Crazy work Schedule and Ich Treatment Issues

HotRocks · May 30, 2018

4FordFamily said:
This is true. The man is better at quarantining than I. It took me too long to discover that Copper(un)Safe was the culprit. Oh and my lack of testing. I thought my experience would tell me when to test. Nope. CopperUnSafe changed concentrations. Whoops!

I don't know about all that!

HotRocks · May 30, 2018

Kactai said:
Using seachem stability.

Are you using an ammonia badge? I know Dr Tims and Biospiria are highly recommended to use to kickstart biofilter.

I use Dr Tims and have no experience with stability.

You could be encountering ammonia?

Kactai · May 30, 2018

I do use ammonia badges and have never gone over the green 0.05 ppm colour. Water changes every 2 or 3 days. I will put a new badge on just in case though.

HotRocks · May 30, 2018

Kactai said:
I do use ammonia badges and have never gone over the green 0.05 ppm colour. Water changes every 2 or 3 days. I will put a new badge on just in case though.

Keep in mind, even trace amounts of ammonia can cause Gill damage. If this fish has been exposed to ammonia even at the .05ppm level that could be your issue. A bath in methalyne blue may reverse it. So a combination of ammonia exposure and copper may be the issue. I would also recommend working on your biofilter. If it were well established, you should be able to go quite some time never seeing ammonia spike. I think I have read previously that stability is not nearly as effective as Biospiria and or Dr Tims.

Kactai · May 30, 2018

Well, there you go! It could totally be ammonia in that case. I’ll have to order better bacteria. Dang.

4FordFamily · May 30, 2018

Kactai said:
Using seachem stability.

There’s one problem, that never did a darned thing for me. Zero.

Kactai · May 31, 2018

What are some options for a better Bio filter? I ordered Dr.Tims. I'm using HOB filters and I suspect that there is not much room on the sponge in there to house bacteria. Other than PVC elbows the tank is bare. I know Rock and Sand can absorb/leach copper. Can I just add a large sponge filter? The sponge has been in another display for months now and should be teeming with bacteria. How much of the bacteria will die off when I add it to the Hospital tank containing just over 1.5 ppm chelated copper? Will most of the bacteria did off and cause an additional ammonia spike??

I guess the bacteria probably needs more surface area to populate. Would this be a fair assessment?

What are my options here? I'll try anything to get this QT process nailed down and bullet proof (I know bullet proof doesn't exist in this hobby but I want to get as close to that as I can).

Thanks again for all the help troubleshooting this with me! R2R crew is the best.

JoshKReef · May 31, 2018

Some people (including me) use seachem matrix and a sponge in their HOB for bacteria.

HotRocks · May 31, 2018

Kactai said:
What are some options for a better Bio filter? I ordered Dr.Tims. I'm using HOB filters and I suspect that there is not much room on the sponge in there to house bacteria. Other than PVC elbows the tank is bare. I know Rock and Sand can absorb/leach copper. Can I just add a large sponge filter? The sponge has been in another display for months now and should be teeming with bacteria. How much of the bacteria will die off when I add it to the Hospital tank containing just over 1.5 ppm chelated copper? Will most of the bacteria did off and cause an additional ammonia spike??

I guess the bacteria probably needs more surface area to populate. Would this be a fair assessment?

What are my options here? I'll try anything to get this QT process nailed down and bullet proof (I know bullet proof doesn't exist in this hobby but I want to get as close to that as I can).

Thanks again for all the help troubleshooting this with me! R2R crew is the best.

I use filter floss in my HOB. You do have to be careful because some will absorb copper.

You can use the sponge filter no problem. You would just want to keep it as part of your QT to make sure you don't transfer copper back to a tank you don't want copper in, or throw the sponge away.

Big G · May 31, 2018

I use Bio Max from Fluval that has been soaking in a bowl of Bio Spira/Dr. Tim's. It does not absorb meds or copper.

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Kactai · May 31, 2018

Is it just the fluval ones that don’t absorb copper or is it all ceramic rings? Not sure I can get Fluval ones but I know I can get the aqua clear ones made for my HOB filter.