Ich Treatment

[NanoReefer2025]

A few days ago, I noticed minuscule white spots on some of my fish, and assuming it’s ich, I’ve been trying to gather all the supplies for a quarantine/ hospital tank to treat them. I simply have a 10 gallon, a cheap HOB filter, a 50w heater, a thermometer, and some old aquarium decorations. Is this a good setup? I put it all together yesterday and put in some microbacter. Today, I noticed that there is some mild white cloudiness. Do I need to cycle the QT before I put the fish in (I have four fish)? I wanted to do it tonight, but I also didn’t want to crash the whole system.

I have decided to use Coppersafe to treat the fish. Is it entirely necessary to get a copper test kit? I’m am on a bit of a tight budget, and I feel like I am constantly having to purchase things since I found out about the ich.

 

[lapin]

How will you know what the level of copper is if you dont measure. Copper has a narrow range of effectiveness. Too high and you will kill the fish. Too low and it wont work.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

A few days ago, I noticed minuscule white spots on some of my fish, and assuming it’s ich, I’ve been trying to gather all the supplies for a quarantine/ hospital tank to treat them. I simply have a 10 gallon, a cheap HOB filter, a 50w heater, a thermometer, and some old aquarium decorations. Is this a good setup? I put it all together yesterday and put in some microbacter. Today, I noticed that there is some mild white cloudiness. Do I need to cycle the QT before I put the fish in (I have four fish)? I wanted to do it tonight, but I also didn’t want to crash the whole system.

I have decided to use Coppersafe to treat the fish. Is it entirely necessary to get a copper test kit? I’m am on a bit of a tight budget, and I feel like I am constantly having to purchase things since I found out about the ich.

Microbacter may take some time to start working, you need to check for ammonia daily and keep it below 0.25 with water changes. It is VERY difficult to set up a 10 gallon QT for four fish on the fly like that. Do you have any source for beneficial bacteria?
I dose coppersafe without a test kit quite often but you must know the exact volume that your QT holds, by actual measurement. Then you need to measure the copper accurately, like a pipette or syringe. Then dose according to label directions, but double check your math.
What four fish do you have? How sick are they?
Jay

 

[LouieP]

Why dont you use a sponge or filter sock from your DT to seed your QT?

 

[NanoReefer2025]

Microbacter may take some time to start working, you need to check for ammonia daily and keep it below 0.25 with water changes. It is VERY difficult to set up a 10 gallon QT for four fish on the fly like that. Do you have any source for beneficial bacteria?
I dose coppersafe without a test kit quite often but you must know the exact volume that your QT holds, by actual measurement. Then you need to measure the copper accurately, like a pipette or syringe. Then dose according to label directions, but double check your math.
What four fish do you have? How sick are they?
Jay

Thanks for your thorough response! I will definitely be checking for ammonia often. I have heard that when using coppersafe, water changes should not be done, but I am not sure if this is necessarily true or not. I understand that it is difficult to quickly set up such a tank, but I would really hope to fix this problem before it progresses into something worse and end up with four dead fish. As far as beneficial bacteria goes, I suppose I can seed it with a sponge from my DT or something. I may be able to figure out the exact volume of the water in the tank, but it would be difficult, considering I have decorations in there that are irregularly shaped. If I truly can’t figure out the volume, I suppose I will just have to get a copper test. I have two clownfish, one small six lined wrasse, and a royal gramma. So far, the ich isn’t noticeably affecting their behavior. I really have just seen a few spots here and there, and honestly, I have to look hard to see them. As said before, I want to do as much as I can as quick as I can, especially since I have a big vacation coming up that I can’t exactly postpone. While I’m gone, one of my family members are going to be caring for the fish. Although they are far from experienced, I trust them to follow any instructions I leave.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for your thorough response! I will definitely be checking for ammonia often. I have heard that when using coppersafe, water changes should not be done, but I am not sure if this is necessarily true or not. I understand that it is difficult to quickly set up such a tank, but I would really hope to fix this problem before it progresses into something worse and end up with four dead fish. As far as beneficial bacteria goes, I suppose I can seed it with a sponge from my DT or something. I may be able to figure out the exact volume of the water in the tank, but it would be difficult, considering I have decorations in there that are irregularly shaped. If I truly can’t figure out the volume, I suppose I will just have to get a copper test. I have two clownfish, one small six lined wrasse, and a royal gramma. So far, the ich isn’t noticeably affecting their behavior. I really have just seen a few spots here and there, and honestly, I have to look hard to see them. As said before, I want to do as much as I can as quick as I can, especially since I have a big vacation coming up that I can’t exactly postpone. While I’m gone, one of my family members are going to be caring for the fish. Although they are far from experienced, I trust them to follow any instructions I leave.

No - you can change water in tanks with coppersafe, you just redose the make up water with a proportional amount of copper.
Jay

 

[NanoReefer2025]

Update: A few days ago I added the fish to the setup successfully. All seems to be running well and the fish are all eating and swimming around fine. I haven’t added the medication yet, but before I do, I will take out the decor to measure the volume as accurately as possible. The only major problem I have is finding someone to take care of the DT and my sick fish while I am on vacation. I thought I had someone, but it turns out they will be on vacation also. This is kind of off topic, but if anyone has had any experience with hiring a fish sitter from say, a LFS, please share. Seeing as pretty much no one I know is going to be available, that may be my only option.