- Location
- Montclair, NJ
I wanted to post my experience with Copper Power since I just used it. This product was recommended to me by an LFS for ich and it worked exactly as they explained 
. I used it to treat a FOWLR tank. There is no doubt this product will wipe out corals and inverts as it is copper based and the few snails and starfish I could not remove from the tank died. Amphipods and Asian Shore Crabs have survived the treatment though. I found it amazing that the amphipods survived :scratch:
I have had ich on and off for years without any major issues but recently I've added a potential QT tank to my arsenal so I figured I'd kick ich once and for all. I've used Super Ick Cure in the past from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and found it to be toxic to many fish. It did work quickly but there seemed to be a 50/50 chance that the fish being treated would make it through the dosing.
Since I have boxfish in one of the tanks that I wanted to treat I knew I needed to be careful with copper (copper can be problematic for boxfish). It was recommended that I try Copper Power as it is supposed to be less toxic. Apparently it buffers itself to the system making it difficult to overdose the copper (not sure how that works but that is what I was told).
The livestock in the first tank treated are:
5 White Spotted Pygmy Filefish (Rudarius ercodes)
2 Cunners (Tautoqolabrus adsersus)
2 Redtail Filefish (Pervagor melanocephalus)
10 Hass' Garden eels (Taenioconger hassi)
1 Kole Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus)
1 Flame Boxfish (Anoplocapros lenticularis)
2 Naked Gobies (Gobiosoma bosc)
I also added a spotted boxfish (Ostracion meleagris) after I started treatment from one of my other tanks to eradicate ich.
The ich treatment took about 4-5 days before all of the fish were free from any spots. The boxfish responded well to treatment and didn't miss a beat. The white spotted pygmy filefish have laid eggs twice since treatment started so they are fine as well. My Kole tang who has spent most of its time hiding and was covered with ich has been out in the open more often and is eating prepared foods (no spots of ich either).
The one problem I ran into was my garden eels were sensitive to the treatment and I have lost 4 of them within a couple of days. Many of them I have had well over a year. I still have some that seem to be doing fine but clearly copper is not the best medication to use with them.
Overall my experience has been positive with this treatment. The Super Ick Cure I've used in the past worked within 24 hours but was very toxic which resulted in high casulty rates. The Copper Power took about 4-5 days for the signs of ich to disappear but it was much more fish friendly. I have since used the Copper Power on my other FOWLR tank with great results (no fish casulties). I didn't have ich in that tank as far as I knew but I treated anyway as a precaution.
My next step is to see if it is possible to remove the copper from the system and again add inverts without replacing the sand bed and liverock. I'm not overly optimistic but I am not in a rush to add inverts so I have time to experiment. I will need to buy a good copper test kit.
. I used it to treat a FOWLR tank. There is no doubt this product will wipe out corals and inverts as it is copper based and the few snails and starfish I could not remove from the tank died. Amphipods and Asian Shore Crabs have survived the treatment though. I found it amazing that the amphipods survived :scratch:I have had ich on and off for years without any major issues but recently I've added a potential QT tank to my arsenal so I figured I'd kick ich once and for all. I've used Super Ick Cure in the past from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and found it to be toxic to many fish. It did work quickly but there seemed to be a 50/50 chance that the fish being treated would make it through the dosing.
Since I have boxfish in one of the tanks that I wanted to treat I knew I needed to be careful with copper (copper can be problematic for boxfish). It was recommended that I try Copper Power as it is supposed to be less toxic. Apparently it buffers itself to the system making it difficult to overdose the copper (not sure how that works but that is what I was told).
The livestock in the first tank treated are:
5 White Spotted Pygmy Filefish (Rudarius ercodes)
2 Cunners (Tautoqolabrus adsersus)
2 Redtail Filefish (Pervagor melanocephalus)
10 Hass' Garden eels (Taenioconger hassi)
1 Kole Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus)
1 Flame Boxfish (Anoplocapros lenticularis)
2 Naked Gobies (Gobiosoma bosc)
I also added a spotted boxfish (Ostracion meleagris) after I started treatment from one of my other tanks to eradicate ich.
The ich treatment took about 4-5 days before all of the fish were free from any spots. The boxfish responded well to treatment and didn't miss a beat. The white spotted pygmy filefish have laid eggs twice since treatment started so they are fine as well. My Kole tang who has spent most of its time hiding and was covered with ich has been out in the open more often and is eating prepared foods (no spots of ich either).
The one problem I ran into was my garden eels were sensitive to the treatment and I have lost 4 of them within a couple of days
. Many of them I have had well over a year. I still have some that seem to be doing fine but clearly copper is not the best medication to use with them.Overall my experience has been positive with this treatment. The Super Ick Cure I've used in the past worked within 24 hours but was very toxic which resulted in high casulty rates. The Copper Power took about 4-5 days for the signs of ich to disappear but it was much more fish friendly. I have since used the Copper Power on my other FOWLR tank with great results (no fish casulties). I didn't have ich in that tank as far as I knew but I treated anyway as a precaution.
My next step is to see if it is possible to remove the copper from the system and again add inverts without replacing the sand bed and liverock. I'm not overly optimistic but I am not in a rush to add inverts so I have time to experiment. I will need to buy a good copper test kit.
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