Cupramine and protein skimmer use

[pecan2phat]

Hi Seachem,

I wanted to verify what I read on the FAQ regarding Cupramine.
I 'm aware that treatment should be done in a bare quarantine tank when possible but in my situation, I was not able to do so.
I'm also aware that aragonite sandbeds and liverock will absorb a good amount of the copper but my concern was with the continued use of a protein skimmer during treatment. I can't seem to keep a solution of even .25 ppm in the water column even after 7 doses of 1ml per 10 gallons in my 90g fowlr tank. (the 7 doses were applied over the course of about 4 days)
I'm now concerned whether the protein skimmer is taking the solution out of the water column or is my live rock and aragonite sandbed still absorbing the Cupramine?
Should I shut down the skimmer or continue to dose until I can keep a stable level of .25 ppm before moving onto .50 ppm?
I am testing with the Seachem copper test for accuracy.

It's a long story of why I'm treating the main tank vs the fish in a quarantine tank but briefly, Kick-Ick at double doses for multiple treatment doses, Rally at also multiple treatment doses, No Sick Fish at 5 consecutive weeks and Hyposalinity at 1.009 for 38 days and a second time at 1.007 for 45 days have yet to work for this tank. I have been fighting ick since Sept. of '05 and am battle weary and all the above mentioned "reef safe" products (was just trying to spare my live rock and snails since there are no corals in this fowlr tank) has cost me about $500 so far. (Also have tried Paraguard and metronidazole too!) You might guess why the live rock is trivial at this point.

So back to the question, is the protein skimmer taking out the Cupramine every time I redose the tank?

Thanks.

[Tech Support CH]

Cupramine is an amine bound to a copper. This makes it removable by things that will pull amine out. This includes carbon and protein skimmers. You can try to adjust your filter to skim very dry or the better option would be to turn it off.

I would also verify your test kit against the provided reference to make sure the kit is functioning properly. Let me know if you have any problems.

You will need to maintain your copper level above 0.02 mg/l for at least 2 weeks to successfully kill the ich.

[pecan2phat]

Based on your reply, Seachem should remove the following statement on the FAQ for Cupramine:

"Q: I am treating my 90 Gallon tank with Cupramine. I've removed the activited charcoal and carbon and I turned off the UV and the Ozonizer. Shoud I turn off my Protein Skimmer?
A: It is perfectly acceptable and recommended to leave your skimmer on during treatment."

I'll go ahead and shut down my skimmer now.

For some reason, the reference solution does not test positive (or turn any shade of blue) when I use it to test the reagents but on a normal test with tank water, the test will show various shades of blue so I am thinking that the test kit is good but not the reference solution provided.
For example, if I test the tank parameters after an intial 1 ml per 10 gallons, the test would show close to .025 ppm of copper. After 12 hours, this would drop to half and then I would redose and so on. I'm sure the live rock and sandbed was absorbing much of the copper but also that the skimmer was taking it out also.

In your opinion, should I replace my multi-test copper kit since it is a few years old?

[Tech Support CH]

IF the provided reference solution does not give the desired results you should contact us for further information. I have sent a PM.