Daily water changes for ich/copper?

Cheeriup · Jul 12, 2022

I recently posted a thread about a new burrfish with ich. The fish is undergoing treatment with Coppersafe and Prazipro right now and doing well. We are maintaining 2ppm copper.

My question is, I've read a couple of places that you should be doing 50% water changes daily during this treatment. I can't find a lot of other information about this. Is this still the generally recommended route, assuming you're working with an established hospital tank, without elevated ammonia or nitrite levels? Are daily water changes necessary?

Cali Reef Life · Jul 12, 2022

It depends on what the ammonia levels are in the tank. If you had a cycle QT tank then you don't need to. It also depends on the volume and the fish load. The whole point of 50% is probably so you don't damage the fish when its weak with bad water Quality. I personally would a WC every 2-3 days depending on my readings but I had a 20 gallon that I put a sponge in my display tank for a week before I set it up. Seachem Ammonia Alert is a great tool to use. Remember to mix the new water with the correct ratio of copper when you change it.

vetteguy53081 · Jul 12, 2022

Cheeriup said:
I recently posted a thread about a new burrfish with ich. The fish is undergoing treatment with Coppersafe and Prazipro right now and doing well. We are maintaining 2ppm copper.

My question is, I've read a couple of places that you should be doing 50% water changes daily during this treatment. I can't find a lot of other information about this. Is this still the generally recommended route, assuming you're working with an established hospital tank, without elevated ammonia or nitrite levels? Are daily water changes necessary?

The answer is no UNLESS you have high ammonia
Copper protocol is a FULL 30 day cycle. Once you lower the copper level, you have to start the 30 day cycle all over
Prazi is 8 day interval- water change- and another 8 days to full treatment