QT not doing well

WIReefer · Oct 29, 2019

So I am battling ich currently and have had my QT tank setup for about a month have three fish in there now a pair of clowns and a blue tang. Last night I lost the blue tang and I was slowly upping the copper level the reading of copper last night was .62 so nothing crazy but checked all my parameters and my ammonia was sky high. What am I doing wrong? Fish have only been in tank for two weeks. I used my DT water to setup the QT and have done weekly water changes in QT. My equipment for the QT is a 20 gallon tank, hob filter, heater, and powerhead.

Qasimja · Oct 29, 2019

You are going to need to large and more frequent water changes to bring the ammonia down

Malifry97 · Oct 29, 2019

Alex Pete said:
So I am battling ich currently and have had my QT tank setup for about a month have three fish in there now a pair of clowns and a blue tang. Last night I lost the blue tang and I was slowly upping the copper level the reading of copper last night was .62 so nothing crazy but checked all my parameters and my ammonia was sky high. What am I doing wrong? Fish have only been in tank for two weeks. I used my DT water to setup the QT and have done weekly water changes in QT. My equipment for the QT is a 20 gallon tank, hob filter, heater, and powerhead.

BIG MISTAKE. Little to no beneficial bacteria lives in the water. You essentially put your fish into an uncycled tank. You should have used some media from the DT to seed the tank.

Malifry97 · Oct 29, 2019

I'd suggest throwing a bottle of turbo start or other bottled bacteria in to start the cycle FAST also use some media from the DT ASAP. Ammonia is very toxic. Also Do Not Use Prime to detox it. Prime makes copper Very potent and can kill your fish.

Malifry97 · Oct 29, 2019

I would also get some API Ammonia Lock or similar product.

MERKEY · Nov 3, 2019

Prime will work also at this point.

Humblefish has a great write up about this.

I know that doesnt help now but the above stated is correct. You need some bac in there.

artieg1 · Nov 4, 2019

Number one killer in QT is ammonia. You are setting up a new tank without any bio filtration. I do 25-50% water changes every three days, and add bacteria supplements daily, and use a sponge filter pad from the several I have waiting in my sump. Obviously, you can adjust that based on bio load. The copper level is almost certainly is not the culprit.

andrewkw · Nov 4, 2019

This is another reason why I prefer TTM for ich. You can setup the tank in 1-2 hours (less if you keep saltwater on hand) then you have 14 additional days to prepare a longer term tank for the fish when tank transfer is complete. In your case I'd just do a massive water change even 100% but make sure you match the copper level in the new water.