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Not sure if I should post this here or in the disease treatment or tank emergency forum, but it's mainly a chemistry question, so here I am.
I got a beautiful purple tang about 4 days ago and put it in my QT. The QT was cycled from the last fish I got but had been empty for 2-3 weeks (with the filter running.)
Yesterday I checked the Ammonia level and it was 0.2 mg/L with the Red Sea kit (0.2 total ammonia = 0.02 NH3 per the kit). Today I rechecked the ammonia level and it's up to 0.8 mg/L. The fish appears fine - no changes in behavior, breathing, appetite, etc.
I had used copper safe in the tank previously so I decided check a copper level and it came back as 0.12 with the Hanna checker.
My quandary now is what to do and what to believe. The copper level is low but still measurable, and I'm planning on prophylactically treating with copper, so I'm think that using Prime is a bad idea. I know copper can interfere with ammonia tests (although I'm not sure about the Red Sea kit,) so it's possible that the copper is contributing to the ammonia reading, but the fact that it went up from yesterday to today is concerning. I'm thinking my best course of action will be to do a 50% water change and keep testing until the levels stabilize, then start dosing copper?
I got a beautiful purple tang about 4 days ago and put it in my QT. The QT was cycled from the last fish I got but had been empty for 2-3 weeks (with the filter running.)
Yesterday I checked the Ammonia level and it was 0.2 mg/L with the Red Sea kit (0.2 total ammonia = 0.02 NH3 per the kit). Today I rechecked the ammonia level and it's up to 0.8 mg/L. The fish appears fine - no changes in behavior, breathing, appetite, etc.
I had used copper safe in the tank previously so I decided check a copper level and it came back as 0.12 with the Hanna checker.
My quandary now is what to do and what to believe. The copper level is low but still measurable, and I'm planning on prophylactically treating with copper, so I'm think that using Prime is a bad idea. I know copper can interfere with ammonia tests (although I'm not sure about the Red Sea kit,) so it's possible that the copper is contributing to the ammonia reading, but the fact that it went up from yesterday to today is concerning. I'm thinking my best course of action will be to do a 50% water change and keep testing until the levels stabilize, then start dosing copper?