"mike d." wrote in message
news
I had three or four fish in a ninety-two gallon tank, and they got
ick, and I treated it(the tank) with the blue copper compound but I
didn't remove any charcoal. I don't know if my charcoal was old and
spent, or if it just didn't stop the action of the copper sulfate,
but the fish very quickly & very completely recovered. Mike.
"Gottcha" wrote in message
...
I recently had an ick outbreak in my tank and was wondering. If i
add kick
ick do i need to take my activated carbon out of my filter? I was
told that
it will remove all medications from the water.

Activated carbon absorbs what it can in about 1 week. Then it is
'used' and will do nothing. You should replace it.

If you had a UV sterilizer and a cleaner shrimp it would be rare that
you get ick in the first place, and if you do just increase the amount
of time the UV light is on.

If you get ick again dip the fish in a separate container of distilled
water or RO/DI water for around 1 minute.

You will NEVER get rid of all the copper (a poison) but do several 50%
water changes and you'll be able to reduce the amount.

3-4 pounds of live sand + whatever amount of white sterilized play
sand (home depot) will give you 100% live sand in around 9 months. For
a 6' tank you'd want a 3" sand bed.