What about this: get all of the copper out of the main tank, then move the fish to the 10
gal QT and move the inverts to the 55
gal. Will the 4 fish I have be ok in the 10 QT (butterfly, yellow tang, percula clownfish & royal gramma). Also will the fish be ok suffering with ich until I can change everyone out?
It's a decent plan but not all those fish in a 10
gal. I would instead suggest 2x20
gal rubbermaid totes, they are cheap and just as effective. One large and one small fish in each. That will minimize aggression. The only doubled cost will be the heater and filter. Once those are set up, drain 10
gal into each from the display tank and fill the rest with newly mixed
SW properly matching temp, salinity and
ph. That will allow you to effectively treat the fish and keep the inverts in the 10
gal until the 55 is safe. For the new QT"s , I would use polyfiletrs with a
quickfilter attachment PH. That will help with bio-filtration and further reduce impurities.
In the last post, Steve sd to keep checking the copper levels. Will the copper keep leaching out? Should I get rid of the
LS and get new stuff?
Since you used chelated copper, there should be no lasting effects once the tests indicate zero traces. I would still suggest keeping the tank running with a polyfilter for a few month just to be sure there are no problems. Personally, all my tanks have them. They are also great for reducing
PO4. If you had used ionic copper the results would not have been as favorable.
Steve originally sd the ideal treatment is to move the fish to the QT and leave the main tank fallow for 4-6 weeks.
Once in the QT and treated properly (preferabley hyposalinity), the main tank will be fallow (fishless). Without fish, the parasite cannot feed and thereby reproduce. After the 4-6 weeks has passed with no fish, the parasite dies out without the need to treat the main tank.
Cheers
Steve