Will carbon remove all copper from tank?

[gsxrguru2]

I have a niger trigger that I just recently acquired and he appears to have ich. I qt'd him and put the Selcon in the tank (10g). However, I forgot to remove the carbon from the small HOB filter. Should I remove the carbon and put the med back in the tank?

 

[reefrunner69]

Selcon is not a medicine and to my knowledge contains no copper, it's a food additive that makes the food more nutritious. If the trigger appears to have ick, I'd suggest using a hyposalinity treatment on it. It's more effective and less stressful than copper.

 

[gsxrguru2]

hmmm... I must be thinking of something else. Well, whatever the brand, it was copper that I added to the tank this morning before going to work.

As far as a hyposalinity treatment, what should the SG be at, and how long do you do the treatment for (its a dip, right?)

 

[Fluff]

Hypo is less stressful to the fish but it is something that you need a refractometer to do with any accuracy. And it is a process over a few days of lowering the salinity.. Here is an article that will help explain.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?fldAuto=50&faq=2

 

[reefrunner69]

No, it's not a dip, it's done in the quarantine aquarium.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

If you did add copper, depending on how old the carbon was it may have removed all or only some of it, it's doubtful that it removed all of it though. Copper treatment requires monitoring the amount of copper in the water and daily additions of just enough copper to maintain the proper amount to kill the parasite, but not so much as to kill the fish. That's one of the problems with copper treatments, not enough...you don't get rid of the parasite, too much and you injur or kill your fish as well as the parasite. and it's a fine line to distinguish between the two.

 

[gsxrguru2]

Thanks guys, I'll definitely go that route. The filter that contained the carbon was brand new so I'm assuming that it has probably removed a good portion of the copper.

 

[roka64]

I'm not sure how much of the copper the carbon will remove. But it is best to remove the Bio wheel (because the meds can kill your beneficial bacteria) and carbon (since that filters the water, to make it crisp and clear).
reefrunner69 is right, selcon is a food additive (I use it, myself).
Fluff also has a good point, the hyposalinity is a great way to go and a lot less stressful on the fish.