Nitrite to Nitrate

**Missy** · 03-25-2010, 10:20 AM

I hope you guys can help me help my purple tang. I had him in a 40g QT and he had alot of ich which I decided to treat with hypo, after a few days he seemed worse and upon closer inspection I felt I had misdiagnosed him and it was actually marine velvet. I was told by an experienced reefer that I could treat with cupramine even though he was in saliniy of 1.009, I hadn't heard this before but felt desperate to save him. Anyway a couple of days into cupramine he stopped eating and went into hidding, I tested his water and it tested high nitrites, I started doing water changes and he floated to the top and stuck to the powerhead, I was sure it was over. Sorry, the story goes on, I removed him and put him in a 10g with fresh saltwater at the same salinity and temp, he is now swimming circles and other than looking very ticked off at being held in this tank, he looks good.

I have continued water changes on the original qt and added cheato to eat up nitrites but can't seem to get them down, how long will he have to wait? How can I speed up the process from nitrites to nitrates, please help my tough little tang.

**Phurst** · 03-25-2010, 10:32 AM

The cupramine has likely killed off any biological filtration in your QT, so the only thing you can do is lots and lots and lots of water changes to keep things in spec, which will be challenging using something like cuparmine where the copper levels have to be fairly exact. Since there will be no biological filtration, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels will rise quickly, especially with a tang.

**Missy** · 03-25-2010, 02:16 PM

Thanks Phurst, the tang is in the 10g and I am sure I will see amonia soon, I am not feeding him. I am testing 0 amonia in the 40g but still high nitrites, I am doing large water changes. I have added a seeded sponge filter and cheato from my reef tank. The only thing I can think of doing now is to keep changing out 100% of the 10g water until the 40g is reading 0 nitrites. I would really appreciate any other ideas anyone has also how long should I expect it to take to go from nitrites to nitrates and how long can the tang go with no food?

V · 03-25-2010, 10:30 PM

Thats a totally blind aspect bud. I dont think anyone could accurately narrow that down based on the conditions.

Your in a pickle, if your treatments are nuking any hope of a natural nitrogen cycle, then i suggest making it as habitable as possible for the fish, & from your end, add "binding agents in a bottle" to lock the ammonia & nitrite down. Its still present but flocked so its not harmful. Water changes will handle the rest.

**CarmieJo** · 03-25-2010, 10:51 PM

Hi Missy, I think that not feeding a sick fish is going to be counterproductive. I agree with V that water changes and something like Prime would probably be the best way to go.

**Missy** · 03-26-2010, 06:55 AM

Thanks guys. Good news, yesterday I changed about 80% of the water in the 40g, added sponges and pvc seeded from my reef tank. I added prime the day before and amonia tested 0 but last night the nitrites went to 0 and the 10g where the tang was in holding started to show amonia, perfect timing. I moved him back to his 40g late last night and today he is looking good, that was a close one. This is one tough little tang.

I really appreciate your help here at the talking reef. There is a knowledge base and a level of courtesy, respect and maturity that does not exist on alot of other sites I have visited, thanks again.

V · 03-26-2010, 09:33 AM

sooooo, if thats the case, i want to see you at a post count that's trimming 1000 by May then..lol

Your welcome kiddo, thats what we're here for. That and the free snacks, but who's counting anyways.

Just as a side note, (gota love side notes, its code for i was to slack to mention it earlier...lol ) Dont be overly spooked when using binding agents, you can get false readings on your test kits due to reactions happening on the atomic structure level. Its ether stripping and venting or allowing the bondage of new atoms to form different molecules. As mentioned, its binded into safe forms, but just as heads up if your unaware of this.
As long as your doing your systematic water changes, dosing the correct amounts of copper & your binding agents by volume, your fine.

**Missy** · 03-26-2010, 10:59 AM

Thanks again V, I think we are out of the woods but I will keep a close eye on water quality. I removed the copper with carbon so he is just in hypo now and looking great. I am amazed at how he could go from being glued to a powerhead to looking so perfect. I was considering starting a build thread, should increase my post count. Maybe one day I will feel knowledgable enough to give back. Love the kiddo but I am probably old enough to be your older sister.

**CarmieJo** · 03-26-2010, 01:30 PM

That's great news! As an fyi, I don't think that carbon removes copper. It will remove antibiotics.

**Missy** · 03-26-2010, 02:48 PM

Thank you Carmie, I know I said copper but I used cupramine which I believe is different from copper sulfate. I was told cupramine could be removed with carbon but it might just be the water changes that did it, not sure. Anyhow, he is out eating and swimming around so all is good, I did damage his fin a little when I netted him to return him to the 40g, I won't use a net with a tang again.

V · 03-26-2010, 10:18 PM

why, how old are you?

yeah, we're not talking Copper Sulphate , its Copper Chloride. Copper nuclei rugby tacked by 2 Chloride atoms & 2 H2O atoms

Man, you got to hand it to the field of chemistry , imagine living in that world where the slightest change in elements, environmental factors or electrical charges, can create a totally new element.