3 yellow tailed damsels and a pair of clowns that are within a few months of 3 years old.

 

[Flippers4pups]

My clown pair went in to copper treatment when i first got them, going on 11 years ago!

 

[Brew12]

My clown pair went in to copper treatment when i first got them, going on 11 years ago!

I didn't treat any fish with copper 11 years ago. That would be about 8 years before my first tank!

 

[Flippers4pups]

I didn't treat any fish with copper 11 years ago. That would be about 8 years before my first tank!

Yes Steven, I'm old! .

 

[ca1ore]

I’ve a purple tang in my tank that was treated with copper in 2013 .... no signs of any issue yet LOL. I also use chloroquine phosphate and did lose wrasses during treatment. Anecdotal perhaps, but I don’t use it with them anymore. These days I do observation QT and only treat if symptoms present.

 

[Aaron75]

Isn't copper basically an antibiotic? And if a human takes prescribed antibiotics, it cures their illness. But if you continue taking antibiots past it's usefullness, as with any medication, it can have ill effects eventually.

 

[CavalierReef]

Isn't copper basically an antibiotic? And if a human takes prescribed antibiotics, it cures their illness. But if you continue taking antibiots past it's usefullness, as with any medication, it can have ill effects eventually.

The voice of reason. I concur. Copper has its place in the therapeutic treatment of our fish. Just use caution and best practices when applying.