Help to positively identify as ich before medicating (again)

[AquaLifeStudio]

Hanna checker provides reliability which is more accurate than the eye and color test kits.

This has allowed me to be sure that my qt procedure provides me with greater success.

 

[midwestE]

Hanna checker coming in tomorrow!

 

[midwestE]

Just wanted to thank everyone for suggesting the hanna checker. I raised the copper to .55 over last week. Today i decided to test again and it had dropped to .48. So glad i tested because if i had relied on the seachem test, there's no way i would have been able to see that it had dropped below .5. I added enough to get it back to .55 and will make sure to test every few days. I'm wondering what absorbed the .07, but either way I can stay on top of it Thanks again

 

[AquaLifeStudio]

I've had to get used to retesting every few days as copper doesnt necessarily remain in the solution. It could be salt creep at the very least which reduces the concentration, a number of other factors too like any kind of media. Believing 100% in what is on the manufacturer's bottle has lead me to problems with ich in the past due to not constantly checking. The hanna checker had changed all that.

 

[midwestE]

After having the hanna checker for a couple weeks, and with the help provided, I can confirm the suggestions/insight of responses here. Been monitoring the copper levels on a daily basis and I see they are dropping and not consistent.

I have an Aquaclear 50 HOB filter and the filter came with a small bag of ceramic media and I had a small piece of Marine pure from my main display sump that I threw in. This seemed like a good idea at first as I had to swap 25-50% of the water every 3 days or so.

However, that media MUST be absorbing a good bit of copper although in total it's only about 4" x 2" x 3" inside the HOB. For future treatments, I'm going to order two more sponges for the filter as I don't think they will alter the copper level like the media is.

 

[midwestE]

I've had to get used to retesting every few days as copper doesnt necessarily remain in the solution. It could be salt creep at the very least which reduces the concentration, a number of other factors too like any kind of media. Believing 100% in what is on the manufacturer's bottle has lead me to problems with ich in the past due to not constantly checking. The hanna checker had changed all that.

You were spot on, the small bit of media is absorbing the copper. I cant even imagine trying to treat a main display with copper, as even with a small amount of media, the copper is hard to maintain at level