- Sep 21, 2006
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Does anyone have any references towards the importance of copper proteinate as one of the added ingredients in most shrimp and snail foods? I remember one topic towards copper proteinate where one of us got an email response from Hikari claiming copper is vital for the shrimps' health. Small concentrations won't normally hurt the inverts especially as it is chelated but I still can't pinpoint the truth behind the reason of adding copper in their foods. I asked Ken of Kensfish this morning for queries about the invertebrate foods and his response that no copper will be added in the foods for inverts had me thinking why would Hikari and a few other companies would add copper in their recipe if copper may not be important at all. I've been trying to dig around the internet but all the searches yielded copper meds being fatal to inverts, etc.
Edit: Found one. Guess I can see it now. Will leave this posted in case anyone may have some important points to share.
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Copper
Edit: Found one. Guess I can see it now. Will leave this posted in case anyone may have some important points to share.
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Copper
Copper (Cu) is an essential nutrient to all higher plants and animals. In animals, it is found primarily in the bloodstream, as a cofactor in various enzymes, and in copper-based pigments. In sufficient amounts, copper can be poisonous or even fatal to all organisms.
The level of free Copper in water that can kill varies enormously across species. Small invertebrates like Shrimps or snails only require a tiny amount.