Copper Test, Cupramine

[cpurick]

I'm using Cupramine, which I am told is not chelated.
I'm using the Seachem copper multitest with the tiny vial of powder and the stirring rod.

Even though Cupramine is not chelated my test continues to darken (considerably) for 15 minutes or more after testing.

When is the test accurate?

[Tech Support JS]

Hello and thank you for your post,

If using Cupramine, which is not a chelated copper, the test results will be most accurate 20-30 seconds after adding the reagents. Please make your reading at this mark. Thank you and have a great day!

[cpurick]

So it does not matter how dark it gets after 20 secs?

I put a boat load of Cupramine into a tank w/ no substrate. Enough to get readings over 1.0 if the dosage actually worked as advertised, though in practice I've never gotten to .5 by following the Cupramine instructions.

The fish were being successfully treated for ich for a week when it suddenly returned Monday, accompanied by velvet.

20-30 secs after stirring last night I read maybe .3-.4. If I allowed the test to sit long enough, it went over 1.0. I couldn't tell if there was too much copper or too little. By this morning they were all dead.

Is the test supposed to continue to get darker, or not?

[Tech Support JS]

Hello cpurick,

I am glad you asked this, and in light of your inquiry I did several tests to find if Cupramine would darken the test over time. Under standard, recommended conditions we found no further darkening after 15, 20, 30, and 35 minutes (at both a concentration of 0.5 and 1.0). Therefore, the concentration should be measured at the 20-30 second mark. In your case, what may be happening is something in your water is binding to the copper and decreasing the rate of reaction of the complex formed between Cupramine and the test reagents. This may be caused by certain outside supplements added to the tank, or possibly by other medications in the tank.
Again, thank you for contacting us!

[cpurick]

Thank you. Then it is likely that my cupramine was very high.

When I got your test kit I saw no measurable copper in the water after a minute. I then added apx .25 to the tank. It was only later that I discovered the tests continued to darken over time. By then the reading was probably over .8, and the fish were weak from being attacked by both ich and velvet.

I would like to suggest that you clarify your test kit instructions along these lines:

"Being non-chelated, Cupramine should yield test results within 20-30 seconds. However, if another agent or medication in the water has bound to the Cupramine, it may take 30 minutes or more for the test to fully darken. If the water continues to darken after 30 seconds, consider the darkest measurement correct."

I can't think of anything that's been added to the water in my QT tank. I did originally mix it from hard tapwater with a carefully dosed dechlorinator. The same water had been used with Cupramine in the past, though the original dose had been long ago removed with carbon.

Live and learn. Well, not the fish, anyway.

[Tech Support JS]

cpurick,

Thank you for your suggestion, as I have have forwarded it to our design department. We will continue to do tests on various parameters to ensure quality. Again, I am sorry for your loss, and please contact us with any future questions.