Jawfish not eating while in copper

[kenziejlooft]

I bought a jawfish and a pygmy angel they were in the same tank and I noticed that the pygmy angel ich it on it just one spot so I decided to treat them both in a 20 gallon with copper safe I am almost at the therapeutic level but I noticed today that my jawfish just sitting in the back corner of the tank and he hasn’t eaten today e we gat should I do I am using prime to help with ammonia cause I heard it’s safe to use with coppersafe

 

[kenziejlooft]

What should I do

 

[RonSwanson]

Wouldn’t worry about it. Fish don’t eat in copper well. At least not at the beginning. If he doesn’t eat for 5 days or more, then it starts to be a concern. Make him comfortable. Get a little house at Petco or some place to hide. I have a flame hawk fish in QT right now, he didn’t eat for 10 days. Now he’s like a piranha out of the blue.

 

[RonSwanson]

You don’t need to add prime to help with ammonia. Having 2 fish in a 20g tank will not make ammonia spike. You probably have way over a week before ammonia is a concern with such a large QT and small fish. Also, prime is only temporary ammonia binder. Usually used for emergency situations to reduce ammonia very quickly. It’s not a permanent solution. Water change and adding some bacteria is how I would recommend dealing with ammonia.

 

[kenziejlooft]

Wouldn’t worry about it. Fish don’t eat in copper well. At least not at the beginning. If he doesn’t eat for 5 days or more, then it starts to be a concern. Make him comfortable. Get a little house at Petco or some place to hide. I have a flame hawk fish in QT right now, he didn’t eat for 10 days. Now he’s like a piranha out of the blue.

I have a couple of rock hideouts for him and added a tiny bit of sand to I was just worried because he ate yesterday but not today thank you

 

[kenziejlooft]

You don’t need to add prime to help with ammonia. Having 2 fish in a 20g tank will not make ammonia spike. You probably have way over a week before ammonia is a concern with such a large QT and small fish. Also, prime is only temporary ammonia binder. Usually used for emergency situations to reduce ammonia very quickly. It’s not a permanent solution. Water change and adding some bacteria is how I would recommend dealing with ammonia.

I do water changes every other day I have a couple qts going so it’s a lot of work instead of doing everyday I will add some stability thankssss so much

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I do water changes every other day I have a couple qts going so it’s a lot of work instead of doing everyday I will add some stability thankssss so much

You need to have a good ammonia test. If there is no biofilter in your tank, the ammonia can spike very quickly, even with water changes. The problem with jawfish in QT is they don't like bare tanks.

Jay