Fish with ich and ammonia levels high

[Jvesche20]

So recently my fish got ich I moved them into a 25 gallon tub I had 2 fish die on me. One jumped out of the tank. I have a lid so not sure how it got out and the other got sucked into the filter and died. So I’ve had the fish in the tank for less than a week. There’s 9 fish left one of which is an eel. I have the eel in a little bug box that has vents so water can flow and a pvc pipe. I tried to feed it raw shrimp but it didn’t eat it so I left it in there for a few days. Went to check my ammonia levels and they were super high. They were 1.0 now my fish they died in the filter was in there for no more than 2 hours dead. Could the cause be the shrimp that I left in there for around 3 days? I changed about 10 gallons of water so almost half and the levels are still reading high. Doesn’t seem like they went down. Should I remove my fish so they don’t die? It doesn’t seem like any of the fish have ich on their body anymore but I know your supposed to treat them for 4-6 weeks. I don’t wanna spend 3 hrs trying to get my fish out of my DT if they are going to get ich again. Any help on what to do with my levels?

 

[cmcoker]

Water change, and yes it was likely the uneaten shrimp. Any uneaten food should be removed at least daily.

Are you treating with any medication? Copper, and other meds, can mess up liquid ammonia tests

 

[Jvesche20]

Not really sure what it is. I go to the same LFS and I know the guy pretty well. He offered me a job there so when I go I get the hookup. Instead of selling me a $25 bottle he gave me like 5 oz of this blue liquid for a few bucks. Not sure what it is but he said add 1 drop per 5 gallons. I don’t need to add more unless I do a water change. How likely is it for this stuff to affect the readings?

 

[Maritimer]

I don't think that anyone could tell you how likely the "blue stuff" is to affect readings without knowing what the blue stuff is.

Is it copper? Copper (which is one of two chemicals commonly used to eradicate ich, the other being Chloroquine Phosphate) will affect ammonia readings - which is why most people use a Seachem "Ammonia badge" while dosing with copper. If I recall correctly, eels have a sensitivity to copper, and may very well be put off eating in its presence.

~Bruce

 

[Jvesche20]

I don't think that anyone could tell you how likely the "blue stuff" is to affect readings without knowing what the blue stuff is.

Is it copper? Copper (which is one of two chemicals commonly used to eradicate ich, the other being Chloroquine Phosphate) will affect ammonia readings - which is why most people use a Seachem "Ammonia badge" while dosing with copper. If I recall correctly, eels have a sensitivity to copper, and may very well be put off eating in its presence.

~Bruce

I’m not sure what exactly it is but if it’s going to affect my eel should I take it out of the QT and put him in my DT? He hasn’t ate anything in 5 days now

 

[laverda]

I would never dose anything without knowing what it is! Water changes or amiquel to remove ammonia. Having high ammonia is going to make your fish more susceptible to ICH if not kill them outright.

 

[cmcoker]

Since copper solution is blue, I would assume that's what it is until proven otherwise, ay least regarding ammonia detoxifiers, like Prime or amquel they will make copper toxic so I would l not use them. Water changes to reduce ammonia levels.

Maybe take some water from the display, add a drop of the mystery solution and run the ammonia test and see what that gives you.

It could also be methylene blue which can be hard on your biological filter.

Contact your LFS guy and ask what it is, if its copper what kind it is, so you can get a test kit and figure out what level you are shooting for.

For the eel, probably need to move to a separate qt and do tank transfer method.