Treating sick fish a vacation

[SteveO83]

so. Everything was going good then I added a wrasse to help with my nudibranch issue. Well yesterday I found what appears to be ick on 3 of my fish. Setting up the hospital tank as I type. The problem here is I am leaving the state next sunday night. My older brother was going to be feeding the fish daily and checking up on the tank when he comes by for the animals(not sure yet if he is staying in the house or not). Any helpful info you guys can give me? Ill be trying to pick up coffersafe today and getting the tank safely to the right level of copper treatment over the next few days

 

[scuzy]

How long are you gone? If it's ich it's not really a fast killer. You can do the meds until you are back.

 

[SteveO83]

Gone for a week. So itll be around 2 weeks. Going to give them some garlic supplemented food to hopefully slow it down till I get back. Ill monitor over this week. Have the qt ready to go. Just makes me nervous having my brother watch that tank. My dt is all auto besides the feeding

 

[Big G]

Be cautious when treating with Coppersafe. The strength has been varying considerably from bottle to bottle. And those color matching test kits for copper are very unreliable too. Over dosing a fish with copper can damage a fish's immune system and organs. The only copper product that is pretty reliable as far as recommended dosage listed on the bottle is Copper Power. Keep in mind most fish tanks are not actually the size listed. For example a 20 gallon tank is usually less than 20 gallon. Best to actually measure the the tank with liquid measure or measure with a tape measure and use one of the one line tank calculators. Like this one: http://www.aquariumdimensions.com/calculator.htm
Highly recommend a Hanna HL Copper Checker to make sure you are not over dosing the fish.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I have used CopperSafe exclusively— not saying it beats out other meds, but I’m a relative newcomer and I think it fits my skill level. So my 2-cents: Assuming you have used cycled DT water for your QT, and assuming you have had about 3 days to ramp up your CopperSafe to a therapeutic level (agree with previous post— 1 teaspoon per 4 gallon, but verify strength via testing— Hanna Checker if at all possible!), then I see no reason why with 3 smaller fish in a 20 gallon (larger volume of water for larger or greater number of fish), that you should not be able to get at least a full week or even two without an ammonia problem. Just don’t let your brother over-feed. If you want a margin of error, mix up one additional 4 gallon batch of medicated water for him to drain out 4 gallons and replace for the second week you are away.