WTF is wrong with my water!

[jordankj]

if you're feeding a whole frozen cube, it's way too much. i cut mine into fourths.

well i spot feed my BTA and my brain coral then the rest goes the fish and shrimp.

 

Either way ive read that its not reef safe. It says it also combats "bacterial infections".

Just throwing that out there trying to give you a hand.

 

Ammonia readings with no nitrite or nitrate is weird. Would make sense that its not being put through the nitrogen cycle.

yea i have a feeling that this stupid medicine is the cause of my problems.Cause i noticed some empty shells after i used it.

[Deleted User 6]

yeah, you killed all your inverts. snails, crabs, shrimp, and coral. it's probably still in your rock leaching out into the tank killing things.

[ls7corvete]

Copper is gonna kill every invert in your tank. Not surprising to get an ammonia spike.

 

Your LR and LS is gonna be toast until all that ammonia breaks down. I would only use it for FOWLR after that. I would seriously moving the canister filter and any remaining inhabitants to a isolation tank until you can get the ammonia and copper cleared out.

[Warehouse41Ant]

Yeah, copper is nasty stuff. Hangs out LONG after dosing. For future reference, if you need to dose copper (for ich) make sure you use a seperate tank which is used for nothing other than that. You never want to put that stuff in a main display tank.

[jordankj]

well my coral banded shrimp and some hermits and snails are still doing fine,and so is my convict goby.I guess ill just need to keep doing water changes till i get all the copper out?

[nemmy]

well my coral banded shrimp and some hermits and snails are still doing fine,and so is my convict goby.I guess ill just need to keep doing water changes till i get all the copper out?

 

what about the bta that's also an invert. I'm not 100% sure that medicine is copper based. But it does sound like your bacteria for nitrification got killed or at least decreased in numbers. Feeding abln keeping livestock in ammonia filled water is pretty cruel.

 

I would take out all livestock and return them to the fish store or set up a quarintine tank for them. Then do a 100% waterchange and see if your cycle starts over and go from there.

[jordankj]

what about the bta that's also an invert. I'm not 100% sure that medicine is copper based. But it does sound like your bacteria for nitrification got killed or at least decreased in numbers. Feeding abln keeping livestock in ammonia filled water is pretty cruel.

 

I would take out all livestock and return them to the fish store or set up a quarintine tank for them. Then do a 100% waterchange and see if your cycle starts over and go from there.

i got the BTA after i dosed that stuff,and i did a water change before i put him in ther,hes opened up now and looks fine to me.

[gregzbobo]

Just in case, you may consider putting a small bag of Seachem Cuprisorb or a piece of Poly Filter in your filter, if they change color toward blue, they are adsorbing copper.

[Deleted User 6]

Good idea - i even did that once, lol. Mind must be slipping. Buy some cuprisorb and run it in the canister. Change it out every month or so (or whenever it turns totally blue).

[jordankj]

cool,where can i get that? also would chemipure and purigen help?

[Deleted User 6]

drsfostersmith has it, i'm pretty sure. also maybe marinedepot.com

[jordankj]

drsfostersmith has it, i'm pretty sure. also maybe marinedepot.com

hmm i wonder if my LFS carrys it.does it come in bags or do i need to put it in bags?

[Dustin C Mills]

hmm i wonder if my LFS carrys it.does it come in bags or do i need to put it in bags?

 

 

Chemi-Pure Elite is very good and comes in a bag. Rinse it out before you use it.

[ajmckay]

A few things:

 

1) Copper can be used as an anti-bacterial.

 

2) Super ich cure is malachite green though, not copper. Additionally it can also help prevent bacterial infections, which infers that it has at least some anti-bacterial properties as well. The bad thing is that malachite green really isn't a good choice for reef tanks, or saltwater in general. It is quickly absorbed by rocks, sand, and eventually the silicone in the tank. http://wetwebmedia.com/malachitegreen.htm

From what I know cuprisorb won't absorb it, and your best bet would probably be activated carbon and water changes. Nemmy is right in that the bacteria are compromised enough by the medication that the wastes continue to build up and break down, creating ammonia.

 

Chances are that you did a water change after dosing (I can't believe you didn't mention that you dosed medication on this thread!!!!! Nemmy, good find I think you saved this situation) which bought some of your livestock a temporarily extended life. Stop though, and things will probably continue downhill.

 

Unfortunately, I think your rocks may become dangerous if you keep using them Who knows how much has been absorbed into the rocks. This chemical (as well as many others) can leech out over time. I would remove the rocks completely and consider starting over (new rocks, sand, water, etc...). You might also consider cleaning out the tank. A simple QT can be set up to temporarily house your livestock. Continue running carbon and doing frequent large water changes on it until your display tank is up & running again.

 

This is a prime example of why all treatments must be performed in a quarantine tank.

