My first Fish copper Qt treatment

I am not sure where you are getting your quarantine protocol from but the method you described does not line up with any of the medicated protocols I have seen. Specifically, Humblefish’s protocol is to drop fish straight into 2.00ppm copper and then ramp to 2.20-2.30 ppm. The official Reef2Reef quarantine protocol from Jay Hemdal is to ramp to therapeutic dose (considered to be 2.25-2.50 ppm) in first 24 hours via two doses of copper. You should really use one of the established protocols from the respected fish medics. It is not recommended to run your QT tank at 2.00ppm since that does not leave any room for fluctuation of copper levels downwards.

Note also I don’t believe Coral Beauty fish are particularly sensitive to copper. Not sure about Flame Angel or Clown Tangs since I never had to quarantine those.

Quarantine Strategies & Protocols

PART 1: How to Setup a Quarantine Tank Quarantine Strategies & Protocols (updated 4-14-2023) Preface: There is no "perfect" way to quarantine fish. Every method has pros & cons, and in the end it only matters that whatever you do works best for you + your fish. Something that is feasible to do...
humble.fish humble.fish

www.reef2reef.com

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...
www.reef2reef.com www.reef2reef.com
 
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For 40 breeders and smaller tanks I just grab a piece of egg crate then cut to fit around HOB & skimmers. Also cut a feeding door using zip ties for hinges..
 
Slingfox said:
I am not sure where you are getting your quarantine protocol from but the method you described does not line up with any of the medicated protocols I have seen. Specifically, Humblefish’s protocol is to drop fish straight into 2.00ppm copper and then ramp to 2.20-2.30 ppm. The official Reef2Reef quarantine protocol from Jay Hemdal is to ramp to therapeutic dose (considered to be 2.25-2.50 ppm) in first 24 hours via two doses of copper. You should really use one of the established protocols from the respected fish medics. It is not recommended to run your QT tank at 2.00ppm since that does not leave any room for fluctuation of copper levels downwards.

Note also I don’t believe Coral Beauty fish are particularly sensitive to copper. Not sure about Flame Angel or Clown Tangs since I never had to quarantine those.

Quarantine Strategies & Protocols

PART 1: How to Setup a Quarantine Tank Quarantine Strategies & Protocols (updated 4-14-2023) Preface: There is no "perfect" way to quarantine fish. Every method has pros & cons, and in the end it only matters that whatever you do works best for you + your fish. Something that is feasible to do...
humble.fish humble.fish

www.reef2reef.com

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...
www.reef2reef.com www.reef2reef.com
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I searched each fish thats what the results said start them at 1 and go up over 4-5 days not to overly stress them out.

Other members here mentioned those specific fish is what made me look up all of the fish. I was originally just planning to drop them all in a 2.5

The fish i mentioned all said start them lower. Than 2.5
 
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PjFish said:
For 40 breeders and smaller tanks I just grab a piece of egg crate then cut to fit around HOB & skimmers. Also cut a feeding door using zip ties for hinges..
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This netting is what's on all my other tanks. I used some of the magnets on top of the lids of the hob filters. So I can take off the entire screen if I ever need to, or service the filters etc.

I've used these screens on different tanks for over a year. Easy to put together and they look decent. I haven't had a single fish jump. Holes are also smaller than egg crate so no small fish squeezing through.

Funny u mentioned feeding door on the egg crate with zip ties I've actually done that before.
 
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I didn't intend to have any more updates until fish where actually in the tank. However, a potentially major issue came up when I was lowering the copper in the tank to 1.0.

While testing the water I felt tingling. I thought it felt something a few other days in one of the tanks but ruled it off as having a tiny cut on my finger- it felt weird but wasn't concerning.

Last night However I really (a lot more intense couldn't rule it out) felt the tingling in both tanks, call me a idiot but It didn't zap me first few times so I switched hands and put a finger in both tanks. I felt the tingling. I also done it 2-3 times with both hands ruling out a cut.

It felt uncomfortable after 3 seconds. I had to put on a disposable glove to scoop the water out to fill the hanna viles with test water.


Needless to say I won't add fish into potential electrified water.

It's very odd cause it's in both tanks. Some of the equipment is brand new. Though duplicated.

If it was just a peice of faulty equipment I expect one tank would give the feeling not both.

