brook or velvet survive copper?

[lildraken]

One of my true perculas started scratching against substrate and swimming erratically from time to time. To be on the safe side I removed all the fish to quarantine them with copper sulfate. After a week of quarantine, the same percula's condition worsened with velvety white spots everywhere. I tested the copper levels because I thought for sure I didn't add enough copper to kill the disease. The level was at 2.0 mg/L not to be confused with .02 mg/L .
isn't this level quite high? I'm guessing it could be one of two things. The chelated copper sulfate i'm using may have expired or something since it was kept in a warm garage, or the disease is not velvet but brooklynella.

anyone has thoughts on this? is brooklynella treated with copper?
thanks

 

[limitdown]

2.0mg/liter is extremely high and is considered toxic. Most fish can handle up to 0.8mg/liter, but 0.5mg/liter is the recommended therapeutic dosage.

Brooklynella is usually treated with formalin and not copper, whereas ich and velvet respond well to copper.

 

[lildraken]

Thanks!

Thanks!

I suppose it's brooklynella because I used the formalin for 2 days and the percula seems to have gotten better. I better do some major water changes to reduce the copper!

 

[billsreef]

What brand of copper? Can you post some pictures of the infected fish?

 

[lildraken]

brooklynella

brooklynella

it was hard to take pictures so detailed to get the spots but here's my shot at it. any feedback on this disease will help. He seems to be getting better, but his fins are still cloudy looking

he would swim with his mouth gaping open as if his gills were in pain but now his breathing is normal and normal swimming patterns. Except when eating he will swim erratically at times as if the food caused him pain. poor guy I hope he gets better.
in the meantime i'm treating with formalin/ malachite green made by AP. and i'm doing water changes to reduce the high copper levels. The brand I was using is Mardel chelated copper

 

[billsreef]

For Mardel's Coppersafe, 2ppm is indeed the correct reading. Whatever it is they chelate the copper with only allows a much smaller amount to be free and available.

It does look like a light case of brook, so the formalin/malachite green combo should be effective to completely eradicate it.

 

[lildraken]

So a week has passed and the spots have disappeared; however, there is still a slight haze that covers the body and eyes. the fish eat but not avidly. brooklynella is definitely harder to eradicate than velvet or ich!
the quarantine tank is a 40 gal. when treating brooklynella I supose in the future I would use a smaller tank since from what i've read you're suppose to dip the fish or give him baths in treated water.
I've been using the formalin/ malachite green treatment in the 40gal with all the other fish being quarantined. frequent partial water changes in larger QT tanks cause more work, salt mix, RO water and medications!