10gal tank still reading high levels.

[chris246810]

hello i just got done testing my qt tank that has been established for about a mont now. i am treating my fish for ich using copper safe. my tests all came out high i did three water changes last month. why are the readings still high?

 

[elfdoctors]

What levels are reading high?
I don't understand what is the problem. Please provide more information about your tank and its inhabitants also.

 

[chris246810]

ok its a 10 gal qt tank set up for about a month. i have two clowns and 2 damels in there now gettting treared for ich with copper safe. ph is good,ammonia is good. nitrate and nitrite are high. tahts the problem. i did water changes three times last month.

 

[elfdoctors]

That's a lot of fish for a 10 gallon QT! Try not to go over 1 inch of fish for every 5 gallons.
A QT will often have less carrying capacity than an established tank because there is less substrate and live rock for beneficial bacteria to get established.
Frequent water changes are going to be needed (when I had an overstocked hospital tank, I did 20% water changes once or twice daily and I still had a nitrite spike which killed some of my fish (uncycled tank)). Keep an eye on your copper levels if you are going to use this.

 

[chris246810]

ok so i just have to keep doing water changes. umm another thing. the fish i am QTing didn't have any ich spots on them but the fish that died from ich in my display had them on him so i was just wondering how do i know that the ich is gone from the surving fish in the qt ttank.

 

[elfdoctors]

Originally posted by chris246810
how do i know that the ich is gone from the surving fish in the qt ttank.
The fish in the QT are being treated, right? If you do a treatment with copper or hyposalinity correctly, you should have a 99% chance of cure.
You have to assume that any fish that was in the same tank with another fish with ich is infected.

 

[chris246810]

ok so i was thinking of leaveing them in the qt tank for about a month. is good enough. the directons on the copper safe said 2 spoons will last about a mont.

 

[elfdoctors]

Originally posted by chris246810
ok so i was thinking of leaveing them in the qt tank for about a month. is good enough. the directons on the copper safe said 2 spoons will last about a mont.
The month-long treatment is fine. However, the copper will not last for a month with that many fish in the tank. You will have to do water changes. It is usually recommended to get a copper test kit and try to maintain therapeutic levels of copper instead of just blindly dosing.

 

[chris246810]

yes i got the test kit and thank you for your help

 

[beth]

To answer your question about why your tank remains uncycled. Copper kills your biofilter. This is one of the reason I advocate for hyposalinity, especially in an uncycled tank.