How much water change can I do?

[Jvesche20]

so currently my fish are all in a QT and my nitrate and nitrite levels are super high. I tried to do a 25% water change and it didn’t pull the levels down. I have 9 fish in a QT right now trying to cure for ich.

My question is how much water can I change? Can I do a 100% water change or is this a bad idea?

 

[NY_Caveman]

so currently my fish are all in a QT and my nitrate and nitrite levels are super high. I tried to do a 25% water change and it didn’t pull the levels down. I have 9 fish in a QT right now trying to cure for ich.

My question is how much water can I change? Can I do a 100% water change or is this a bad idea?

How big of a QT for nine fish? That just seems like a lot of fish for a small QT. I would say do two 50% changes an hour or so apart and if it is still high keep doing them. I am no QT expert though. Perhaps others will have better info.

@HotRocks, any thoughts?

Likely if the bioload is very high, you may be changing a lot of water.

 

[Crabs McJones]

What treatment are you using to cure your ich? Keep in mind that if its copper, and you do a big water change taking the copper levels out of the therapeutic range, your 30 day treatment starts all over. What test kit are you using to determine your nitrate levels? And how big of a quarantine is it? 9 fish might be overload for your tank size

 

[Jvesche20]

What treatment are you using to cure your ich? Keep in mind that if its copper, and you do a big water change taking the copper levels out of the therapeutic range, your 30 day treatment starts all over. What test kit are you using to determine your nitrate levels? And how big of a quarantine is it? 9 fish might be overload for your tank size

I’m using copper. If I dose it again will it not be the same? I’m using api I know they aren’t the best. I just havent got around to buying better yet. The tank I have them in is 25 gallons. I kinda figured it would be a lot I just wanted to get them in something as fast as I could.

How big of a QT for nine fish? That just seems like a lot of fish for a small QT. I would say do two 50% changes an hour or so apart and if it is still high keep doing them. I am no QT expert though. Perhaps others will have better info.

@HotRocks, any thoughts?

Likely if the bioload is very high, you may be changing a lot of water.

Tank is 25 gallons.



My fish are normally in a 125gal but I wasn’t able to get my hands on a bigger QT

 

[HotRocks]

You can perform 100% WCs. However it's going to be a never ending battle if you have nitrite registering. That means your biofilter is not handling the load and processing ammonia properly.

You may need to add a bacterial in a bottle product like biospira or Fritz turbo 900 to speed up the establishment of a biofilter.

Do you have any media for the bacteria to colonize upon?

Do you have an ammonia badge?

How many gallons is the QT?

I am also interested in your answers to the others questions as well.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I’m using copper. If I dose it again will it not be the same? I’m using api I know they aren’t the best. I just havent got around to buying better yet. The tank I have them in is 25 gallons. I kinda figured it would be a lot I just wanted to get them in something as fast as I could.



Tank is 25 gallons.

Yes if you dose it again itll be the same, but when you do your large water change, you pull it out of the therapeutic range for a little bit, theres a chance that if you don't start the 30 day treatment over, that the ich will survive.

 

[HotRocks]

I’m using copper. If I dose it again will it not be the same? I’m using api I know they aren’t the best. I just havent got around to buying better yet. The tank I have them in is 25 gallons. I kinda figured it would be a lot I just wanted to get them in something as fast as I could.



Tank is 25 gallons.



My fish are normally in a 125gal but I wasn’t able to get my hands on a bigger QT

Probably a heavy load depending on the type/size of fish.

The key is when doing a 100% WC you have to siphon tank water into a bucket. Place the fish in the bucket. Perform the WC. Redose copper and then put the fish back in. (This order prevents them from ever being exposed to a fluctuation in Cu level as long as the new water is dosed to match the existing water exactly)


This is very important as @Crabs Mcjones stated. If the fish are exposed to a sub-therapeutic level during the WC you have to restart the clock.

 

[Jvesche20]

You can perform 100% WCs. However it's going to be a never ending battle if you have nitrite registering. That means your biofilter is not handling the load and processing ammonia properly.

You may need to add a bacterial in a bottle product like biospira or Fritz turbo 900 to speed up the establishment of a biofilter.

Do you have any media for the bacteria to colonize upon?

Do you have an ammonia badge?

How many gallons is the QT?

I am also interested in your answers to the others questions as well.

What do you mean ammonia badge? My ammonia is reading at 0. I don’t have any media for the bacteria. Only thing I could think of is I’m using a HOB filter for the QT and with that being said I have those cheap filters installed inside the HOB filter. My tank they are in right now is 25 gallons. The only fish I’m worried about is my blue tang. I think the levels are impacting him. He doesn’t like to swim in the QT here’s some pics of the fish. Fish is a little pale cause the lights have been out for 4 hrs (had work).

 

[Jvesche20]

Probably a heavy load depending on the type/size of fish.

