Should CopperPower + MetroPlex make the water hazy?

[Tman007]

First of all, as a newbie, I want to give a shout out and give high praise to various experts here who's writings convinced me to quarantine from the start and provided excellent how-to guidance -- @Humblefish @melypr1985 @Jay Hemdal ...and others.

I waited a few days to observe my new pair of clownfish before adding any meds. Then, over the last three days, I have added two doses of MetroPlex (48 hours apart) and am gradually dosing Copper Power which is still only at 1.0 ppm.

Today I've noticed the water getting hazy -- is this normal? I don't recall anyone mentioning this, so I just wanted to double-check.

(My ammonia/nitrite/nitrate parameters are all good. I had done a 40% water change before I started the meds. If anyone is wondering why I'm doing MetroPlex, during observation I noticed some white stringy growths under the mouth of one of the fish. Thinking that it could be Brook, I gave them a Ruby Reef Rally 90-min bath, and then started Metro in the QT since I didn't have a second sterile QT to move them to.)

Thanks in advance for any expert thoughts on this question!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Well, I've seen much cloudier QTs than that, as long as your ammonia is less than 0.10 ppm, it is probably just a bacterial bloom. Copper Power won't cause that, but it will cause interference in some ammonia test kits - giving a positive reading. I suspect that it is the filler in the Metroplex - that makes up 30% of the mix. Seachem doesn't say what it is, but it is likely organic and thus gets decomposed by bacteria.

I would: increase aeration, ensure you have good mechanical filtration, and get the copper ramped up to full dose (too many people take way to long to bring their copper levels up, and that is a mistake).

Jay

 

[Tman007]

Well, I've seen much cloudier QTs than that, as long as your ammonia is less than 0.10 ppm, it is probably just a bacterial bloom. Copper Power won't cause that, but it will cause interference in some ammonia test kits - giving a positive reading. I suspect that it is the filler in the Metroplex - that makes up 30% of the mix. Seachem doesn't say what it is, but it is likely organic and thus gets decomposed by bacteria.

I would: increase aeration, ensure you have good mechanical filtration, and get the copper ramped up to full dose (too many people take way to long to bring their copper levels up, and that is a mistake).

Jay

Thanks Jay - I very much appreciate your feedback on this.

Now that I have my Hanna copper checker, I was planning on ramping the copper up to 2.5 ppm (from the current 1.0 ppm) over the next 6 days. Does this sound right, or do you prefer to ramp up faster?

Regarding increasing aeration, I thought the 240gph powerhead was sufficient for my 10g QT, but would it be beneficial to add a pump + airstone in addition to this?

I'm considering switching the Metroplex dosing to soaking in food, since in the last 24 hours I've noticed the fish having white stringy poo. If I've already used Metroplex in the water for two doses (and was planning on continuing for 14 days), could I switch over to food dosing, or would the food dosing be in addition to the water dosing?