Cupramine in the DT

[D5HP]

I have ICH in my DT. I use QT but have never treated unless I saw something unless it was PraziPro, which I always have used.

I can see ICH on probably four fish and the royal gramma is scratching quite a bit.

I have removed all my macros, softies, and snails (that I can see and catch) to my QT and moved the QT fish to the DT (they need a copper treatment anyways).

I have dosed 10 drops of Cu thus far and it will take 190 drops to get me to .35ppm not accounting for absorption in the rocks, which I estimate will probably require anywhere from 10-40% more. I am going to do water changes every day if necessary.

The tank is only 4 months old and I used dry rock and dry sand so I hope the die off isn't a huge issue. It really does suck but as long as I don't lose any fish in the process this tank will be stocked and I am done with things for a while.

Right now I will be going at least 3 weeks and potentially 4 if everyone is eating fine.

This thread will serve as a log of sorts in order to help other people if they too decide to go this route.

I will run Cuprisorb and carbon for at least 3 months after the treatment is finished since it isn't prohibitively expensive and I would like to add softies and maybe an anemone back at some point.

Here goes....

 

[sandwi54]

no ill meaning but honestly i think hypo is a better choice for ich treatment in the DT. it's just too hard to gauage the amount of copper that LR/LS absorb. I have heard of different cases before, with one even needing 8x the original amount of cupramine. most people who've done copper in DT also take about a week for the copper concentration to become stable.

what is done is done though. just make sure you monitor the copper level at least 2-3 times a day to make sure the concentration stays up.

 

[D5HP]

no ill meaning but honestly i think hypo is a better choice for ich treatment in the DT. it's just too hard to gauage the amount of copper that LR/LS absorb. I have heard of different cases before, with one even needing 8x the original amount of cupramine. most people who've done copper in DT also take about a week for the copper concentration to become stable.

what is done is done though. just make sure you monitor the copper level at least 2-3 times a day to make sure the concentration stays up.

There are certainly pros and cons to both methods and I know this one is not exactly preferred by most. I think hypo has a lot of extra work associated with it as well to make sure that things are absolutely golden for the parties involved.

I have not ever seen someone needing 8x the required amount of Cupramine to obtain useless levels but I can make it happen if necessary. It's a FOWLR now and so if it takes a few months for the copper to completely leech back into the water column that's fine. I can honestly run cuprisorb 24/7 just like I do carbon it is not that expensive.

I am planning on testing the level of copper and ammonia twice a day for a while until I feel like things have slowed down or stabilized all together.

I went ahead with this method after getting feedback from multiple sources that have lots of experience in the hobby.

It's not really so much of a 'good lesson learned' since I already QT but I am certainly going to treat everyone that comes in with Cupramine now and just deal with the losses that are sometimes associated with Cu treatments. I still have no idea idea who brought it in or how long it has been hanging around but at least I know the tank will be clean and healthy after the treatment and I will not be adding anymore fish as long as everyone comes out fine on the other side.

Thanks for the advice though I'll let you know how it goes.

80 drops as of this morning total. Haven't measured yet I will tomorrow probably.

 

[D5HP]

The ammonia in the tank has crept up today substantially. It's above .25ppm but below .5ppm.

That's already above where I am comfortable seeing it (.25ppm isn't catastrophic) so I am having to take some pretty quick actions.

I'm ceasing additional copper dosing until tomorrow evening such that organisms still alive at .2ppm Cu concentration can last out until tomorrow. I am changing 30g (roughly 33% of the total volume) and will change another 30g tomorrow AM and tomorrow evening. I can continue this as long as necessary but tomorrow afternoon I will check the water and if it is above .5ppm I will need to begin changing 60g each time to manage this.

The starry blenny has begun scratching but all other fish are actually behaving fine and eating well. I will not feed additional foods tonight or tomorrow. All of my fish are quite fat and happy so they will be fine for such a short period without food.

The seachem copper test kit is damn near impossible to read. I am going to have to try and keep it around .3ppm in hopes I do not exceed .4ppm or go below .2ppm.

I'll update again...

