impur Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Well i tested the ammonia in the HT and its getting a little high. The Seachem ammonia badge is reading .02ppm while my API test kit reads .25ppm, a significant difference. So i'm going to move them into a 20L to provide double the water volume and hopefully keep those levels low for the 2 week treatment period. Does anyone know if i can use ammonia absorbing media while treating with cupramine and prazipro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 OK i think i'm going to alter my original plan for treating. Tonight i'll move the fish into the 20L. On Saturday i'll do a large WC to reduce the ammonia as much as possible. Then dose the cupramine following the directions, with a follow up dose on Monday. I will leave it at that dosage until the following Saturday, when I will do another WC to reduce ammonia. I will then dose more cupramine to bring it back to recommended levels and leave it for another week. Anyone see problems with my plan of attack? I'm kinda nervous, i don't want to kill these guys.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I don't see one miles, those guys are nice looking, I keep eyeing the multicolor that Ed's got in stock lol Mike, the watanabie's are favorites of mine, I can't wait to have a quint of em runnin of em around in our next tank lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 I hear ya, I almost went up and got that guy instead (laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I want him, bad lol, luckily I'm in tear down mode otherwise he'd be in the tank already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 One thing I have heard is to start dosing even slower than the directions call for. I actually read to use half the amount they call for in the beginning and work up to the full amount. I tried using cupramine with my blue hippo and she stopped eating and started not doing very well. Not to scare ya. Just keep an eye on them. Also do not use any ammonia inhibitors as it will turn the cupramine to toxic copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 I've used it before on my clowns, wrasse and desjardini tang with no problems, i didn't even test ammonia though i was using my 60gal cube filled about 1/2 way so a much larger water volume. The directions actually say you dose half, wait 48 hours and dose the rest. Maybe i'll bring it up slowly throughout the day.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Anyone else have some input on my plan?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Ugh, sometimes i hate this hobby. Well i got home and went to work moving the angels to a 20L. I made up about 15gal new water, got the tank in place, added the water plus 5 gal from my other tanks and brought temp to match the 10gal. I netted the angels and about 1gal of water into a bucket, added 1gal of water from the new tank and let them acclimate for 45min-1hr. Added them to the 20L along with the PVC fittings and finally went to bed. When i woke up the Cherub was laying on the bottom gasping, the Potters is swimming normally but breathing fast. I tested SG, ammonia, temp.....all checked out normal. I added an airstone, i donno why but can't hurt. The Cherub died about an hour later. When i left for work the Potters was still swimming around looking normal except for the fast breathing. It did take some flake food this morning. Anyone have suggestions to help the fast breathing? I'm pissed that i didn't add more water to the bucket while they acclimated. Thats the only thing i can think of that i might have done wrong. They were so lively and happy looking last night when i got home, ate like pigs. My wife had named the Cherub Pigs (laugh) I had to tell her not to name any of the fish again, every time she names one that one dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 That sucks sorry to hear.... I had problems initially with QT also. It is VERY hard to control ammonia IMO while dosing copper as it can kill off most of the beneficial bacteria. I came to the conclusion that I would need to have a full time QT ready at all times in order to be successful. I now have a 110 gallon tank with a biowheel that has been running for over a year with very small amounts of copper in it. Essentially I have done as most of the retail stores have done, bred copper resistant bacteria. I have now been able to qt up to 30 fish (small cardinals) at the same time without ANY noticeable ammonia. Before most fish (excluding sensitive wrasses) are released into my tank, they get a couple rounds of prazi pro and about a month of cupramine. As bigjohnwoody stated never ever use ammonia binders with cupramine, it will convert it to the a very toxic form of copper and kill everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks. Crappy thing is I haven't even started treatment yet. But i'm going to move forward and do it. I think 1 fish in 20gal should be able to go 7 days without raising ammonia to toxic levels, then I can do a WC and re-dose cupramine to the recommended level for the 2nd week to finish treatment. Of course I willt put off the cupramine until the fish is breathing normally again. Perhaps i'll do the prazipro treatment first..... I wish i had room for something like you've got. Looking back, the 2 things i would have done differently are put them into the 20gal in the first place, and 2nd would be add more water from the new tank while they were acclimating. It must have just stressed the little guy out too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 what kind of filter do you have on the 20 gallon? IMO without a filter you will build up ammonia in no time, I don't think you will get a week without a large water change... more like a day :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Just a HOB aquaclear. I made it to day 4 with 2 fish in a 10gal before it started to register ammonia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Sorry to hear that Miles. That does suck but thanks for sharing. We initially used a 10 gallon tank as QT as well and successfully treated the fish but then they got ich again when we put them back in the main tank (newbies not realizing you had to wait several weeks to let the ich die off in the main tank) and it is difficult to keep stable parameters in such a small volume and the small tank really stressed out the fish too. Madmike your setup sounds ideal. I'll be dropping any newly aquired fish off to you from now on . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks Kim, I'm just bummed that it was me that probably killed the little guy and I could have prevented his death if I had been a little more patient. I hate killing things.... :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks Kim' date=' I'm just bummed that it was me that probably killed the little guy and I could have prevented his death if I had been a little more patient. I hate killing things.... :([/quote'] Yeah I know the feeling. It sucks to have such a beautiful creature die from a mistake you have made. I have been there. Everyone in this hobby has been there. All you can do is learn from it so it doesn't happen again and posting about it helps other people learn too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Well just got back from checking on the Potters and he's in the same shape as the Cherub was, laying on its side and breathing fast. I scooped him up and put him in the sump of my tank, shut off the skimmer. I don't know why he's dying now, I don't think there is anything i can do for him thats all i could think of. So bummed........stuff like this makes me want to sell it all and get out of the hobby. So frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Sorry Bro. :( Wishing you the best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwenReefin Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Ah this is tragic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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