New Fish on the Block

merlberg · Oct 17, 2015

3FordFamily said:
They suggested you add prime?!?

Find a new LFS that is horrendous advice. Prime should NEVER be used with copper nor should any other ammonia nitrite or nitrate detoxifier. Amquel is another.

Prime does not remove copper or anything for that matter. Please do not listen to your LFS any more or you will lose your fish for certain.

Prime is for reducing the toxicity of nitrite nitrate and ammonia. With meds in the water you need to just do water changes (be sure to replace the copper you remove). I used to do 85-% water changes with a full qt daily if need be to keep ammonia from killing the fish. Worked fantastic.

Get an ammonia badge by seachem. Other ammonia testers will show false positives with copper.

85% water change omg now i feel like maybe im doing something wrong. I have an 18 gal qt tank treating 6 fish... I knw its alot but i had to work with what i have. Im letting my tank go fallow for 76 days because of ich. My problem is my qt ammonia level. I have the badge and usually do a 10% water change is that too little. Should i be doing a bigger water change.

They have to be in the qt for a long time but im worried that the ammonia will kill them :/ can you give me some input please on what you think since they will be there so long? Should i get a protien skimmer for the qt?! Idk

4FordFamily · Oct 17, 2015

merlberg said:
85% water change omg now i feel like maybe im doing something wrong. I have an 18 gal qt tank treating 6 fish... I knw its alot but i had to work with what i have. Im letting my tank go fallow for 76 days because of ich. My problem is my qt ammonia level. I have the badge and usually do a 10% water change is that too little. Should i be doing a bigger water change.

They have to be in the qt for a long time but im worried that the ammonia will kill them :/ can you give me some input please on what you think since they will be there so long? Should i get a protien skimmer for the qt?! Idk

My qt has a skimmer but it's probably not beat practice. I would do enormous water changes. Trust the badge though if it says your water is fine it probably is. Eventually it will cycle and you'll need to water change less. 18g is pretty small but depending on the fish it may be doable.

Also make sure you adjust ph with something like araga milk and that the new water is the correct (same) salinity and temperature.

merlberg · Oct 18, 2015

Ok thanks i will prob have to do a bigger water change. As for the ph can i use the ph buffer instead of the araga milk?

Humblefish · Oct 18, 2015

merlberg said:
As for the ph can i use the ph buffer instead of the araga milk?

If you "bake” baking soda @ 300F for 1 hour it drives off water and carbon dioxide from the baking soda, and the result is an effective DIY pH buffer.

merlberg · Oct 19, 2015

Humblefish said:
If you "bake” baking soda @ 300F for 1 hour it drives off water and carbon dioxide from the baking soda, and the result is an effective DIY pH buffer.

I will try this today... Thanks.. Can i add this to my water if im using copper to raise the ph?