2 Days in to QT and...

[Vapour1ze]

So my tank apparently suspicously had ICH, As my livestock was just a clownfish, peppermint shrimp, snails, crabs etc ... but whenever I added a new fish, boom dead 2 days later, breathing heavily etc.... the clown was getting blackspots some people suggested stings from my zoas but he never tried to host that I could see, but anyway. I setup a 10g QT,. with just a heater HOB filter, and water from the old tank, (10 gallons) I put the clown in, and have been treating with SeaCure Copper Treatement, (this is all in the QT) Im leaving the display alone because with no fish the ich will die off right? But anyway I put the clown into my QT and have been treatings and its been about 2-3 days now, and his black spots have near completely vanished.... so is this good or ???? I'm taking the QT water to my LFS tomorrow to have the copper level etc tested, so, so far I think I'm off to a good start.

 

[downhillbiker]

yeah sounds like something helped. so did you have ich? did you see the white spots? were the fish scratching on the rocks? the black spots weren't ich if thats what you are thinking. you have to run the display fallow for 6 weeks to kill ich. the clown should be treated with copper and hypo, and then after the fallow period you will be good to go.

 

[BeesGoneWild]

It could be black ich. Im glad to hear your clown is getting better. If it is indeed black ich then he should be Qted for a little over a month. heres a good read.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

part 2:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php

 

[Vapour1ze]

i had black spots,,, and every fish i would add would start scratching on the LR or Sand, for about 2 days after added until dead, including my clown but not as bad and then he developed the black spots so I qted, my LFS has been trying to help me along the way,

 

[downhillbiker]

did any of the other fish have the black spots?

black ich is the size of a grain of salt...
coral stings are usually the size of a bb...

which do you see? just on the clown?

if it was coral stings they would slowly clear up and give you the false impression that the copper is doing something to help.

 

[Vapour1ze]

i know what ya mean, i was second guessing myself, but to be honest they were about the size of a grain of salt some probably the size of 2 grains maybe? not to big thats for sure he still has one and it is pretty small but the rest cleared up.... when i added the other fish no they never got black spots but it was like the would all eat great the first day, then the 2nd day they would scatch or eathier just sit under a rock and breath very heavy, and the next day would be dead, i really am not sure,

 

[downhillbiker]

well the fallow period will get rid of any of the possible parasitic problems. if i were you i would run the tank 6 weeks anyway without fish, and that way you kill other parasites such as white ich, that may be in there and just havent shown up yet. you are already here, whats 2 more weeks?

then when you add more fish, just make sure you run them in qt with hypo and copper. to be honest, hypo actually stresses the fish out less than regular specific gravity.

 

[Vapour1ze]

what is hypo?

 

[downhillbiker]

hyposalinity. it is having the specific gravity (hypo) lower than normal. higher would be (hypersalinity). people have great success in using hypo to treat ich and other parasites. i run my QT at 1.015-1.016 all the time, and if that isn't low enough i go to 1.010. the fish stress less and it works great!

many people with fish only tanks run hypo all the time in the display because the fish do so much better with it, but doesnt work with corals, they die.

 

[Massengill]

The whole Hypo-Salinity thing still amazes me, a fish that normally survives in 1.025 is quarantined in 1.009 for a length of time (as in more than an hour). I have always used the "dip" method with good results too. I dipped a Tomato clown in medicated fresh water every other day for 20-25 minute intervals for a total of 6 treatments. It never showed any signs of stress, almost like it could live in fresh, so I guess Hypo-Salinity is 100% feasible.

 

[cr8signs]

make sure you use a refractometer to accurately measure your salinity or you could end up too low and kill your fish, or too high and not kill the parasites. Also, when you bring the fish back to normal salinity you must take a long slow period of about .01-.02 increases per day NO more, this can really stress a fish if you go to fast.