First off , I would like to thank all you guys and gals for the help with my questions, This site is great for gaining knowledge to this hobby. I recently quarantined my fish for an Ich outbreak in my tank.(Yellow tang, Lunare Wrasse, Red Fairy wrasse and 2 false percula clowns). I am currently treating them with cupramine, My LFS suggested that I drop the salinity in the quarantine tank down to about 1.017, My display is at 1.023. Should I drop the salinity or not. I also keep the tanks at about 76 degrees . I kinda thought from reading hear and past experiance the quarantine tank water should be pretty much exactly like the display with the difference being whatever Medication is being used at the time. Also, I am keeping the display tank fallow for 8 weeks. Should I keep the cupramine treatment going for 8 weeks or just 14 days as per the directions then gradually back it off till the DT is ready. Thanks for any advice. Thanks,,,,Joe
Cupramine and salinity question
- Thread starter jcmjoe
- Start date
Keep your salinity at 1.023, your LFS is full of it. You'd have to drop the salinity all the way down to 1.009 to combat Ich that way and it's not safe to do that while treating with copper (Cupramine). Treat your fish with Cupramine for one full month or until you don't see any more white dots, whichever comes last. From that point, keep your fish in QT for another full month for observation. Use carbon and WCs to remove all the copper. And do yourself a favor and leave the DT fallow for 9 full weeks, not 8.
P.S. Your right about keeping all the water parameters the same between the QT and DT.
P.S. Your right about keeping all the water parameters the same between the QT and DT.
Chris27
New member
Dropping the salinity down a bit isn't a bad idea, having less salt in the water means that the fish doesn't have to work as hard to process it, that is likely were the recommendation came from. Hyposalinity is much lower, not 1.017, so I doubt that is what they were getting at. Not having to work so hard to process the salt tends to allow the fish to have a bit more energy when it comes to fighting off disease or parasites.
As for the 9 weeks vs. 8, one more week won't matter. 9 full weeks vs. 8 full weeks won't gain you anything. The parasite lifecycle is about a month long, so 6 weeks is sufficient. When treating with copper, I like to continue the treatment for about 2-3 weeks after the last white spot on the fish disappears. In a barebottom tank kept at 80F, the parasite will have a hard time encysting, and as such, reach the free swimming stage rather quickly....which is where the copper will take it's offence.
The air stone is never a bad idea, as mentioned before, tang's need O2, so adding some additional is a great idea.
As for the 9 weeks vs. 8, one more week won't matter. 9 full weeks vs. 8 full weeks won't gain you anything. The parasite lifecycle is about a month long, so 6 weeks is sufficient. When treating with copper, I like to continue the treatment for about 2-3 weeks after the last white spot on the fish disappears. In a barebottom tank kept at 80F, the parasite will have a hard time encysting, and as such, reach the free swimming stage rather quickly....which is where the copper will take it's offence.
The air stone is never a bad idea, as mentioned before, tang's need O2, so adding some additional is a great idea.
