Qt errors

[Griff]

I just lost a powder blue and hoevens wrasse in qt.

40g breeder Qt has hob filter and small power head. Water got extremely cloudy so I did water change of 7 gallons.

Copper was overdosed to 2-3 ppm. I'm assuming this is the reason I lost them. I was using coppersafe and an API test kit. I hate how hard it is to get the copper level right with these crappy test kits.

I assume the cloudy water was from a bacterial bloom not sure what else it could be. Qt has been setup running empty for a month or more. I would ghost feed from time to time but no more than once every 1-2 weeks. What else could the cloudy water be from. Also using an ammonia alert badge. They had I had and were doing great until about a 3 days ago which is why I did the water change. I think I overdosed the copper when I did the water change.

The cost of this hobby is killing me. I think I'm about ready to get out after this.

Reefer 525xl with lots of bells and whistles. Spent about 10-12k so far on this system still owe 6000. Not sure if I can even get out for what I owe. Very depressing day.

 

[Humblefish]

Did you mix any other meds with the copper? This can cause a bacterial bloom (cloudy water) like you are describing.

And I realize its more $$$, but this "professional grade" test kit seems to be preferred by those who have trouble reading the API one: https://www.chemetrics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=392

Sorry to hear of all the troubles.

 

[Swoody]

Did you mix any other meds with the copper? This can cause a bacterial bloom (cloudy water) like you are describing.

And I realize its more $$$, but this "professional grade" test kit seems to be preferred by those who have trouble reading the API one: https://www.chemetrics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=392

Sorry to hear of all the troubles.

I have this test kit on order. I ordered the salifert test andin my opinion there's too much margin for error. So I dropped a few extra bucks and looks like this is the route to go for best accuracy. And OP i'm sorry for the loss of your fish. I lost a Sunburst Anthias this morning. It was already suffering from an intestinal parasite and the ammonia in my QT got too high and my ammonia alert badges did not properly display the accurate reading.... I just assumed all was well....

 

[Griff]

That may have been the problem too. I'll have to replace my badge just in case.

I did not mix any other meds.

I feel awful as when I first got these guys in qt they looked so healthy! I feel like it's my fault they died.

 

[Swoody]

That may have been the problem too. I'll have to replace my badge just in case.

I did not mix any other meds.

I feel awful as when I first got these guys in qt they looked so healthy! I feel like it's my fault they died.

That's the way I feel about it too but honestly and thankfully these are the first two fish I've ever quarantined and it seems both of them have issues and the Sunburst came to me with his intestinal bug because he was placed in a QT here that had never been used before, fresh mix salt water, hob filter, power head, air stone...the whole 9 yards,so there was no chance of him picking it up from here....so I just have to say to myself ,well, Not really my fault ...but I still feel bad about it and I'm doing everything I can to keep this little angel fish alive.

 

[Humblefish]

Since testing for ammonia in QT seems to been an issue lately, I will say that using Cupramine has an edge in this dept.

In addition to using the ammonia alert badge, you also have the option of testing using a Seachem ammonia test kit with Cupramine only.

No other liquid ammonia test kit measures accurately when copper is in the water, as far as I know.

 

[melypr1985]

That may have been the problem too. I'll have to replace my badge just in case.

I did not mix any other meds.

I feel awful as when I first got these guys in qt they looked so healthy! I feel like it's my fault they died.

I'm so sorry for the troubles!! Don't give up.... this wasn't your fault. You did your best and from what i can see did things right. The copper issue can be rectified. It's a learning experience. You'll get better at running your QT the more you do it and you'll find that you have more confidence and more success. If you need help reading your test kit take a picture in bright lighting and post it here. We can help you determine the reading. Humble and I have extensive experience reading the API test kit and should be able to help you out with that. The chemetrics kit is supposed to be awesome! It might be worth a try for you.

Just take a deep breath..... Ready for this? It's not your fault!!! You did your best and you'll learn from this and get better at it. YOU CAN DO THIS! I believe in you.... you should too.

 

[Griff]

going to try this again. I know ich was in the qt. Plan is to drain qt let dry 24 hrs wipe down with h202 let dry. Refil with display tank water during normal water change. Should this sanitize it enough?