Things both tanks have in common is a shared extension cord thats old as heck (I've already ordered a replacement) they also share a dj power strip plugged into that same extension cord (brand new power strip)

I've also ordered a new multi tester should arrive today I couldn't find the one I have.

I was looking at titanium grounding probes, which I won't rule out for the qt tanks specifically, though I wouldn't mind having them on all my extisting tanks as a precaution. I don't wanna use that ad a stop measure only as a safety. I would prefer to somehow figure out the voltage issue if there is one or if it's my imagination.

@Darkxerox
@Turkeysammich

Open to insights if you guys have any suggestions on this subject. Or what to and how to test for with multimeter. Anything I should look at that would possible effecg both tanks?


Also fear not I won't be a idiot and do finger tests any more. In hindsight I realize how dumb that was.
 
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99% of the time it’s the heaters or an exposed wire on a submerged pump. Looks like you have the Hygger heaters which might be a glass heater inside that plastic enclosure, unless it’s a titanium heater inside. Even if the equipment is new. Check them by process of elimination. Unplug them one at a time and see if there’s still a shock. Also is that power strip plugged into a GFCI outlet?
 
SupraSaltyReefer said:
99% of the time it’s the heaters or an exposed wire on the submerged pump. Check them by process of elimination. Unplug them one at a time and see if there’s still a shock.
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I thought about it. Just both tanks is throwing me off. The odds of both tanks having the same issue considering they don't share equipment. Yet I will give it a try later. When I get the meter in.
 
Sorry to hear that Michael.. just thinking if this could be the black power strip that’s the issue here.. swapping it with the white ones will be a quick test.. they trip for a reason, to save you and your home.. and I saw you have mentioned about electrical in the past as well, so just want you to test it and be careful with it! As Tu also mentioned above, i highly recommend using GFCI outlets if not entire GFCI/AFCI breaker
 
We do do crazy things in our hobby
We plug stuff into the electrical outlets and put the other end into saltwater!
I recommend unplugging the oldest equipment to see if they are the source of “loose” electricity.
 
Test the water with a volt meter. It will give you a better idea of what is going on. Ground probes are ok. But not a solution. Unplug one module at a time. When the volts drop close to zero. That’s the bad unit. But like Tu said. 99% of the time it’s the heater. But back in the day. I had a Powerhead fail. Shocked the crap out of me. Didnt trip the gfi cuz it’s internal.
 
spuri87 said:
Sorry to hear that Michael.. just thinking if this could be the black power strip that’s the issue here.. swapping it with the white ones will be a quick test.. they trip for a reason, to save you and your home.. and I saw you have mentioned about electrical in the past as well, so just want you to test it and be careful with it! As Tu also mentioned above, i highly recommend using GFCI outlets if not entire GFCI/AFCI breaker
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Yea having gfci aren't a option for me at present. I don't disagree with you, but i rent the place so that's beyond a casual modification.

The white one's aren't designed for the load they had. Breaker never tripped, just the outlet itself.

Black one is Similar you one's on all my other tanks.
 
MichaelB said:
Yea having gfci aren't a option for me at present. I don't disagree with you, but i rent the place so that's beyond a casual modification.

The white one's aren't designed for the load they had. Breaker never tripped, just the outlet itself.

Black one is Similar you one's on all my other tanks.
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They make power strips with GFCI. I have never used them myself, but they have them lIke this:

 
Ok so I tried two meter things. Light but one, it didn't Light up with both probes in the water.

The actual multimeter didn't register anything when I had red wire plugged into the left socket. I switched it to the right socket and it showed what's in the pictures below. I don't honestly know how to read or set this thing.

Google search however says anything above 50 volts is considered high. I don't even know if what meter shows is actually volts or something else.

So if it's indeed showing volts than I take it there is legit high voltage going through both tanks.

I plan to turn off equipment one by one to see if one is the cause. After I swap the super old worn out extension cords. New ones should be delivered later today.

20260223_143054.jpg
20260223_143019.jpg

Each image is a of a different tank.
 
I think you have the meter in the right mode.

You want the black probe end inserted in the ground hole of your outlet (make sure it's deep enough to make electrical contact) and the red probe in the water (like you have it). You can also use anything else grounded for the black probe as @PjFish suggested.

1771898128073.png
 
When I started reading about copper treatment in this thread, I didn't realize you'd be using the copper as electrical conduit ;)

You guys are right that heaters are usually the issue, but I have some powerheads that short out, so check those as well.
 
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