 

[sandwi54]

i'm going to help you on this as much as i could. first of all, go grab a salifert copper test kit. it's 100 times easier to read than the seachem one. the test kit colors go from 0.1ppm, 0.25ppm, 0.5ppm, and then 1ppm. the shades that indicate 0.25ppm and 0.5ppm are completely different and can be easily recognized. since 0.25ppm is the lowest therapeutic level for ich, as long as you are above that you're fine. when the dosage reaches 0.5ppm, the shade becomes much bluer and you know you've reached 0.5ppm. you want to stay BETWEEN 0.25ppm and 0.5ppm. you don't have to do anything if the test kit color shows 0.25ppm, but if it shows 0.5ppm color, you need to do water change to lower the copper level. i'm not bashing you but i hope you see the difficulty of dosing copper in a DT with lots of LR/LS. initially you have to dose more than the recommended dosage to get above 0.25ppm, but over time that copper can leech back out when there's a pH shift and increase the concentration well above 0.5ppm, which is harmful to some fish (angel and tang). the key is to make sure you monitor the copper level 2-3 times a day and make sure it's always between 0.25ppm and 0.5ppm.

i would actually do a water change with 0.25ppm ammonia since ammonia is highly toxic to fish at even a low level. you may need to wait until the mini cycle is over before you continue dosing more copper. use your best judgement on this.

 

[D5HP]

i'm going to help you on this as much as i could. first of all, go grab a salifert copper test kit. it's 100 times easier to read than the seachem one. the test kit colors go from 0.1ppm, 0.25ppm, 0.5ppm, and then 1ppm. the shades that indicate 0.25ppm and 0.5ppm are completely different and can be easily recognized. since 0.25ppm is the lowest therapeutic level for ich, as long as you are above that you're fine. when the dosage reaches 0.5ppm, the shade becomes much bluer and you know you've reached 0.5ppm. you want to stay BETWEEN 0.25ppm and 0.5ppm. you don't have to do anything if the test kit color shows 0.25ppm, but if it shows 0.5ppm color, you need to do water change to lower the copper level. i'm not bashing you but i hope you see the difficulty of dosing copper in a DT with lots of LR/LS. initially you have to dose more than the recommended dosage to get above 0.25ppm, but over time that copper can leech back out when there's a pH shift and increase the concentration well above 0.5ppm, which is harmful to some fish (angel and tang). the key is to make sure you monitor the copper level 2-3 times a day and make sure it's always between 0.25ppm and 0.5ppm.

i would actually do a water change with 0.25ppm ammonia since ammonia is highly toxic to fish at even a low level. you may need to wait until the mini cycle is over before you continue dosing more copper. use your best judgement on this.

Good deal I'll order the salifert kit now.

Thanks for the heads up.

As for ammonia being toxic at extremely low levels...you're absolutely right. However .25ppm for 24 hours isn't going to cause any serious issues. In fact most fish are shipped in water that is much worse by the end of the journey.

I am going to be monitoring the copper level twice a day and am aware of the different aspects of things. I am pretty certain I will be able to gauge what is happening after the first week though...but I've never done this before.

My salinity is at 1.023 currently so I'm going to lower it down to 1.019 during treatment. This is mainly because I can save a little money on salt as well as put a little more oxygen in the water for the fish. This will also allow me to change a good bit of the water tonight without actually having to wait for salt to dissolve as long as I do it over a few hours.

I appreciate all your input and don't think you're bashing me. I just think you're a little harsh on Cu dosing in the DT. I honestly don't think hypo was a better option for me in this situation. I sometimes have to leave the tank for periods of up to 12-16 hours because of work and I think once the rock and sand absorb most of the copper in the first week I will have much better indicator of how rapidly the concentration is changing in those periods and account for it much easier. As long as the dose is above .25ppm for that time period I will be fine. There is also no real issue in me holding the copper level at .25ppm for 4 weeks or longer since once the initial die off is over with the tank will be much easier to maintain aside from regular checks for copper levels and any ammonia surprises.

I do really appreciate your help and please stick around for the ride.

 

[sandwi54]

Good deal I'll order the salifert kit now.

Thanks for the heads up.

As for ammonia being toxic at extremely low levels...you're absolutely right. However .25ppm for 24 hours isn't going to cause any serious issues. In fact most fish are shipped in water that is much worse by the end of the journey.

I am going to be monitoring the copper level twice a day and am aware of the different aspects of things. I am pretty certain I will be able to gauge what is happening after the first week though...but I've never done this before.

My salinity is at 1.023 currently so I'm going to lower it down to 1.019 during treatment. This is mainly because I can save a little money on salt as well as put a little more oxygen in the water for the fish. This will also allow me to change a good bit of the water tonight without actually having to wait for salt to dissolve as long as I do it over a few hours.

