Questions about dosing Cupramine.

[kv2wr1]

I read the sticky about treating with copper, but I didn't see anything about calculating the right amount for the correct concentration of cupramine needed. Since I have a dwarf angel, tang and clowns in the hospital tank, should the concetration level be 0.3 to 0.4 ppm on account of the dwarf angel? Since with cupramine you start out with 0.25 ppm and then if you follow the directions 48 hours later repeat it should bring you to 0.5 ppm.

Are you using mL and measuring with a graded syringe or drops?

On my bottle it says to use 16 drops (not 20 like on seachem's site) or (1 mL) per 10.5 gallons then repeat in 48 hours. So the initial dose would be 0.25 ppm and then if I repeat it would add another 0.25 ppm for a total of 0.5 ppm.

0.5 ppm is over the limit for a dwarf angel (0.3 ppm - 0.4 ppm).




Since I have a 75g, to get to 0.25 ppm it would be something like this?

16 drops 10.5g for 0.25 ppm
--------- x --------
X 75g for 0.25 ppm


10.5X = 1200

Solving for X = 114 drops roughly

So if 114 drops in a 75g is 0.25 ppm then 228 drops in a 75 would be 0.5


228 drops 0.5 ppm in a 75 g
---------- x ------------
X 0.4 ppm in a 75 g


0.5 X = 91.2

0.4 ppm in a 75g would be about 182 drops total.

If I had already added 114 drops to get 0.25 ppm then I should only add about 68 more drops to get 0.4 ppm in 48 hours.


Does that sound about right?

Also, when you add the initial dosage do you add it over a period of lets say an hour or two for the fish to adjust or do you add it all at once?

Do you add a few drops at a time to a cup of qt tank water and then add that cup of copper water to the qt tank or add the full amount of cupramin to a cup of tank water and slowly pour it in?

I don't mean to sound excessive and appoligize if I am, I just want to make sure that I do this right.

 

[leebca]

Drops are difficult to make reproducible -- that is -- unable to be consistent. You can use drops, just be sure to test the copper using the right test kit. With so many drops involved, you may wish to use another form of measurement. 20 drops is equivalent to 1 ml.

Angels do fine with this medication at full strength, but if you want to be conservative, keep it between 0.3 and 0.5. Just short the drops or addition by 10%. Don't be too concerned. Use the test kit for the accurate copper concentration and just do a small water change to bring it into the range you want.

Since it is such a large amount, adding it directly to the tank, over a one hour period is a good idea. To be sure you don't make an error, measuring it out into a clean, dry, container is a good idea, then adding it from there. No need to pre-dissolve it and in fact, highly concentrated, it may react differently with the salt water.

 

[kv2wr1]

Thanks again Lee. This is good info.