Also I have nothing for bio filtration what do I do to ensure I do t get an ammonia spike? I'll also get a new ammonia badge.

Ny aquatic has both the fish I want so looking to do this right away.

 

[Griff]

Any one have answers to the above questions I want to start this process tomorrow.

 

[Swoody]

I am not sure about the sanitation part. But as far as the biofiltration have your HOB filter going and you can seed any media that you want to run in it with Dr. Tim's or seachem Stability, and I know there's a couple other ones that will give you beneficial bacteria to help start breaking down the ammonia and seeding the poly or matrix or what ever you are running in your HOB. Good luck man I hope it all goes well.

 

[Griff]

I am not sure about the sanitation part. But as far as the biofiltration have your HOB filter going and you can seed any media that you want to run in it with Dr. Tim's or seachem Stability, and I know there's a couple other ones that will give you beneficial bacteria to help start breaking down the ammonia and seeding the poly or matrix or what ever you are running in your HOB. Good luck man I hope it all goes well.

But I thought you weren't supposed to even have poly filter if you are going to run copper

 

[Humblefish]

going to try this again. I know ich was in the qt. Plan is to drain qt let dry 24 hrs wipe down with h202 let dry. Refil with display tank water during normal water change. Should this sanitize it enough?

Also I have nothing for bio filtration what do I do to ensure I do t get an ammonia spike? I'll also get a new ammonia badge.

Ny aquatic has both the fish I want so looking to do this right away.

I would wipe everything down (tank, equipment) with vinegar soaked paper towels and then rinse thoroughly. Let everything air dry for 24 hours (use a fan.)

What kind of bio-filter are you using on the QT? Maybe shoot me a pic of the entire QT setup so I can see if something just doesn't look right, ya know?

 

[melypr1985]

Plan is to drain qt let dry 24 hrs wipe down with h202 let dry. Refil with display tank water during normal water change. Should this sanitize it enough?

 

[Griff]

I would wipe everything down (tank, equipment) with vinegar soaked paper towels and then rinse thoroughly. Let everything air dry for 24 hours (use a fan.)

What kind of bio-filter are you using on the QT? Maybe shoot me a pic of the entire QT setup so I can see if something just doesn't look right, ya know?

I'll snap a photo when I start cleaning but there isn't a bio filter. I used some rubble the first qt it did but it absorbed to much copper. couldnt keep the level stable so I removed it half way through and started the clock over for 30 days. so the last 2 qt I had no biofilter other than the water running for a month first. I have an ammonia alert badge and never saw an ammonia spike

 

[Griff]

thanks for posting that video. I have all those items. I have unscented regular bleach should I use the bleach or the vinegar or both?

 

[Brew12]

I'm really sorry you are going through all this. I can't tell you how much I struggled with copper levels. I eventually took one gallon of old tank water and dosed coppersafe to it at the recommended amount. After letting it sit for an hour or two I tested it with my API test kit. Even though I thought it read around 0.5ppm I considered this to be my target therapeutic level.
There are plenty of us who have a hard time reading the API test kit and we almost always overdose because of it.

My HOB's came with some biomedia and I leave it in when I treat with copper. I haven't noticed any appreciable copper loss to it but I feel the added surface area helps the biofilter keep ammonia down.

 

[Cflip]

So on the second QT period with new fish what do you do with the hob filter? Replace the biomedia or re-use? Just rinse the sponge with vinegar and water?

 

[Chitown tom]

In addition to using the ammonia alert badge, you also have the option of testing using a Seachem ammonia test kit with Cupramine only.

Humblefish does the ammonia reading on a seneye monitor get skewed when dosing Cupramine? I am not sure if I can trust the reading?

 

[Cflip]

I'm using coppersafe

 

[Brew12]

So on the second QT period with new fish what do you do with the hob filter? Replace the biomedia or re-use? Just rinse the sponge with vinegar and water?

I used 2 QT's. One that I considered "dirty" and the other "clean". My 10g QT is where I use the copper. When I am done with the copper I transfer the fish to the clean 20g QT.
I use Biospira to seed the tanks if I had torn them down and I re-use the biomedia pellets and toss the sponge since they are so cheap.

Edit: Prior to taking either tank down I dump some bleach in it for at least a few hours and let it circulate prior to draining and drying it out.