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#1
02-20-2015, 12:59 PM
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So what do you suggest for test kits. I already have my calcium magnesium and phosphate test kit but it's an API one. Seachem? The hippo tang seems to be actually doing better the white spots are less, but one of my other fish does have one or two spots on him now. I haven't really had the time yet to set up my hospital tank I'll do it today. I think I'm just going to go us the copper treatment it seems to be the way that has the least amount of work. I was reading that only Seachem ammonia test kits work in a copper treatment tank. Is that true? Can I use my API ammonia tester?
Apparently my biggest concern with the hospital tank with copper is keeping the ammonia down. So once I get the tank set up and I get my little penguin filter running I'm going to put a piece of live rock in the filter to start the bacterial filter. Think that's a good idea? Any suggestions on how to keep my Monias down? How much water should I change? How often? I know I have to be trying to get all the poop and uneaten food as I do a water change but should I do one every three days or two days? what is a good routine? Thanks for all your input! 
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#2
02-20-2015, 01:31 PM
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I like the Hanna Checkers for alkalinity and phosphate. I don't like the Hanna Calcium kit - it's tough to get a consistent reading. You have to be VERY diligent with your accuracy in testing. Salifert kits are ok. They are cheaper than Elos, and easier to find. I find the calcium and alkalinity kits read quite a bit higher than other kits, so if I'm using these ones I tend to err on the high side. I do not recommend SeaChem or Hagen kits for anything. Quote:
 There are two different types of ammonia test kits - Nessler and salicylate. ONLY Nessler kits are compatible with ammonia detoxifier prodcts (like Prime and AmQuel). API and SeaChem are both Nessler. I think the API ammonia kit is better than the SeaChem one. Quote:
Use Prime or AmQuel to control ammonia. Use the bottle label for dosing instructions as far as how much to add on each dose, but you will need to do multiple doses. You will end up having to dose twice a day probably. The dosing is something like 5 mL for 50 gallons - you may need to dose that 5 mL twice a day. Quote:
You should be bottom siphoning to remove uneaten food and fish poop everyday. Use a piece of rigid airline tubing attached to a length of flexible airline tubing to make a small siphon hose. You can bottom vacuum without removing much water. Also, very important - you have to replace the medication you remove during a waterchange. If you do a 25% waterchange, then you have to re-dose 25% medication unless the medication package tells you different. Such as Furan 2 tells you when to do water changes and how much.
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#3
02-20-2015, 05:34 PM
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I would suggest you looking up tank transfer method (TTM) for treating marine ich. Instead of a test kit for ammonia, get some seachem ammonia badge. it's a sticky thing that you stick in the tank under water and it can show you the level of ammonia (approximately) so you don't have to test it constantly. Another benefit of using TTM is that you can use ammonia binder (like prime) to reduce ammonia to a lesser toxic form. You can not use such binder in water that has copper. It makes copper more toxic. Good luck.
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#4
02-20-2015, 09:32 PM
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In my research of using a UV sterilizer, I found that there was some misunderstanding of how it worked etc etc.
I talked to the manufacturer and was told that depending on the amount of water flow run through it, made the difference on what the UV killed. If it ran too little of water it killed many good things that help a tank, but if you are looking to kill just 'parasites", bacteria, ich etc etc you need to run alot of water through it. I have a 40 watt Aquaviolet and was told to run 900GPH to kill just the "bad Stuff, and only 600 gph, will kill everything, including the good things. I believe the numbers I quoted are correct, but has been awhile since I set it all up, but talk to your manufacturer to get right info. http://www.aquaultraviolet.com/sites...20UV%20FAQ.pdf The belief is that you just run water thru it and all is good. This is not the case, as per Aquaviolets, tech guy, whose info was provided to me verbally.
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#5
02-21-2015, 01:18 AM
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#6
02-21-2015, 09:01 PM
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#7
02-21-2015, 09:30 PM
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#8
02-21-2015, 11:40 PM
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Got my first quarantine tank set up I'm just making sure that the parameters are the same as my display tank salinity temperature and then I will start putting the fish in. I got some PVC elbows and now I have my trap in my display tank to try to catch these fish. Soon as I put the trap in the DT with food in it the shrimp was in there within five seconds. The fish are starting to get curious and you can see them getting closer and closer to the trap but I haven't got one yet. It's been a half hour. Btw I decided to go with the tank transfer method after all. After all the reading I've done I just feel that that's the safest and easiest. So I will be switching the fish to a different tank with same water parameters every three days for six transfers.
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#9
02-24-2015, 10:49 PM
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It just means you need to add typical supplements to the tank to replenish what the UV kills. It is a choice, on whether you would rather use supplements/medicines or make sure your pump is rated for the UV sterilizer. I personally would rather let mother nature control the natural processes than have to add chemicals etc, never mind the expense etc, so I made sure I used the proper sized pump to kill ich and bad bacteria instead of killing the good stuff as well The manufacturer supplied this info to me as well as the link explaining and showing what gets killed at certain GPHs
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#10
02-24-2015, 10:32 PM
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I would just rather kill just the ich and bad parasites by running the proper GPH, then run the wrong GPH and kill everything. As I mentioned before, most people, including myself, believed you just hook up any old pump and away you go.
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