Cupramine for QT Treatment

[Bigfish939]

My interest is goldfish and I'm thinking of using Cupramine as a QT treatment for treating flukes, anchor worms and other external parasites when acquiring new goldfish. Is Cupramine too harsh a medication for this proactive purpose and do you suggest any other medication? Would Praziquantel be a better choice for QT purposes?

Cupramine instructions says not to use this in conjunction with other medication but I think I saw an earlier thread where Metronidazole was recommended to be used with Cupramine for a treatment. Can Kanaplex be used simultaneously with Cupramine or Metronidazole? How about all 3 being used together?

Sorry for so many questions all at once.

[Tech Support CH]

Cupramine is fine for quarantine with goldfish.

Personally I prefer to dip the fish in ParaGuard before they even enter the quarantine tank. I do not treat with anything in the water of the quarantine tank, unless the fish show signs that they need treated. Once they are in the quarantine tank, I keep up with the water quality and I feed them a medicated food consisting of Metronidazole (Aquazole in freshwater), Focus and GarlicGuard. The recipe I recommend is 1 scoop of Focus (the scoop comes in the vial of Focus) to 1 scoop of Metronidazole (the same scoop comes in the vial of Metronidazole) per tablespoon of frozen food. Focus is a binding agent that will allow you to bind antibiotics to food and Metronidazole is an antibiotic effective against parasites. Completely submerse this mix of food with the antibiotics in Garlic Guard and refrigerate. This mix works best with frozen food. The previously mentioned recipe is also on the Garlic Guard label. Feed this medicated food mix multiple times a day for at least two weeks (preferably longer). In this recipe you are using our Focus to bind antibiotics to food so they are not wandering in your water column. This is also the best way to treat diseased fish (by making sure they are actually getting the medication by ingesting it).

You can also use this recipe with Kanaplex by substituting it for the metronidazole. This is the only way that I would recommend combining medications, do not treat with Cupramine and Metronidazole both in the water at the same time. You can treat with Cupramine in the water and Aquazole on the food. This would affect any parasites that are free swimming or feeding on the fish.

[Bigfish939]

Ok, thanks.

Another question. I read somewhere that copper sulfate can also be used for treating certain types of algae. Will Cupramine also have the same effect on algae? I'd like to think of Cupramine as a 2-in-1 solution.

[Tech Support CH]

We do not recommend Cupramine for algae control. It is intended as a medication only. Being that we have never studied its effects on algae.

[Bigfish939]

Ok. Thanks again for the info.

One last question, I promise. Does Cupramine stain a tank's silicone/sealant? I searched the Internet and couldn't find anything about it.

[Tech Support CH]

You can ask as many questions as needed. Cupramine will not discolor aquarium silicone.