I appreciate all your input and don't think you're bashing me. I just think you're a little harsh on Cu dosing in the DT. I honestly don't think hypo was a better option for me in this situation. I sometimes have to leave the tank for periods of up to 12-16 hours because of work and I think once the rock and sand absorb most of the copper in the first week I will have much better indicator of how rapidly the concentration is changing in those periods and account for it much easier. As long as the dose is above .25ppm for that time period I will be fine. There is also no real issue in me holding the copper level at .25ppm for 4 weeks or longer since once the initial die off is over with the tank will be much easier to maintain aside from regular checks for copper levels and any ammonia surprises.

I do really appreciate your help and please stick around for the ride.

Great! looks like you're going down the right path. I am harsh on Cu dosing in DT because it is not something easily done and requires very close monitoring and immediate actions to prevent copper that leeches back from LR/LS from killing fish. I just don't think most people in this hobby are rigorous enough to be able to perform that kind of treatment method. copper treatment itself is already hard on fish, especially for angel and tangs, and is not something to be taken lightly of. i don't think most people understand that, but you seem to be an exception as far as I could tell and I'm sure you'll have success with this treatment.

i have done both copper and hyposalinity in the presence of LR/LS and hypo was easier for me. the LR/LS held the pH steady and once the target salinity was reached, I did not have to worry about salinity shift since I had an ATO. The downside of hyposalinity in DT, though, is the extra expense on salt to bring the salinity back to 1.025. I have a 225g so that would be a significant amount of money. Also hyposalinity typically requires longer treatment period than copper.

 

[jhentr]

Good luck dustin. I've done Cupramine once before in a 125g DT and am now currently doing it too in a 500g DT.

I couldn't QT all my fishes in a smaller QT so I rather dose my DT w/ cupramine. My 125g experience is like this. Took about 5x the dosage to maintain .5ppm CU over 4 weeks (including w/ water changes). All fishes did well. My Seachem Ammonia Alert badge went from yellow (good) to light blue/grey (alarm) for about a week. Then stabilized back at yellow. I assume the bio filter got hit a little and then rebounded. But all the fishes (tangs, large angels, chromis, triggers) made it through w/ no issues. I assume the time it took to reach .5 (over a week) helped since its better to slowly raise copper into tanks w/ more sensitive fishes??? After 1 month, I ran a tiny pouch of Cuprisorb along w/ three 4x8 Polyfilter pads and they turned nice and blue. After three months, I've reintroduced what corals I have left (4 RBTA, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 pistol shrimps, lots of brittle stars, some frogspawn and shrooms, 1 SPS frag) and they thrived until I moved everything to a 500g. I even had lots of pods/bristleworms everywhere. I did leave the 3 Polyfilter pads in since they were also embedded w/ brittlestars, bristleworms, and pods.

Now that I've added some new fishes to the 500g (did QT...but not long enough), some of my fishes broke out in ich again. So just a week ago, I pulled out all my corals above and two shrimps and dosing my DT again. I do test with Salifert and after one week, most spots are gone (at about ~.15), but I'm ramping up to .5 for a whole month to make sure. Then I'll run Polyfilter pads again til they don't turn blue and add my corals in for the (hopefully) last time without treating the DT w/ copper.

Not sure about other copper but I like Seachem's Cupramine and haven't lost any fish to it yet (even the ones that I think are sensitive like pearlescent butterfly, b/g chromis, 2 firefish, bi-color blenny, flameback angel, etc).

I would'nt recommend dosing/treating a DT with Copper, but it isn't a death sentence to the tank (IMHO).

 

[D5HP]

Great! looks like you're going down the right path. I am harsh on Cu dosing in DT because it is not something easily done and requires very close monitoring and immediate actions to prevent copper that leeches back from LR/LS from killing fish. I just don't think most people in this hobby are rigorous enough to be able to perform that kind of treatment method. copper treatment itself is already hard on fish, especially for angel and tangs, and is not something to be taken lightly of. i don't think most people understand that, but you seem to be an exception as far as I could tell and I'm sure you'll have success with this treatment.

i have done both copper and hyposalinity in the presence of LR/LS and hypo was easier for me. the LR/LS held the pH steady and once the target salinity was reached, I did not have to worry about salinity shift since I had an ATO. The downside of hyposalinity in DT, though, is the extra expense on salt to bring the salinity back to 1.025. I have a 225g so that would be a significant amount of money. Also hyposalinity typically requires longer treatment period than copper.

