will copper safe damage bio-wheel?

[randalizm]

i have 29 gallon eclipse system that was given to me by a friend. i started it a month and a half ago and added a couple loaches to the existing fish. i think the loaches brought ich into the tank so i started using copper safe to get rid of the ich, took out the carbon filter but left the bio-wheel in. its been almost 3 weeks and i think the ich is gone but im gonna keep medicating the tank for another week or so. my question is...will the copper safe damage the bio-wheel?

 

[Mako]

Good call on leaving the bio-wheel in. If it dies (meaning, the bacteria in it) then you'll have to cycle all over again.

Coopersafe should be fine. Personally I'd ditch the coppersafe and use a high-temp (85f) light-salt approach as the double-whammy. Three or four days of this should do the trick. Just note that loaches don't like salt much so be careful if you try it. I still think it's safer and faster than copper.

Also keep in mind that ich will not be eliminated from your tank completely. It never is (it was there to begin with). Something stressed your fish just enough that they succumbed to the ich. Keep an eye on water parameters to make sure ammonia/nitrite, pH, and hardness are in the good range. Ammonia is the #1 reason for ich battles. Adding the loaches may have caused just enough of an ammonia spike to stress them.

 

[randalizm]

yeah i raised the temp to 85-86 with the copper safe. but i think i will use the salt method next time cause i think it caused the death of one of the loaches and weakend the other 2 quite a bit as well. the 3 cardinal tetras and betta look good. what would be the tell told signs the bacteria on the bio-wheel is dead and i would need a new one?

 

[johnnyxxl]

tell tale signs would be ammonia, and nitrite, nitrate and ph fluctuations from the norm. also it has been said before and will be again, ich does not just exist in all tanks it gets there from somewhere to start with. parasites need food and if they are not feeding from your fish what then? my tanks don't have ich and won't get it unless its already there they never have I have never gotten it unless I added new fish to the tank from the shop where they had it and I didn't see it.

 

[Kasakato]

Coppersafe should be bacteria safe. Not 100% sure thorugh. If I were you Id get some carbon in there, stop copersafe, and bumb up the heat slowy to 85* for the next week.