Well, the Topfin ammonia remover doesn’t seem to be working, or at least it isn’t keeping up with the fish. I can’t do daily 20% water changes with this volume and keep up with the copper. Is there any other methods that I can try? Dosing bacteria doesn’t seem like a plausible solution considering there’s very little for the bacteria to settle into and grow on. Is Seachem Prime something any of you have had success with? Some other ammonia remover?
I don’t blame you. I can’t imagine 20% daily water changes and getting the replacement copper dose perfect, and how many tests you’d have to run. I don’t recall what kind of filter you’re using but you can add sponges for the bacteria. Just no rock of any kind.
This is Humblefish’s article on the topic. Prime is a great product and will protect your fish from the ammonia, and is safe with copper power/safe but NOT cupramine or other ionic coppers (according to the company and from the experience of myself and others). However, none of these products are ammonia removers. Your ammonia levels will stay the same. It just binds the (free) ammonia and makes it non-toxic to fish. Eventually, you’ll either need bacteria or water changes to deal with it, Prime is just a temporizer. I’ve used some Prime with every QT I’ve done because I let the tank run fallow for some time between batches and worry the bio filter has weakened. Since there’s no way to accurately measure ammonia with copper, it’s just a precaution I take. Might be overkill, but I’m just saying I’ve had no issues with copper toxicity.
There have been studies here suggesting that ammonia levels themselves don't change. Others have had anecdotal success. The bacteria works quite quickly
Cycling takes time, even with starter bacteria. I’ve done it many times, dosing bacteria and ammonia, and tracking the ammonia level. Maybe a week at best.
This is Dr. Tim’s fishless cycling method with ammonia and live bacteria they predict 5-7 days but I’ve had it take even longer.
I just want to say Jay is the absolute seasoned expert and professional; nothing I say should ever be construed in any way to challenge anything he says. I’m just telling you what I’ve done that’s worked. As he said, cycled non-rock media would be the best, but, I didn’t mention that because I’m just guessing your tank doesn’t use any sponges. And typically you’d want them in the tank for a long while (like months) to really seed so it’s too late for that.
Super helpful!! It’s been showing right a .4-.5 and I’ve been trying to get it down. If that’s just the copper amine then it is not going to get lower.
Thank you
Yes, your ammonia tests are useless with copper. They will always be false positive, all of them. That’s part of what makes ammonia so dangerous and why I’m so paranoid about it…you just don’t really know. The exception is the seachem badge, but very few people actually trust it (me from experience). I did recently learn about the seachem ammonia kit, which does use the same technology, but I feel like it could be promising the way it’s done. For one, it has more shades of color to evaluate, and I wonder if fresh reagents rather than a badge could be more reliable. I’ve actually ordered it to experiment with. And FYI the badge and half of the test kit is measuring free ammonia not total ammonia for what it’s worth. But free ammonia is the toxic stuff so that’s what matters.
. With my first uncycled QT I went the Fritz 9000 route actually. That was the one where the ammonia went to 0.5 and the fish died. 
. But - all kidding aside - a water change is the fastest and best method for quickly lowering ammonia levels.
