Cryptocaryon still in DT after 12 weeks fallow

[Deinonych]

Well said and great attitude.

Thank you, Steve.

 

[Deinonych]

OK, I've moved most of my inverts to a separate QT. Still need to snag a few snails, but I should be able to get all of them this evening. The cleaner shrimps were a bit of a pain, but they were no match for my Aqua Medic fish trap.

Will be starting CP treatment tomorrow sometime. Current residents are a pair of Ocellaris clownfish, firefish, Royal Gramma and a Tailspot Blenny. All have been through previous CP treatments, so hopefully this will be a cakewalk for them.

 

[Deinonych]

An update and a question. I've completed 4 weeks of CP treatment in my DT. All of the fish have pulled through. Saw a lot of cyano around week 3, but I've been siphoning as much as possible with water changes. My Royal Gramma hid a lot the first week, but was back to normal by the second. The firefish only came out at feeding time. The two clowns couldn't have cared less - I'm convinced they are bulletproof.

My lights are back up to normal intensity @ 60%; I was running them at 20% during the treatment. I've also turned my skimmer back on, as well as both my carbon and GFO reactors. I have Poly-Filter in my sump over the bubble trap before the return.

My question is, how often should I change out the carbon and GFO? Does every 2 days seem appropriate? I have no idea how quickly they become saturated. I'm using BRS Rox 0.8 in the carbon reactor and BRS GFO in the GFO reactor. I assume I should change out the Poly-Filter strip every couple of days as well.

 

[triggreef]

The question I think about all the time and rarely see addressed is this... Be it copper or cp, it supposedly does not kill ich in its cyst form which can last 12 weeks. That said if you dose it for 4 weeks, and then remove it the medication/poison, and everything in the system stays (i.e. glass, plumbing, sand, rocks, heater, etc, anything it could have cysted onto) in the system... Say there is even one cyst that had not hatched (or whatever you prefer to call it) which could potentially turn into a hundred parasites... And that one parasite hatches 4 weeks after your treatment has ended...

I did two fallows and I still look for signs of ich everyday. Now I'm 4 months into the new setup after the latest fallow. With 6 tangs its scary but sometimes I think I see a sign of it and I have doubts. I would think with 6 tangs if I were infected it would show up fast and violently. But I'm still paranoid about it.

 

[jcdeng]

There is a chance that ich, or any parasite for that matter, can develop drug resistance to CP.

 

[ca1ore]

So what is the prevailing wisdom about whether/how long/if at all rocks will be contaminated by CP along the same lines as with copper? Perhaps this has been noted in the long CP thread, but I could not find it if so. Reason for my query is that a local reefer to me has some really nice live rock for sale, but it has been in a CP treated display and I'm unsure a what point I could consider it to be reef safe.

Chris - how long do you plan to run carbon, poly, etc. before putting inverts back in?

 

[Deinonych]

The question I think about all the time and rarely see addressed is this... Be it copper or cp, it supposedly does not kill ich in its cyst form which can last 12 weeks. That said if you dose it for 4 weeks, and then remove it the medication/poison, and everything in the system stays (i.e. glass, plumbing, sand, rocks, heater, etc, anything it could have cysted onto) in the system... Say there is even one cyst that had not hatched (or whatever you prefer to call it) which could potentially turn into a hundred parasites... And that one parasite hatches 4 weeks after your treatment has ended...

I did two fallows and I still look for signs of ich everyday. Now I'm 4 months into the new setup after the latest fallow. With 6 tangs its scary but sometimes I think I see a sign of it and I have doubts. I would think with 6 tangs if I were infected it would show up fast and violently. But I'm still paranoid about it.

There are no absolutes when it comes to cryptocaryon. All you can do it try to swing the odds in your favor. I never saw any signs after the RG was flashing/showing spots back on December 16, so I feel pretty good that I caught it before a major breakout. Is there a chance that it wasn't completely eradicated with this treatment? Sure, but you can only do so much without completely starting over. I'm not at that point yet.

There is a chance that ich, or any parasite for that matter, can develop drug resistance to CP.

While true, given the limited use of CP in treating cryptocaryon, I think the risk is pretty low.