Copper Safe?

[stpower]

I have an enormous outbreak of Black Beard Algae in my 60G tank. I put a piece of plant in the tank and didn't realize what was growing on it, now I know. I was told to use Copper Safe to remove it. See my Tank Specs below for a list of my fish. There are only a couple of plants in it and I was going to bleach them in a 1-10 solution and put them in another tank for awhile.

I already bought the Copper Safe just debating whether to use it, one other thing my tank is fresh and my LFS gut sold me Saltwater?

 

[VoodooChild]

I may be wrong here, but I have no idea why they'd recommend that to you. I don't think it'll matter too much to the algae if there's copper in the water. Oh, and the kuhlis and maaaaybe the plecs will have a definate problem with it.

 

[OrionGirl]

Copper safe is used to treat parasites, like ich and some infections, like velvet. I've never heard of using it on BBA. Usually, BBA can be treated with manual removal, and the bleach dip. I wouldn't use CopperSafe without confirmation--the manufacturer (Mardels) indicates that it can damage plants.

 

[KateA.]

Agree with everyone so far. Copper will definitely affect any catfish/plecos and other scaleless fish. I suppose long, long term it might kill the algae, but who could wait that long? Someone at your LFS didn't read the label and mistakenly sold you the saltwater. Those Mardel products have similar labels.

 

[stpower]

The owner of the store said he used it in his own tank and it worked great??? I don't know what to do? All I here is Copper Safe and Flying Foxes? I had a flying fox but the large barbs and chiclids chased him so much I brought him back to the LFS. This BBA is ruining my tank. :-(

 

[NickH]

Agree that Coppersafe to remove algae is a strange suggestion. However, I've used Coppersafe in tanks with Plecos and they were not affected by it. Plecos are not 'scaleless' fish.

If copper does kill this algae, I would use it as a last resort only. Once chelated copper is added to a tank, you almost never completely get rid of it. You have to break it down and start over again.

 

[wetmanNY]

When you hear about successful treatments using copper, you should always ask "what was the pH?" Copper is much more toxic at lower pH. At higher pH it's more likely to precipitate. Change the pH in the future, and that ol' copper is ba-ack! killing your Amano shrimp...

Black brush algae is a red alga. There's material and links about dealing with this dread scourge at www.thekrib.com and www.skepticalaquarist.com Go to the algae pages of course...