I definitely see your points and it does make me cringe to think I'm dumping Cu into my prized tank but I believe I'm approaching it the best way. Scared shitless but confident I can get through it.

I did not think about the pH being held steady at such a lower SG especially with the LR+LS. That's one of my big concerns with hypo because pH is a shaky bird IME when in that treatment.

Copper is definitely hard on the fish...it's poison after all. The only positive is that I do believe Cupramine to be a really fantastic product and my fish are all very very fat, comfortable, and healthy OTHER than this parasite. I guess that doesn't sound so healthy...does it?

I feel my fish copious amounts of food so I'm going to have to resist the urge during these first few days while the die off settles.

I should have the ammonia well under .25ppm by tomorrow evening if not by morning.

Good luck dustin. I've done Cupramine once before in a 125g DT and am now currently doing it too in a 500g DT.

I couldn't QT all my fishes in a smaller QT so I rather dose my DT w/ cupramine. My 125g experience is like this. Took about 5x the dosage to maintain .5ppm CU over 4 weeks (including w/ water changes). All fishes did well. My Seachem Ammonia Alert badge went from yellow (good) to light blue/grey (alarm) for about a week. Then stabilized back at yellow. I assume the bio filter got hit a little and then rebounded. But all the fishes (tangs, large angels, chromis, triggers) made it through w/ no issues. I assume the time it took to reach .5 (over a week) helped since its better to slowly raise copper into tanks w/ more sensitive fishes??? After 1 month, I ran a tiny pouch of Cuprisorb along w/ three 4x8 Polyfilter pads and they turned nice and blue. After three months, I've reintroduced what corals I have left (4 RBTA, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 pistol shrimps, lots of brittle stars, some frogspawn and shrooms, 1 SPS frag) and they thrived until I moved everything to a 500g. I even had lots of pods/bristleworms everywhere. I did leave the 3 Polyfilter pads in since they were also embedded w/ brittlestars, bristleworms, and pods.

Now that I've added some new fishes to the 500g (did QT...but not long enough), some of my fishes broke out in ich again. So just a week ago, I pulled out all my corals above and two shrimps and dosing my DT again. I do test with Salifert and after one week, most spots are gone (at about ~.15), but I'm ramping up to .5 for a whole month to make sure. Then I'll run Polyfilter pads again til they don't turn blue and add my corals in for the (hopefully) last time without treating the DT w/ copper.

Not sure about other copper but I like Seachem's Cupramine and haven't lost any fish to it yet (even the ones that I think are sensitive like pearlescent butterfly, b/g chromis, 2 firefish, bi-color blenny, flameback angel, etc).

I would'nt recommend dosing/treating a DT with Copper, but it isn't a death sentence to the tank (IMHO).

Great to hear! I appreciate your input on this. I'm sure that was a pretty stressful ordeal but it's great to hear that all your fish made it out especially at .5ppm, since I don't plan on exceeding .4ppm (if I can read this damn kit before the salifert one comes in)

Three months is about the period I'm planning on waiting before adding corals and inverts to the tank. I will probably continue to run cuprisorb for about 6 months and keep enough on hand to use again if I'm having issues that I can't attribute to something else.

I really do believe that the first week is going to be the worst. Water changes twice a day and Cu testing 3 times a day is going to get old but hopefully by Friday I'm at 0ppm ammonia and it holds through the weekend so I can relax and drink a few beers while watching the fish in the tank. It's a little hard to 'enjoy' but it is nice having the tank stocked with all the fish I've been wanting for months and months.

Thanks again,

 

[sandwi54]

I definitely see your points and it does make me cringe to think I'm dumping Cu into my prized tank but I believe I'm approaching it the best way. Scared shitless but confident I can get through it.

I did not think about the pH being held steady at such a lower SG especially with the LR+LS. That's one of my big concerns with hypo because pH is a shaky bird IME when in that treatment.

Copper is definitely hard on the fish...it's poison after all. The only positive is that I do believe Cupramine to be a really fantastic product and my fish are all very very fat, comfortable, and healthy OTHER than this parasite. I guess that doesn't sound so healthy...does it?

I feel my fish copious amounts of food so I'm going to have to resist the urge during these first few days while the die off settles.

I should have the ammonia well under .25ppm by tomorrow evening if not by morning.

Yup cupramine is really awesome. I use that plus prazipro on all my new fish in the QT. I don't use hyposalinity since it's a harder and take longer than cupramine, unless the particular fish is sensitive to copper.

