Coppersafe and ick

[talmadge1992]

I recently discovered in my tank that ick has crept in after adding some new golden barbs. I went the route of warming up the tank and buying coppersafe. it has been about 4 or 5 days now and the ick appears to be gone. however like the package says I removed my carbon filter so I would not filter out the medication. now that the tank appears to be ick free I am wondering when I should insert a fresh filter and when I should do my next water change. thanks for any input.

 

[Delapool]

Hi, 10 days after last sign of ich is usually suggested. Quickest I've done it has been 5 or so days after last sign while keeping a high temp.

 

[talmadge1992]

I put the filter in this morning. It's been 8 days snide the copper safe went in and about 5 days since try last sign of ich. My temp is still around 80 degrees. All of my fish appear to be doing fine. I'm glad I didn't lose any fish. When should I do a water change and how much should I do? My tank is still cycling so I haven't been doing them often so they ammonia can build up.

 

[Delapool]

I put the filter in this morning. It's been 8 days snide the copper safe went in and about 5 days since try last sign of ich. My temp is still around 80 degrees. All of my fish appear to be doing fine. I'm glad I didn't lose any fish. When should I do a water change and how much should I do? My tank is still cycling so I haven't been doing them often so they ammonia can build up.

It's tight - I don't have the life cycle vs heat on me but from memory it is 3-4 days minimum at 86F.

Do you have an ammonia reading (preferably off a liquid based test kit)? For future reference the bacteria will feed off any ammonia, it doesn't need to build up - it will match to the stocking level, and re-adjust as more fish are added gradually. How far along in the cycle are you - sounds like well done not to lose any fish

If the fish are doing ok, I'd increase the temp to 86F which stops any ich reproducing quite usually. Then you could do water changes to keep the ammonia down to 0.25 or less. Ph plays a part, the lower the ph, the less a toxic form of ammonia you have so I would also check ph.

If you do the temp increase and water change, you can also gravel vac in case of any ich there - just try and have the new water for the water change at about the same temp. This will reduce fish stress and prevent cold spots in your tank (just in case ich is still there).

Edit - at 86F I'd then do water changes geared to keeping ammonia down. While cycling fish-in, daily is not uncommon but it depends on ammonia test. Looks like you have a large tank and I assume young fish at moment do maybe less needed.. Once cycled, 25 to 50% weekly water change should be fine.

 

[talmadge1992]

I read on a trusted website that the ich once off of the body of the fish it has completed its life cycle and drops to the bottom of the tank to release its offspring. The offspring then have 2-3 days to attach to a host or they will die. The water temp is still at 79-80. My ammonia reading was right above .25 however I still have no reading of nitrite or nitrate. I talked to a trusted pet store and a man told me to hold off on water changes until I see some nitrite so I don't remove any ammonia. I plan on doing a gravel vac tho because I did read the ich does go into the substrate. Probably only around a 15-20 percent water change with that and I will match the temp on the fresh water. I use prime to de chlorinate and de chloramine

 

[Delapool]

I read on a trusted website that the ich once off of the body of the fish it has completed its life cycle and drops to the bottom of the tank to release its offspring. The offspring then have 2-3 days to attach to a host or they will die. The water temp is still at 79-80. My ammonia reading was right above .25 however I still have no reading of nitrite or nitrate. I talked to a trusted pet store and a man told me to hold off on water changes until I see some nitrite so I don't remove any ammonia. I plan on doing a gravel vac tho because I did read the ich does go into the substrate. Probably only around a 15-20 percent water change with that and I will match the temp on the fresh water. I use prime to de chlorinate and de chloramine

Darn app crashed twice so this is shorter

Yes, the time sounds familiar. 10 days is suggested for any tank cold spots, ich in gills you can't see, etc, etc. I've had ich come in about a week after getting some plants so I treat 3-4 days as a guideline.

Ammonia at 0.25 is ok, in a cycled tank this would be 0 so it doesn't need to build up. No point? The bb will adjust to the stocking level you have by the time fully cycled and the fish are always producing ammonia as a feed source.

Edit - worth checking ph as well, below 6.5 the nitrifying bacteria slow down.

 

[talmadge1992]

The tank will be at 3 weeks in a few days. I'm hoping is didn't put the filter in to soon. I'm also thinking it won't filter out all the copper at a rapid pace so if any left over ich is in the tank hopefully it will get killed off. The fish already seem more active with some of the copper already being filtered. I'm hoping to see some nitrite within the next few days.

 

[Delapool]

The tank will be at 3 weeks in a few days. I'm hoping is didn't put the filter in to soon. I'm also thinking it won't filter out all the copper at a rapid pace so if any left over ich is in the tank hopefully it will get killed off. The fish already seem more active with some of the copper already being filtered. I'm hoping to see some nitrite within the next few days.

Could well work. Some meds reduce with organic levels but probably still linger past the re-dose time. Did it have a re-dose time on the meds bottle at all or was it remove by water changes? I guess if you used a full strength dose or half strength to account for sensitive fish (assuming the meds had instructions in this) that would make a difference .

 

[talmadge1992]

I used a full strength dose. The reason I posted this thread which you did answer thankfully was about the filter. The meds say to remove any carbon filter as it will remove the meds. I couldn't find anywhere in when to put the filter back in or how long it will then take for the filter to do its duties removing it. So of I had to take a educated guess the filter will slowly remove any of the copper which will be beneficial for me. It also says the meds will last up to thirty days in the tank without water changes.