# Plants and coppersafe.



## hOAGART (May 13, 2004)

Let your fish eat them.. theyre yummy treats for them


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

hOAGART said:


> Let your fish eat them.. theyre yummy treats for them


wow.. now why did i not think of that? oh you I don't have to my fish will do it for me.. but wait.. they are not eatting them.. thus.. I have to use copper safe.. coppersafe is bad for plants.. mm.. maybe i should ask what plants it hurts huh? 

the point of that logic loop is.. please just answer the question...


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## Wookiellmonster (Jul 29, 2005)

Aren't flukes a bad thing? I'm not sure, I remember learning about them in Biology but I kind of forgot.


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

flukes yes.. they attach to the gilsl and eventually kill the fish.. i lost all my SAEs to them.. (minus one ))


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Some plants are very sensitive to copper, but as I have not used it personally I just can't say which ones. I can, however, offer an alternative suggestion that might help.

Potassium Permanganate is sold as a pool chemical. It is safe for all plants. Mixing enough of it to turn the soak water a solid purple and then soaking the plants will kill parasites (leeches, snails, etc.). Is it possible for you to remove your plants and treat them with PP while you treat your tank with coppersafe, and then use a good dechlor (one which removes heavy metals) and some active carbon + a good water change to get most of the copper out of the tank before putting your plants back in? If I were going to do it myself, I'd soak the plants in PP overnight while leaving the coppersafe in the tank overnight, and then do the WC and active carbon the next morning when you put the plants back in. It covers all bases, and hopefully will be easier on your plants. I know for sure PP is much less harsh than bleach.


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

mm.. what is pp? would Prime remove copper? oh.. and where can i get a big pond size thing of Prime? and CS takes a month to work haha


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## Aquadise (Jul 26, 2006)

pp=Potassium Permangenate

I was just wondering, can I just pour the pp into the tank to cure snails? Lets say I dont have any fishes in the tank.


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

where can i get that PP?


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Go to the pool section of a pool store, or I think they might even carry it in the pool section of a super Walmart. 

Aquadise - a friend of mine who builds ponds for a living regularly doses PP in the springtime on his holding tanks and some of the show ponds. It is safe for the ponds, and while I've never done it inside I would venture to guess that it would be safe. I wouldn't be completely surprised if it dyed your silicone edging purple though! 

When dosing, add it a very little bit at a time, let it mix and keep adding until you get a nice dark purple color. It won't take many crystals to get it dark.


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## yoink (Apr 21, 2005)

JenThePlantGeek said:


> Potassium Permanganate is sold as a pool chemical.


You might try a pool store or simlar store that sells pool chemicals(ace, lowes, etc).


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Prime does say that it handles heavy metals at "typical concentration levels".

Big Als has large jugs of prime:
Seachem Prime 2 Liter at Big Al's Online
Seachem Prime- 4 Liter at Big Al's Online
That 4L one would last you decades, lol.


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

so you jsut add PP till it is purple huh?

darn bigals.. it always freezes when i search for prime haha! 

as for decades I dunno.. with 182 gallosn of water to treat ever week it might last a year.


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## Dave_Discus (Sep 10, 2006)

Have a hospital or quarantine tank...ha ha no...otherwise you wouldn't
have flukes..ha ha. 

Take the fish out and dose copper ina small 10 gallon tank with a couple air
stones. No bio. Change water as instructed and redose copper.

Take down tank and toss substrate, bleach tank, plants,heaters, filters,
everything.

Only way to be 99% sure you get rid of leaches. Flukes only..then not so bad...don't have to tear down..just islolate and treat fish..but leaches...
diff story.

Copper in a plant tank with any substate or rocks is a BAD idea. Copper gets
in everything..even silicone. A reef guy won't even use a tank that had copper in it ever.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

The levels needed to kill the parasites will generally kill the plantas, Copper is a herbicide and we use it to kill aquatic weeds.

It'll also kill all shrimp, inverts etc, and some sensitive fish.
We use to use it more often about a decade ago, it has been repackaged and sold as algae killer still.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Dave_Discus (Sep 10, 2006)

That's right...catfish types don't like copper...and loaches, ghost knife,
ones without true scales...those kinds.


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

mm.. that suck.. I am gonna use Parzi for the flukes. :icon_surp maybe that will kill the leeches too.


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## Dave_Discus (Sep 10, 2006)

Prazi is pretty safe..add an airstone to keep 02 up while treating.


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