Hyposalinity will lower pH big time in a QT tank without LR/LS and that's why I don't use it anymore. However, in the DT the LR/LS do hold the pH quite well, and any slight pH lowering can be easily dealt with adding some sodium bicarbonate to improve buffering.

good luck on the treatment and let us know how things go!

 

[foxrazr]

The ammonia in the tank has crept up today substantially. It's above .25ppm but below .5ppm.

That's already above where I am comfortable seeing it (.25ppm isn't catastrophic) so I am having to take some pretty quick actions.

I'm ceasing additional copper dosing until tomorrow evening such that organisms still alive at .2ppm Cu concentration can last out until tomorrow. I am changing 30g (roughly 33% of the total volume) and will change another 30g tomorrow AM and tomorrow evening. I can continue this as long as necessary but tomorrow afternoon I will check the water and if it is above .5ppm I will need to begin changing 60g each time to manage this.

The starry blenny has begun scratching but all other fish are actually behaving fine and eating well. I will not feed additional foods tonight or tomorrow. All of my fish are quite fat and happy so they will be fine for such a short period without food.

The seachem copper test kit is damn near impossible to read. I am going to have to try and keep it around .3ppm in hopes I do not exceed .4ppm or go below .2ppm.

I'll update again...

I used Cupramine about a month ago to quarantine a yellow tang that had visible signs of ich within 2 days of purchase. My quarantine tank is always running and cycled. After the first dosage of Cupraming my API ammonia test kit started reading ammonia in the range of 0.25 I thought it was strange since cupramine is NOT suppose to destroy the biological filter. I started reading more on their website FAQ seems that Cupramine has an ion similar to what ammonia test kits read giving you false positives on many ammonia test kits except for the one they sell. I waited 5 days to get their test kit called free and total ammonia. In the meantime the API test kit was reading 0.5 but the fish did not seemed stressed and breathing normally. As soon as I recieved the Seachem ammonia test kit. I did a reading and the ammonia was 0 and the API was still reading 0.5.

 

[D5HP]

I used Cupramine about a month ago to quarantine a yellow tang that had visible signs of ich within 2 days of purchase. My quarantine tank is always running and cycled. After the first dosage of Cupraming my API ammonia test kit started reading ammonia in the range of 0.25 I thought it was strange since cupramine is NOT suppose to destroy the biological filter. I started reading more on their website FAQ seems that Cupramine has an ion similar to what ammonia test kits read giving you false positives on many ammonia test kits except for the one they sell. I waited 5 days to get their test kit called free and total ammonia. In the meantime the API test kit was reading 0.5 but the fish did not seemed stressed and breathing normally. As soon as I recieved the Seachem ammonia test kit. I did a reading and the ammonia was 0 and the API was still reading 0.5.

Hmm...thanks a lot for posting this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I own the seachem test for ammonia already (since it's best to use with Prime) but since I'm not using Prime currently I have been using the API and my reading was at .5ppm this afternoon...despite water changes! I did increase the Cu concentration to about .35-.4ppm though so that may explain things.

I'll test with the seachem test later and report my findings. Thanks a lot!

 

[aragonite55]

The Seachem Ammonia Alert disc is the best bit of kit for initial NH3 readings, as it only reads toxic ammonia, unlike most test kits which read total ammonia.

 

[sandwi54]

Cupramine is a combination of Cu+2 ions and amine, which contains NH4+ ions. The NH4+ ions will register in most ammonia test kits, which detects both NH3 and NH4+. NH3 is what is harmful to fish while NH4+ is much less. the ammonia alert sold by seachem (the little badge that you stick on the glass) detects only NH3 so it will not give false readings.

Also, NEVER use prime (or any other water conditioners) with cupramine, as typical water conditioners are reducing agents that will reduce Cu+2 ions into Cu+1 ions, which is 10 times more toxic. If there's a need to reduce ammonia and/or nitrite, only resort to water changes.

 

[aragonite55]

Agree totally with Sandwi54 about Prime or any other NH3 binder such as Ammolock etc.

 

[D5HP]

The Seachem Ammonia Alert disc is the best bit of kit for initial NH3 readings, as it only reads toxic ammonia, unlike most test kits which read total ammonia.

Cupramine is a combination of Cu+2 ions and amine, which contains NH4+ ions. The NH4+ ions will register in most ammonia test kits, which detects both NH3 and NH4+. NH3 is what is harmful to fish while NH4+ is much less. the ammonia alert sold by seachem (the little badge that you stick on the glass) detects only NH3 so it will not give false readings.

