alright...ive got it through my skull...copper is bad, no copper is good. As i am buying a 2nd hand tank what are the odds that they will have used a medicine containing copper...

no idea myself how common it is!

Of course i wont buy a tank im not 99% sure about. what i need to know is what medicines should i ask about or look out for. I will take a sample of their water but some of the tanks arent so close to home so it would be handy to have some idea of marine meds which have copper so i can ask over the phone first! Is there a list somewhere or could everyone contribute a few they know of?

thanks for your help

sam

hi sam,
there are a huge amount of copper based meds out there and i dont think you'll find a complete list...

you are right in thinking that only a water test will show you the truth but if the tank has healthy inverts living in it right now then that is at least a good sign before you buy it

i can take a sample to the pool shop for a test. Im going to check out a 6' tank soon - next week? - so ill get a sample if they let me...thanks for the reply

Ask the previous owner if they had 'Ich'. It looks like little white spots on fish and the common treatment is copper, since the Ich is an invert. FYI Ich is best treated by heating the water some and sometimes adding salt.

Thanks B O E

had heard of copper in ich treatment - i thought ich was freshwater!!! Guess again...shows how little i know!!! :|

What cephs do you have BOE?

Well ich is freshwater. I guess I missed where you said this was a salt tank to start with. :(

I have The Agent. :)

ahhh so the agent is yours!!!

nice guy

yeah i know there is freshwater ich but i thought i had read - in a forum perhaps - not sure - that there was a marine variety? Sorry forgot to mention its a marine tank already!

thanks BOE

Yeah there is a parasite that is similar to Ich called coral fish disease.

i take it that is a copper med?

No, its a parasite similar to ich but its marine.

i meant does it require a copper med to cure it usually

Yes. Since it is an invert, it is vunerable to copper.