The key is when doing a 100% WC you have to siphon tank water into a bucket. Place the fish in the bucket. Perform the WC. Redose copper and then put the fish back in. (This order prevents them from ever being exposed to a fluctuation in Cu level as long as the new water is dosed to match the existing water exactly)


This is very important as @Crabs Mcjones stated. If the fish are exposed to a sub-therapeutic level during the WC you have to restart the clock.

Alright so to get this straight if I do a 100% WC I put the fish into a bucket with my tank water. I dump all my water out of my QT. Then I add new water and dose it then add the fish back?

 

[Crabs McJones]

What do you mean ammonia badge? My ammonia is reading at 0. I don’t have any media for the bacteria. Only thing I could think of is I’m using a HOB filter for the QT and with that being said I have those cheap filters installed inside the HOB filter. My tank they are in right now is 25 gallons. The only fish I’m worried about is my blue tang. I think the levels are impacting him. He doesn’t like to swim in the QT here’s some pics of the fish. Fish is a little pale cause the lights have been out for 4 hrs (had work).

Ammonia alert badge. Copper can mess with test kits, an ammonia alert badge isnt effected. They can be found at almost any pet store that sells fish

 

[Jvesche20]

Currently have a blue tang in the pic above, 3 clowns, 1 Blenny, yellow tang, sailfin tang, damsel, and a snowflake eel that’s in a bug box with some pvc pipe

 

[HotRocks]

What do you mean ammonia badge? My ammonia is reading at 0. I don’t have any media for the bacteria. Only thing I could think of is I’m using a HOB filter for the QT and with that being said I have those cheap filters installed inside the HOB filter. My tank they are in right now is 25 gallons. The only fish I’m worried about is my blue tang. I think the levels are impacting him. He doesn’t like to swim in the QT here’s some pics of the fish. Fish is a little pale cause the lights have been out for 4 hrs (had work).

Seachem ammonia badge. Copper will not allow your readings to be accurate with most ammonia test kits. The ammonia badge will read accurate with copper present.

That fish is far too large for a 25g QT +8 other fish. I'm assuming it isn't eating either by the sunken belly?

The HOB is great but you need some sort of sponge or ceramic media for the bacteria to live upon an colonize.

 

[Jvesche20]

Ammonia alert badge. Copper can mess with test kits, an ammonia alert badge isnt effected. They can be found at almost any pet store that sells fish

Ah I see I don’t have one but my readings for ammonia are reading very low. Not sure if it’s actually low or if the readings are messed up

 

[HotRocks]

Alright so to get this straight if I do a 100% WC I put the fish into a bucket with my tank water. I dump all my water out of my QT. Then I add new water and dose it then add the fish back?

That is correct, yes.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Seachem ammonia badge. Copper will not allow your readings to be accurate with most ammonia test kits. The ammonia badge will read accurate with copper present.

That fish is far too large for a 25g QT +8 other fish. I'm assuming it isn't eating either by the sunken belly?

The HOB is great but you need some sort of sponge or ceramic media for the bacteria to live upon an colonize.

Agreed, a 40 breeder at minimum should suffice. I think the dollar per gallon sale is going on at petco currently. Might be something to consider.

 

[Jvesche20]

Seachem ammonia badge. Copper will not allow your readings to be accurate with most ammonia test kits. The ammonia badge will read accurate with copper present.

That fish is far too large for a 25g QT +8 other fish. I'm assuming it isn't eating either by the sunken belly?

The HOB is great but you need some sort of sponge or ceramic media for the bacteria to live upon an colonize.

The tang has been eating I feed them frozen brine shrimp and the tang will pick at the block while the other fish just wait for it to thaw out. But today the tang didn’t eat anything that’s why I was worried and decided to test my levels.

What kind of sponge should I get and do I just throw it in the tank?

 

[Jvesche20]

Agreed, a 40 breeder at minimum should suffice. I think the dollar per gallon sale is going on at petco currently. Might be something to consider.

Is it really? Awesome I’ll have to check it out tomorrow

 

[HotRocks]

Agreed, a 40 breeder at minimum should suffice. I think the dollar per gallon sale is going on at petco currently. Might be something to consider.

40 would be much better for sure. I prefer a 55 for larger tangs minimum. I understand though you are just trying to take care of your fish and do the right thing. Cannot fault you for that. You may be able to make this easier on yourself if you Up-size your QT or add another.

 

[Crabs McJones]

The tang has been eating I feed them frozen brine shrimp and the tang will pick at the block while the other fish just wait for it to thaw out. But today the tang didn’t eat anything that’s why I was worried and decided to test my levels.

What kind of sponge should I get and do I just throw it in the tank?

Are you feeding anything else? Brine shrimp are very low in nutrition and may not be supplying the tang with the nutrients it needs.

 

[Jvesche20]

Are you feeding anything else? Brine shrimp are very low in nutrition and may not be supplying the tang with the nutrients it needs.

I try and feed pellets but the fish don’t seem to want it. I give them those algae strips. I can’t remember the actual name for it.