Will Copper (Cupramine) Kill My Plants

[DISCUS STU]

I may be treating a tank for snail infestation and while my tests outside the tank show that it will effectively eradicate them, I have a very nice Radican Sword in that tank that I don't want to damage though I can remove it during treatment.

While I'm in favor of other methods to do this; like other snails and the like, they're also in my canisters, the tubing etc., so a low dose looks like it may work.

[Hart24601]

Copper killed some of my plants in the past, fast growing ones slowly melted after treatment. I couldn't figure out why my copper levels were not increasing in the tank according to the dosage until I realize the water lettuce I used was absorbing it. They then slowly died.

I would think the effect would be different based on the species, but in general I would remove plants you want to keep.

[Filip]

I think that sword plants from Echinodorus family are amongst hardiest and not likely to die from copper.
With that said I agree with Hart that its better to take out the plants during the treatment . it will not only ensure its survival but it will also ensure the the terapeutic effect of the treatment , because as Hart said , plants can neutralize the strength of medications to some extent and compromise the treatment.

I would bleach dip it prior putting it back with the fish though , just to be sure its clean from the pests youve treated against .

[DISCUS STU]

I would bleach dip it prior putting it back with the fish though , just to be sure its clean from the pests youve treated against .

Thanks Filip. Can you advise on bleach dip? I've never done it before.

[Adam S]

I use Cupramine to treat new plants for snails, a couple drops or so per gallon. This works out to about 1 tsp per 50 gallons, 1 ml per 10.

Just make sure to treat for a few weeks to kill off the baby snails as they hatch.

[Filip]

Thanks Filip. Can you advise on bleach dip? I've never done it before.

5% bleach -water Sol . (50 grams / milliliters bleach in 1 liter of water or little less than 1 cup in 1 gallon ).
Dip the whole plant for 3 min , than ASAP you rinse and put the plant in overdosed Seachem safe / water solution to thoroughly neutralize the chlorine away .
Its pretty harsh on plants but still the most effective method for plants sterilization .
Its adivsed for killing everything , from parasite egg cysts to snails and snail eggs.
It kills and burns plants too :) , but luckily only the softer / weaker ones .

[DISCUS STU]

5% bleach -water Sol . (50 grams / milliliters bleach in 1 liter of water or little less than 1 cup in 1 gallon ).
Dip the whole plant for 3 min , than ASAP you rinse and put the plant in overdosed Seachem safe / water solution to thoroughly neutralize the chlorine away .
Its pretty harsh on plants but still the most effective method for plants sterilization .
Its adivsed for killing everything , from parasite egg cysts to snails and snail eggs.
It kills and burns plants too :) , but luckily only the softer / weaker ones .

Thanks Filip!

[DISCUS STU]

CLOSING CHAPTER (LOL). After having dosed my tank with Cupramine using their recommended doses, though not for snails, and with fish, plants, and everything else in place and not removed I found a reduction but not the elimination of my snail infestation.

After 3 weeks of this reduction I decided to remove all fish to other tanks, dose the plants with bleach, per Filip above, and wipe out all living creatures with about 6 cups of bleach per 10 gallons, my first dose at about half of that didn't entirely do the trick, amazing. After 6 hours EVERY LIVING THING WAS DEAD and the water was a milky white death color and the room smelled like an over chlorinated swimming pool.

Next:
a) I had to remove all the water multiple times to get all bleach residue out of the tank. This consisted of draining and refilling with tap water about 8 times
b) After I was satisfied with that I threw in about 1 tablespoon of Safe and put some carbon into the filter.
c) I re-seeded my canister bio filter from other tanks that were snail free.
d) The above took me about 3 days and I slowly returned my fish back to the tank, days 4,5,6.

As of today; about four weeks later my tank is snail free and I've learned that I must always dose my plants with Filip's prescription above. I NEVER want to have to do this again. Famous last works, lol. :)

[sayid]

I am happy that you have eliminated the snails ,i got rid of mine first time using Kusuri (flubendazole) and second time using praziquantel.
Good luck with future.