Bullet Proof QT for Sensitive Species

[Ritt]

Ostracion meleagris spotted boxfish is a species that has caught my eye about a year ago. As many of you know they are a sensitive species that are ich prone and do not do well in copper or hypo conditions.

I purchased a male about a year ago. I could not get him to eat a thing. A week into the QT the fish developed ich. That combined with hypo and not eating the fish lasted another 10 days before it died. 4 Months ago I came across a small female at a LFS that had been there for months. Eating well no signs of ich, diseases, etc. She came down with ich and was fully covered with spots. Some things I tried on the early stages were daily water changes and eventually I put a small dose of copper safe in the tank. There were no signs of ich after 3 days and on the 4th I cam e home to find the fish dead.

I have thoroughly read through all of the ich articles etc on reef central, the live aquaria QT procedure, reef keeping magazine, etc.

My QT tank is a simple bare bottom 10gallon AGA tank with a HOB filter nothing fancy. I use RO water and keep the parameters etc in check. Between uses the tank is drained thoroughly cleaned and sterilized with a 10% bleach solution.

This species of fish is something I really want to keep. My question is what to do with a sensitive fish that does not tolerate copper and hypo well and is also a finicky eater. What I need is a bulletproof QT plan with no hocus-pocus.

What do you guys think?

Thanks
Ritt

 

[George Gouveia]

I don't think there are any bulletproof methods, but I've recently come across the 3-day transfer method, maybe its something you want to look into?
Personally, I've never used it so can't say if its efective. Here's the link: http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/3daytransfer.html

 

[kevin2000]

My 02

To the best of my knowledge boxfish are not suppose to have problems with hypo ... like some fish copper is suppose to be avoided. Think Fenner recommends hypo for boxfish .. you can double check over at wetwebmedia.com

The transfer method is a proven method for treating ich .. downside is the addtional stress associated with handling.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sk8r]

I would suggest first that you limit stress with the qt: adjust your tank salinity, ph, and alkalinity to match the store water. I'm sure they will help you, and a vendor like Foster/Smith will, also.
That comes close to eliminating acclimation time. Don't be cavalier, but with a destination closely matching what it was in, easier on the fish.

The further problem is---these fish are coming in with ich, or your lfs has it; it is pretty well guaranteed then, that this fish will import ich to your tank. Feeding garlic, selcon, zoe, any of these things to try to boost the immune system.

If you can get by 4 weeks without an outbreak, you will be relatively safe. I don't know if uv on your qt tank would help, but it probably wouldn't hurt.

Check about toxicity with the species: cowfish, etc, release a tank-killer toxin which, in the bounce-back of a small system, could be suicidal. If you have the possibility of that, I'd run carbon and polypad both...just in case.

In the 4th week, start adjusting your parameters to match your display and adjust them by microscopic degrees until it is a match and the fish is happy.

 

[natan]

There is a way to get it ich-free without much trouble. All u need is go with a tank shift method. 5 shifts of 48h each should suffice, than moove it in to the Q tank for observation (4 weeks at least).
This is how i did it: get 2 cheap 30liter tabs. fill with freshly prepared ful streangth salt water. put a fish in, use powerhead 4 circulation, with UV if u want. in 2 days, move the fish to the next tab, discard all old water and wash/dry all equipment (use spair powerhead if needed). repeat 5 times, and u r done with the ich. Can be done to save hevily infested specimens too.
good luck with yuor fish.

 

[Ritt]

Thanks for the replies.
The transfer method is a new method that I have not read much about. Thanks for your suggestions. Does it really work?
My normal QT method starts with a drip acclimate for 1-2 hours. Then a fresh water dip for 2 minutes. Then into my QT tank. I normally keep lights out for 2 days. Does this all sound good.
I will admit that other than checking my SG of my water which is 1.24 and the temperature 75 deg. I do not keep much of an eye on my tank parameters. In the past nitrite nitrate ammonia all have read zero. PH always stays steady at 8.0 and alkalinity I have never paid much attention to. Is this an important parameter to keep in check during QT.?
If there are any visible signs of ich etc I usually treat using hypo or copper.
Last week I bought a 6 line wrasse. It died yesterday for the past several days it seemed to be very stressed out. More than most fish that go through my QT process. Am I doing something wrong?
When getting a new fish what are peoples mortality rate. I mine is over 50%. Seems like I have a lot of fish die in QT.
Thank you
Ritt

 

[kevin2000]

Here is a good article on how to QT using hypo .. has some great tips for maintaining water quality and lowering stress.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=288805

Hope this helps.