Hospital tank

[JJCRIC]

Hi all,
Well the ne guy is back. Ok here is the thing. I set up the 20 gal long hosp. tank running copper about a month and a half ago. after a couple weeks things looked good so I picked up 3 green chromies the LFS said they would be good to help condition the new hosp tank and the new big tank. anyway, I had to go away for a few days a couple weekends ago and we lost one. Not sure how long he was in there dead. Then I checked the water again over the weekend and my ammonia and Nitrite were very high but the nitrate was fine. I can't understand it I thought they were all related if one was high they all would be. I did about a 50% water changed and checked the water again the next day both still very high. is there anything I can put in there to keep this under control that the copper wont ruin Ie, plants, corals, etc. right now I just have some sand, a piece of pvc and a couple fake plants. I had an Idea to take a fake plant and stick it in my sump from the big tank and see if I can get some stuff growing on there. I just put that in the sump today. Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks.

[reefrunner69]

I can't understand it I thought they were all related if one was high they all would be.

They are related, Ammonia is mineralized by beneficial bacteria to Nitrite, which is mineralized by different bacteria to nitrate. That is the nitrogen cycle in a nutshell. Your tank is cycling, I would have expected the ammonia to begin to fall within the next few days and the nitrites would continue to rise. As the bacteria needed to mineralize it start to colonize the filter, they will fall and nitrate will go up.

FWIW, I do not belive in prophylactic treatment in a q-tank, you shouldn't treat the fish unless they exhibit signs of disease or parasitic infestation. The meds are stressful to the fish and might cause the outbreak that you have to treat for. When treating with copper, you should monitor levels closely, there is antecdotal evidence that the copper is harmful to the biological filter.