Really high Nitrates after cupramine treatment

[Fahemah]

Hi everyone

This is my first message ever, so please be nice. I've been running a 160 gal (us) FOWLR for the last year and everything has been running well until a recent Ich outbreak. I treated with Cupramine for two weeks and then brought the CU down with Cuprisorb and carbon. I've had a copper reading of zero for the last two weeks and I've seen no sign of white spot, nor have I lost any fish. (holding thumbs). However my nitrates are above 75ppm. I assume that this is because my bio filter has been mildly eradicated. I have been receiving mixed advice on how to bring my nitrates down - Can anyone give me some good advice? After my experience with Cupramine I want to try and steer clear of intense chemical additives.

I know that frequent water changes are essential to this. I've been doing 100ltrs every week at the moment. Should I be doing much larger water changes?

A little info on my tank:

160gal FOWLR, Skimz Sm201 skimmer, Ozonizer with ReefOctopus Ozone reactor, Reef Octopus media reactor (currently running nothing at the moment)

Ph - 8.0
Kh - 7.0
Nitrites - 0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrates - 75+
Salinity - 1,017. (I'm slowly raising this)

Livestock: 4yr old Regal Tang, 3 x Yellow tangs (Still all small), Juv Emperor Angel, Juv Queen Angel, 2 x Ocelaris clowns, 1 x Percula Clown, 1 x Midas Blennie, 2 x Auriga Butterflies

All the fish are eating and behaving normally.

PS. I'm planning on upgrading to a much larger in the next few months.

Thank you so much. Criticism welcome (I'm still learning)

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Did you use the med in your display tank?

 

[Fahemah]

Yes I did.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Well couple things here... You most likely knocked out anything living that wasn't a fish, so you are seeing high nitrates because of this. Also, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but copper based meds will stick to your liverock and prevent basically any shot at having corals, and MAY make it difficult for any inverts to survive. Purchase what's called a Polyfilter and run it in your filter as soon as possible, this will at leat begin to remove the copper from your system. Any time you treat with copper it should be in a QT with no liverock or substrate because of this..

 

[Fahemah]

Duly noted! Thanks!

Yes, I realise that I was perhaps too chemical happy.

Any brand of polly filter in particular?

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

It's just a filter media, kind of like a sponge. Google it they're probably like $10 or so, you put it in a HOB filter or as a bubble trap in a sump. To remove the copper from the water column, I personally would do a 25% water change twice a week for a couple weeks. I would also add some Seachem Stability as well, seeing as how a lot of your beneficial bacteria could be gone at this point, and this will help it reestablish itself...

 

[Digger]

I would prolly do a 50% water change before I added the Seachem. That would cut your nitrates to <40.

Also, keep an eye on your Ammonia levels if your bio-filter has been decimated. The big water change will be beneficial in bringing your ammonia down if you had a spike.

 

[tonedogz]

you can get cuprisorb by seachem, it will remove all of the copper in two to three weeks. It can be recharged when it is exhausted so you can keep it in the filter to keep removing any copper that is left then your tank should be safe for inverts again