How long to to treat with copper?

Monza28 · 03-17-2008, 06:50 PM

Last week my Royal Gramma stopped eating one day, upon a close inspection I saw small white dots on his tail and pectoral fins. After a day and a half with no improvement I went out and got some coppersafe. I have been following the directions and keeping the level at around 1.5ppm CU. My question is how long should this level of copper present? A week or two? The directions on the packaging and bottle say nothing about this. Thankfully this happened while he was still in the QT. I plan on keeping him in there an additional 4 weeks AFTER the end of the copper treatment. But I just dont know how long to treat him with copper for.

Reefbaby · 03-17-2008, 07:26 PM

If a parasite goes through an egg- or cyst-laying stage, one should treat for at least 3 weeks.

Monza28 · 03-17-2008, 07:30 PM

Well I'm assuming (key word, assuming) that what my royal gramma has/had is marine ich. I haven't seen anymore spots on him. I just wanna be sure I eliminate the disease while at the same time not exposing the fish to more copper than need be.

Reefbaby · 03-17-2008, 07:34 PM

So, how long has he been spot-free? Is he eating again?

Monza28 · 03-18-2008, 06:31 PM

He went spot free after two days of treatment. He has been eating since the day after adding the copper. Today is his 5th day being treated with coppersafe.

Reefbaby · 03-18-2008, 06:35 PM

As long as he's staying healthy and eating well, I would finish the treatment. The worst thing would be to carry over the cysts into the tank and infect all the fish!