YWG + CopperSafe = ghost fish ….what to do

[nathanielt]

New yellow watchman goby in 10 gallon QT. Just observation for several days. Quirky little thing.

Started CopperSafe last night. 3ml (with intent ramp up 3 ml twice a day for three days). Post dose, the Hanna checker read .6, which seems high for only 3 ml in 10 gallons. Maybe it hadn’t circulated enough, maybe the CopperSafe batch is extra strong.

Within hours the goby had lost its color (see before and after pics).

He or she is still alive this morning, but still pale (the after pic is this morning). The fish did just eat (frozen mysis) so not in extreme distress.

Parameters 0 ammonia, 1 nitrite, 25 nitrates, 1.025 sg, 8 ph, 78.2 temp.

Do I stay the course? Slow the increase in copper? Abandon prophylactic treatment?

 

[Spare time]

Keep going with the copper. Don't slowly ramp it up. Dose half, test to check, then dose the other half.

 

[vetteguy53081]

New yellow watchman goby in 10 gallon QT. Just observation for several days. Quirky little thing.

Started CopperSafe last night. 3ml (with intent ramp up 3 ml twice a day for three days). Post dose, the Hanna checker read .6, which seems high for only 3 ml in 10 gallons. Maybe it hadn’t circulated enough, maybe the CopperSafe batch is extra strong.

Within hours the goby had lost its color (see before and after pics).

He or she is still alive this morning, but still pale (the after pic is this morning). The fish did just eat (frozen mysis) so not in extreme distress.

Parameters 0 ammonia, 1 nitrite, 25 nitrates, 1.025 sg, 8 ph, 78.2 temp.

Do I stay the course? Slow the increase in copper? Abandon prophylactic treatment?

Instead of ml measurements, measure with test kit at 2.0-2.25 and cease ramping and get to level right away as ramping allows given disease to take hold of the fish
Monitor water quality with a reliable test kit

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes - it isn't the copper being too high, you haven't reached a full dose yet. Since you have a Hanna checker, you should get to 2.25 to 2.5 ppm ASAP. 10 gallon tanks hold about 8 gallons of water, so that's about 10 ml for a 2.25 dose.

Slow ramp up of copper causes more problems than it solves - protozoan issues can thrive below about 1.8 ppm.

It is also possible that the issue with the goby isn't protozoan, so the copper may not help, but it is really the only direction you can go here.

Jay

 

[nathanielt]

Thank you all. New purchase, prophylactic treatment. I saw no signs of disease in four days of observation before I started copper. New problem: came home today and it had jumped through the egg crate and I found it on the floor. But it wasn’t dead yet—revived pretty quickly when put back in tank. If he’s still alive when I’m home in a few hours I’ll bump the copper to 2.5.

 

[nathanielt]

upgraded the “goby guard” with 1/4 inch mesh zip tied to egg crate. Fingers crossed.

 

[nathanielt]

Yes - it isn't the copper being too high, you haven't reached a full dose yet. Since you have a Hanna checker, you should get to 2.25 to 2.5 ppm ASAP. 10 gallon tanks hold about 8 gallons of water, so that's about 10 ml for a 2.25 dose.

Goby is still alive but I'm now lost on coppersafe dosing and/or proper procedure for Hanna HR copper. The coppersafe bottle says 1.25 ml/g for therapeutic dose (which I thought Fritz says is 2.0 ppm?). So 12.5 ml for 10 gallons. So per quote above, that's Fritz's idea of therapeutic -- 2.0 PPM. But don't I want 2.25 - 2.5 to make sure I don't drop below 2.0?

I dosed 16 ml on a 10 gallon tank (measured and had a full 10 gallons interior dimensions when full). That got me to 2.38 ppm. Seems about right given above math.

But the next day I was down to 2.01 ppm, so added another 3 ml coppersafe. Went to bed.

Today first reading was 4.78! But I'd used a syringe that I'd used to dose Coppersafe and then rinsed. Perhaps didn't rinse well enough and got a false high reading. So I used another syringe (never used for dosing) and got 3.01 and 2.89. Last two tests are somewhat consistent with 19 total ml dosed over last several days at 10 gallons.

So moral to story is that 2.01 seems like a misread low when it was probably still closer to 2.5, and 4.89 was a misread high. My Hanna testing protocols need work. Or am I missing something?

I use a Google form to record parameters into this spreadsheet:

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Goby is still alive but I'm now lost on coppersafe dosing and/or proper procedure for Hanna HR copper. The coppersafe bottle says 1.25 ml/g for therapeutic dose (which I thought Fritz says is 2.0 ppm?). So 12.5 ml for 10 gallons. So per quote above, that's Fritz's idea of therapeutic -- 2.0 PPM. But don't I want 2.25 - 2.5 to make sure I don't drop below 2.0?

I dosed 16 ml on a 10 gallon tank (measured and had a full 10 gallons interior dimensions when full). That got me to 2.38 ppm. Seems about right given above math.

But the next day I was down to 2.01 ppm, so added another 3 ml coppersafe. Went to bed.

Today first reading was 4.78! But I'd used a syringe that I'd used to dose Coppersafe and then rinsed. Perhaps didn't rinse well enough and got a false high reading. So I used another syringe (never used for dosing) and got 3.01 and 2.89. Last two tests are somewhat consistent with 19 total ml dosed over last several days at 10 gallons.

So moral to story is that 2.01 seems like a misread low when it was probably still closer to 2.5, and 4.89 was a misread high. My Hanna testing protocols need work. Or am I missing something?

I use a Google form to record parameters into this spreadsheet:

One thing to watch for with the Hanna test is getting all of the reagent out of the sachet - I have a lot of trouble doing that myself.

However, you dosed 16 ml for a ten gallon tank. A standard 10 gallon tank holds about 8.2 gallons of water when filled to a normal height (about 1" from the top). That should have been 10 ml.


Jay