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As you might recall, I had a outbreak of marine velvet and crypto which I treated with Copper Safe. That was two weeks ago.

My question is, how long should I keep this copper solution in the water for it to kill off these parasites. I have always gotten conflicting advice on this, so I would love to hear yours. Also, it's been a long time since I've had an outbreak... very long. Right now, all my fishes look perfect and I wanted to add some live rocks to the tank so this is delaying me. I even have an opportunity to get some this weekend.

I can't advise you on the length of your use of copper, as I've been fortunate enough not to have a problem like that just yet. *Knock on wood* If I did, I would treat the fish in a hospital tank, as I know from reading here and from talking to Chriss, my trusted LFS lady, that copper is an invert killer, same as with high levels of phosphate and nitrates.

I have read some reports on the web that are as severe as to say that no inverts or coral can survive in a tank that has ever had copper added to the water. There is no sure way of getting it out, even with water changes and heavy rinsing of an empty tank and the equipment.

Whether that's true or not, I would hate to risk it. I'd suggest you try something like a hermit, a snail, or a small piece of LR encrusted with coralline algae and see what happens after a month. At least then you won't have sunk a huge wad of cash into something that will end in disappointment.

As promised, here is my experience with copper in the tanks. Let it be clear, I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING COPPER, but for those who have and have had their LFS or anyone else tell them they can never again use the tank to hold inverts, well, I'm just saying I have experience otherwise.

In our 90g (4 1/2 years ago) we had an ick outbreak which we were told by the LFS to treat with copper. A month later the ick was cleared up and we think, hmm, a cleaner shrimp would sure help. But now we're told we can't ever keep inverts in that tank. I was not happy so here's what I did.

Start by testing your copper levels. If they are undetectable, this doesn't mean the tank is safe. I used a product called cop-a-way [made by Aquarium Systems in San Diego, I think, but I'll check that if anyone is interested]. This binds the copper that is still present in the water. Note that it doesn't remove it, but "renders it safe". I don't entirely believe that, so I also bought a copper removal pad and put that in the filter system.

I then intentionally lowered the pH gradually in an attempt to "extract" any copper, which might be in the coral gravel etc. Throughout this period I ran the skimmer as aggressively as the crappy old thing would go. The skimmer seemed to remove the bound copper as it appeared. I "cycled" the tank twice with this method, the whole process taking about a month. The fish I had during that time remained healthy, but I would be very cautious using this method if you have any unusually sensitive species. Note also that my copper levels were undetectable throughout.

Once I finished this, I added an invert (I think it was a hermit, but I don't remember for sure).Of course, don't start with any of the echinodermata, as I think they are particularly sensitive. I ended up leaving the copper absorb pad in place for about the next six months. The first invert did fine, so I tried a few more. We ran that 90g up until recently, housing many different inverts who did quite well despite the *^$# nitrates [from the UGF]. So all I can say is we did what we were told we could never do and it worked for us. I'm not a biochemist, so if what I've done breaks any laws of chemistry, I don't want to hear about them. Bottom line is I used copper, I regretted it, I did what in my mind might strip out the copper, and it worked.

Looking back I can't understand why anyone actually uses copper anymore. There are a
number of reef safe treatments available.... WAIT WAIT, I don't have my asbestos suit one. I gotta go!

Oh man, what fish did I have then...hmm. Well I know I had two Clarkii clowns (which are still with us!). We also had several damsels, a Singapore angel, and I think that's it. [See, had I kept a better record then I would be able to answer this question better!].

I went to a pH of 7.9. I chose this value because I believed the fish could survive a gradual shift to 7.9 and that it would be lower than the tank would ever get to under normal conditions once I had inverts. Since then the tank has been very stable at 8.2 or 8.3. It has never dropped even to 8.1. I really don't know how likely it is for any residual copper to leach out of the coral if the pH does drop, but I wasn't gonna take the chance.