 

Finally, cannister filters are fine, but I would remove the ceramic medium and use it for mechanical filtration (sponges) and chemical (carbon/chemi-pure or whatever) only. Clean it regularly and it won't be a problem at all. It's only when neglected that detrius "sludge" builds up inside of it in the cracks & in the medium that it can actually produce nitrates from what I understand.

[jordankj]

yea i know it was stupid for me to dose it in my main tank.after i dosed it and noticed things dying i added my carbon back to the filter.I took out the ceramic media first thing my tank cycled and havent been using it since,i just had filter floss and carbon in there.I just went to my LFS and got some purigen,i was gonna get chemipure but they didnt have any.I took out all my filter floss and just have purigen and carbon in the filter now.I cant really afford to set up a QT tank right now,so im just gonna keep changing the water and carbon and wait it out before i add anything else to the tank.

[nemmy]

Thanks ajmckay, and +1 to everything you said.

 

Like I said in my post i wasn't sure if it was copper based but I did know it messes with bacteria (not reef safe). And by the water test results it seemed that the nitrogen cycle wasn't functioning in the tank.

 

I always go through a persons recent topics to see if something else happened that wasn't mentioned.

[fishieCJ]

Why is there a tang in a 30 inch tank?

[Dustin C Mills]

Use Chemi Pure Elite in place of your carbon.

[jordankj]

i know it was wrong to put him in that tank.I dont plan on putting another tang in there now.prolly once my tank is good im just gonna get a clown and two firefish,i want it mainly to be a coral tank.

 

would it be bad to just fill up my racks in the filter with chemipure and purigen,there is 6 spots in the filter for it.

[nemmy]

i know it was wrong to put him in that tank.I dont plan on putting another tang in there now.prolly once my tank is good im just gonna get a clown and two firefish,i want it mainly to be a coral tank.

 

would it be bad to just fill up my racks in the filter with chemipure and purigen,there is 6 spots in the filter for it.

 

Chemi pure elite, purigen, and filter floss sounds better.

 

I seriously would do a bigggg water change though. Wipe down the walls of the tank, turkey baste the rocks then siphon out the water and pour in new salt water. You need to get as much of any left over ick medicine thats in there.

 

Your really going to have to stay on the water changes to keep ammonia down until your bacteria levels can come back though. I personally would get the livestock out of that tank.

[ls7corvete]

Good post aj,

 

I like this quote from wwm

Malachite Green is deadly toxic to all marine and freshwater invertebrates, algae, plant-life.

 

4 month old tank with a BTA, tang and medication/illness issues.....Doesnt sound good. Sounds terminal to me, lol.

 

Have a reef club or anyone who can help get things under control, possibly let you use a quarantine tank? Honesty, I am worried about alot of the inhabitants before the medication issues.

[jordankj]

well im planning on doing a 50% water change soon to aid in the process of my tank.

[jordankj]

well i think my tank is screwed now.I wake up and notice that my water is cloudy and my coral banded just sitting on a rock like almost dead.i just feel like giving up.What should i do if i do a 100% water change.some of my corals are stuck on my rocks.Do i start over with new sand too?

[nemmy]

well i think my tank is screwed now.I wake up and notice that my water is cloudy and my coral banded just sitting on a rock like almost dead.i just feel like giving up.What should i do if i do a 100% water change.some of my corals are stuck on my rocks.Do i start over with new sand too?

 

Get all of the livestock out and take them to the local fish store and get them to hold them or trade them in or whatever. Get some 5 gallon buckets, take one and make fresh salt water and put your rocks in it with a heater (clean it all first, bucket and heater). Drain the tank, ditch the sand and clean down everything the tank walls, your filters, heaters everything.

 

Put in new sand and fill the tank with fresh salt water (not from the rock bucket).

Once the tank is full, and up to temperature then take your rocks out of the bucket one by one and dunk them in and out of the bucket trying to rinse as much crap as you can off. Then put them back in the tank.

 

Hopefully this will get rid of 90% of the medication in that tank, if not more. Im not sure how long that stuff will stick around, or if it will get into the rocks but thats why i suggested to rinse them with fresh salt water then discard that water.

 

Then sit back and wait to see if your cycle starts over. This tank NEEDS to cycle again if it has any hope of recovering. Do NOT put livestock in for at least a month or longer. If you dont see your cycle starting you might have to put a piece of table shrimp in the tank.

[Learning2Reef]

I know it's not a hilarious situation, but it's a funny thread.

 

Jordankj: I would highly highly recommend, that anytime you have a question about your set up, that you include everything on your system. What kind of filteration system you have, water params (yes you did this), any livestock that is in the system or an estimate of everything you have, any dosing of anything in the system. If you put something into your system, before you do .. you should always do the research before just dumping it into your system. There are many sites out there that provide information. Reefcentral is a great place to go, seeing as how they're chemistry threads are pretty intense w/ knowledgeable folks. Randy Farley-Holmes gets on there and posts quiet a bit as well.

 

However, I just hope that this is a very expensive lesson for you to learn as it is most likely going to stick with you while you stay in this hobby. Sometimes, the best lessons are the most expensive ones.