Also, NEVER use prime (or any other water conditioners) with cupramine, as typical water conditioners are reducing agents that will reduce Cu+2 ions into Cu+1 ions, which is 10 times more toxic. If there's a need to reduce ammonia and/or nitrite, only resort to water changes.

Well well well.

I'm officially way less freaked out!

This is not nearly as bad as I had thought!

So I just tested the tank full bore. Nitrite is 0ppm

Nitrate is around 2ppm on a Salifert kit (normally reads 0ppm)

Now the good stuff.

API says the total ammonia (NH3/NH4+) concentration in the water is 1ppm (darkest this kit has ever read for me)

Seachem says the total ammonia (NH4+) is 3ppm-6ppm...it is essentially too dark to read. This does not worry me because my fish would be way ****ed off well before this happened.

NOW THE GOOD PART! Free ammonia is 0ppm

It's completely yellow.

WOOO! No need to freak out.

I'm still going to do daily water changes this week so I can stay on top of the die off and maintain good water quality during the treatment but I definitely can enjoy things a bit more.

Thanks again everyone. I had no idea that Cupramine had NH4+ actually in the bottle. That's something that should probably be included in the ICH treatment sticky I feel like.

 

[aragonite55]

I used Cupramine about a month ago to quarantine a yellow tang that had visible signs of ich within 2 days of purchase. My quarantine tank is always running and cycled. After the first dosage of Cupraming my API ammonia test kit started reading ammonia in the range of 0.25 I thought it was strange since cupramine is NOT suppose to destroy the biological filter. I started reading more on their website FAQ seems that Cupramine has an ion similar to what ammonia test kits read giving you false positives on many ammonia test kits except for the one they sell. I waited 5 days to get their test kit called free and total ammonia. In the meantime the API test kit was reading 0.5 but the fish did not seemed stressed and breathing normally. As soon as I recieved the Seachem ammonia test kit. I did a reading and the ammonia was 0 and the API was still reading 0.5.

Cupramine inhibits but doesnt destroy nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria but will take out all the flora and fauna in and on your rock, an ammonia spike of some sort is unavoidable in a display.

 

[D5HP]

Cupramine inhibits but doesnt destroy nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria but will take out all the flora and fauna in and on your rock, an ammonia spike of some sort is unavoidable in a display.

I relocated all my macro algaes and all the snails and hermits I was able to catch. There are still a few crawling up the glass every now and then so I scoop those out and put them in them in the QT as well. Hopefully I do not have huge losses.

The tank is only about 4 months old with dry rock and sand used to seed everything. There should not be very much life in the rocks (compared to mature tanks I know there is tons of life still) and I am hoping to at least manage the ammonia spike and keep it under .25ppm.

Right now it looks like the toxic form of ammonia is not an issue whatsoever and the fish are all behaving quite well considering it's a copper treatment. I honestly do not see any behavioral changes that can't be attributed to me adding a few new fish this past weekend.

 

[aragonite55]

I relocated all my macro algaes and all the snails and hermits I was able to catch. There are still a few crawling up the glass every now and then so I scoop those out and put them in them in the QT as well. Hopefully I do not have huge losses.

The tank is only about 4 months old with dry rock and sand used to seed everything. There should not be very much life in the rocks (compared to mature tanks I know there is tons of life still) and I am hoping to at least manage the ammonia spike and keep it under .25ppm.

Right now it looks like the toxic form of ammonia is not an issue whatsoever and the fish are all behaving quite well considering it's a copper treatment. I honestly do not see any behavioral changes that can't be attributed to me adding a few new fish this past weekend.

Understand what your saying, but you will be surprised at how large a bristleworm population can develop in four months. Not seen any dead ones in the water column or on the substrate yet? Net them whenever you do spot some,and hopefully that disc will never go beyond the green.

 

[D5HP]

It exploded overnight. I think the water change I did last night had not mixed enough and caused some stress to the fish.

Literally every fish is showing ICH as of this morning. My male filefish is probably the worst. Really hard to see.

Should I move the Cu to 0.5ppm? How long before I should have started to see improvements?

I am doing my best to hold the Cu at .35ppm but it's pretty difficult to read.

How long does ICH take to essentially kill a fish? The male pink skunk clown is also really showing some bad signs. As of right now everyone looks like they are eating okay...but I haven't seen the gramma at all this AM. Not really looking good for her.