Alright, first I'll admit my ignorance...
I got a bunch of fish in the mail about a month ago that had ich the next morning. I tried a copper treatment, Quick Cure, which I understood would be safe for cherry and amano shrimp if not overdosed. I did not overdose, but a day or two later I put in another chemical that separated the copper compound and basically wiped out all of my shrimp in one night and most of the tetras over the next 2 week period (liver destruction, most likely) -- other fish survived.
It still bothers me to think about this, but after several water changes, I moved on -- according to my calculations I have less than 1% of the original water left. Got more tetras and shrimp. No problems with the new tetras (24 of them), but I am still losing a few shrimp per week -- I never lost a shrimp in the month before adding the copper.
My question: I pulled out some heavily rooted plants a few days ago and stirred up my ADA Aqua Soil quite a bit, and I did NOT do a water change at that time, which I regret. I have lost 3 or 4 shrimp since then. Would my substrate stay contaminated with copper for a long period? Or, can stirring up the substrate kill shrimp, if you are not careful?
My shrimp behavior was a little weird for a while after the substrate disruption ... lots of congregating, especially in the upper corner of my tank where the plumbing is. Today they are becoming more active again, but I did lose another amano last night. I have lost no fish during this time. If I should replace all of my substrate (I hope not!), I'll probably need to get a second tank and start from scratch.
I got a bunch of fish in the mail about a month ago that had ich the next morning. I tried a copper treatment, Quick Cure, which I understood would be safe for cherry and amano shrimp if not overdosed. I did not overdose, but a day or two later I put in another chemical that separated the copper compound and basically wiped out all of my shrimp in one night and most of the tetras over the next 2 week period (liver destruction, most likely) -- other fish survived.
It still bothers me to think about this, but after several water changes, I moved on -- according to my calculations I have less than 1% of the original water left. Got more tetras and shrimp. No problems with the new tetras (24 of them), but I am still losing a few shrimp per week -- I never lost a shrimp in the month before adding the copper.
My question: I pulled out some heavily rooted plants a few days ago and stirred up my ADA Aqua Soil quite a bit, and I did NOT do a water change at that time, which I regret. I have lost 3 or 4 shrimp since then. Would my substrate stay contaminated with copper for a long period? Or, can stirring up the substrate kill shrimp, if you are not careful?
My shrimp behavior was a little weird for a while after the substrate disruption ... lots of congregating, especially in the upper corner of my tank where the plumbing is. Today they are becoming more active again, but I did lose another amano last night. I have lost no fish during this time. If I should replace all of my substrate (I hope not!), I'll probably need to get a second tank and start from scratch.
