advice on QT treatment, stay the course or change it up?
- Thread starter fairladyZ
- Start date
Normally, I would recommend twice the average life cycle. So 8 weeks would be safe and probably the best.
Ok so what do i do then? i'm literally watching these fish die. The wrasse and blenny are 100% active and seem just fine. 2 out of the 3 dartfish are lethargic and just lay in the corner breathing heavy, and when they do move they are usually scratching one side of their gill constantly. Still no spots or anything. although the dartfish seem to have become more pale.. especially in the cheek areas. The one that is still pretty active has his dark sides and doesn't look as "bright" i would say.
So i don't know what else to do. I don't want these fish to die but without knowing what they have or how to treat what is a person supposed to do? Could they be perfectly ok and just being weird cause they've been in way to small of an aquarium for so long?
So i don't know what else to do. I don't want these fish to die but without knowing what they have or how to treat what is a person supposed to do? Could they be perfectly ok and just being weird cause they've been in way to small of an aquarium for so long?
ThRoewer
New member
If fish are dying fast you are likely dealing with something like Velvet, Brook or Uronema. These are diseases I would never take a chance with and always go for the safe and proven effective treatment.
In any case you should lower the salinity to 1.015 to give the fish some stress relief.
To treat against Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum): copper at 0.25 to 0.30 ppm for at least two weeks (4 to be sure) is the safest treatment. But cooper bonds with carbonates of the water, corals and (live) rocks. For that reason rocks and all coral material should be removed and the concentration needs to be checked frequently and adjusted if necessary.
To treat against Brook (Brooklynella hostilis), Uronema marinum, Tricodina and Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum):
5 to 15 min baths in freshwater with a double dose of Rid-Ich Plus (Formalin/malachite green) . Keep an eye on the fish during this time.
Then treat them in a HT as indicated on the bottle.
You may also need to treat against secondary bacterial infections with an antibiotic. Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole (Trade names: Bactrim, Bactrimel, Biseptol, Co-trimoxazole, Cotrim, Resprim, Septrin, Septra, Sulfatrim, Trisul, Polytrim) has worked for me with clownfish in the past.
But I don't think it is a good idea to combine it with copper or formalin.
What I usually did was giving the fish once or twice daily a freshwater bath with formalin and malachite green and treated the HT at lowered salinity with the antibiotic.
In any case you should lower the salinity to 1.015 to give the fish some stress relief.
To treat against Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum): copper at 0.25 to 0.30 ppm for at least two weeks (4 to be sure) is the safest treatment. But cooper bonds with carbonates of the water, corals and (live) rocks. For that reason rocks and all coral material should be removed and the concentration needs to be checked frequently and adjusted if necessary.
To treat against Brook (Brooklynella hostilis), Uronema marinum, Tricodina and Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum):
5 to 15 min baths in freshwater with a double dose of Rid-Ich Plus (Formalin/malachite green) . Keep an eye on the fish during this time.
Then treat them in a HT as indicated on the bottle.
You may also need to treat against secondary bacterial infections with an antibiotic. Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole (Trade names: Bactrim, Bactrimel, Biseptol, Co-trimoxazole, Cotrim, Resprim, Septrin, Septra, Sulfatrim, Trisul, Polytrim) has worked for me with clownfish in the past.
But I don't think it is a good idea to combine it with copper or formalin.
What I usually did was giving the fish once or twice daily a freshwater bath with formalin and malachite green and treated the HT at lowered salinity with the antibiotic.
well the fish have been in the hospital tank for just over 12 weeks now. 2 weeks just in the qt, then 4 weeks with paraguard and now 6 weeks with nothing. 2 weeks after the paraguard i did 2 rounds of prazi pro. All the fish seemed great until a week ago when the dartfish became lethargic and breathing heavy and the heavy scratching.
Before that they were all in the same tank with the above fish that died for some over a year and teh shortest was 6 months. So either they are insanely immune to whatever they have, whatever they have is starting to show its head as snorvich said earlier posts about the paraguard masking it. Or they are just insanely unhappy in the tank and ready to be out. As it's 5 good sized fish in a 20 gallon QT.
I really feel it's brook but i would think that the fish would have died by now. either in the other tank with the other fish or by now in this tank.
Before that they were all in the same tank with the above fish that died for some over a year and teh shortest was 6 months. So either they are insanely immune to whatever they have, whatever they have is starting to show its head as snorvich said earlier posts about the paraguard masking it. Or they are just insanely unhappy in the tank and ready to be out. As it's 5 good sized fish in a 20 gallon QT.
I really feel it's brook but i would think that the fish would have died by now. either in the other tank with the other fish or by now in this tank.
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