# Trace supplimentation (appropos for this area)



## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Hey folks,

Who's using what trace element mixes in their tanks? In the past I've had awful shrimp kills and blame it mostly on Cu in my trace mix (and maybe in my water pipes). Now that I can't get Amanos cheaply I need to be extra careful with them. 

What brands of trace mix do most of you use? 

Does anyone know of a good agent to take Cu out of tap water?

Thanks!
Phil


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## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

I've used CSM+B, Seachem Trace and I'm currently using Tropica Plant Nutrition in my cherry tank. I've never had any copper related problems. As long as you dose the recommended levels you should not have problems. More important is to make sure the food does not have copper in it. If you're dosing at the recommended levels and are having deaths, it's not the dosing. I would look at either the level coming from your pipes or the food you're feeding. Cherry shrimp are not as sensitive to copper as people are making them out to be. I can't speak for other varieties of shrimp. I only have Amano's and Cherries.


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## treefish (Oct 10, 2007)

I'm curious as well. I did see this chart recently:
http://www.gpodio.com/fert_table.asp
It seems as though Flourish is the most comprehensive with the least amount of Cu.


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## StereoKills (Sep 15, 2007)

I use flourish in my planted RCS tank. No problems at all. I chose it specifically for it's low Cu content.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Thank you! That's exactly what I needed (and sort of hoped) to hear. Flourish it is unless more of you have experiences to outweigh the good news of Flourish.


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## FacePlanted (Aug 13, 2007)

I also use flourish in my RCS and amano shrimp tank. 
I add 3mls flourish + 1ml flourish iron daily to my 29gal.

-Mike B-


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Phil, I've found that _Kent_ micros has less CU then other brands.


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## Halibass (Jan 28, 2007)

I use Tropica Plant Nutrition and my Cherries are doing great. My CRS aren't breeding as much, but they aren't dying off either.


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## Purrbox (Jun 1, 2006)

I'm using CSM+B and haven't had any issues with it. I don't have much in the way of copper in my tap water and I do avoid foods containing copper just to be on the safe side.


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

I was having a problem with shrimp dieing off en masse and after changing the food to a non copper containing variety, and changing from Am-quel to Prime, the problem went away and I should have 3x as many shrimp in the next few days (3 berried shrimp all look ready to pop). I dont know for sure if it was the food or what but I do know that I only changed those two parameters (and did a bunch of water changes) and the problem magically went away.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Thank you.


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