Coppersafe-flukes

[si_monsta]

Has anyone used coppersafe to treat flukes? I would appreciate any details on experiences treating flukes as well. I have learned a lot by making newbie mistakes, now I'm ready to get rid of these horrible bugs and make a new start. Thanks for your help!!

Tropical fish (just a few survivors)
35G
28G qt, (not set up yet)

 

[kelly528]

Copper will nuke any sort of invertebrate, ie parasites, snails, shrimp, crabs, planaria, copepods. End of story. So as long as it has copper in it the only living things left in your tank after using it will be fish, plants and bacteria.

 

[si_monsta]

Thanks. I think I would rather be up to my elbows in copper than any more carcinogens. Your tanks sound awesome btw.

 

[kelly528]

True, that!

Thanks, lol-- I started with just one in June and well... let's just say fish qualify as an addictive substance in my books!

 

[snowflake311]

Yeah I personaly think coppersafe is safer for us humans to be around then some of the other chemicals. I use coppersafe it works well but it's a good idea to get a copper test kit to make sure you don't over dose. I test after a water change when you add more copper to bring the levels back up.

Only side effect I had was I treated the tank with coppersafe and maracyn at the same time and it killed my bio filter so I had a mini cycle to deal with.

 

[si_monsta]

Got the coppersafe and the test kit. What level (ppm) do I want to keep it at during treatment? What level is toxic to fish? THANK YOU!

 

[snowflake311]

Got the coppersafe and the test kit. What level (ppm) do I want to keep it at during treatment? What level is toxic to fish? THANK YOU!

1.5 ppm is good they say you can do 2.0 ppm but I keep it at 1.5 or even 1.0. Some people with more sensitive fish only use .50 ppm. Do not let it get over 2.0 ppm then you will be pushing it.

 

[si_monsta]

Thanks very much. I don't ever want to see a split fin again. I am thinking about scrapping substrate, plants and ornaments, and doing near 100% water changes before and after treatment... is this going overboard? This is a life-death situation.. I have seen these flukes kill 4 tiger barbs, it's not a pretty way to go... I was dosing with prazi & metro at the time, didn't make a shred of difference.

 

[snowflake311]

The more water changes the less parasites so it's a good thing.

What are your fish doing that makes you think is it fluke?

 

[si_monsta]

It started with hiding, flashing, darting, clamped fins, and split fins. The split fins continued throughout all attempts at treatment. The fish whose fins actually deteriorated beyond splits died pretty quick after that. My shark is albino and he has dead tissue at the tips of his fins and red pin prick marks on his belly. These symptoms were accompanied in the beginning by signs of internal infection- long stringy poo, swelling and yawning.