Goby - sick please help

[Neptune 555]

tylersarah - the cupramine dosing chart is awesome! now it finally makes sense.

Example: (.381) * (.5mg/L) * (10.5 gallons) = 2mL of Cupramine to dose slowly over a period of time

Is this always the strength to use? .5mg/l?

after you use cupramine in a QT tank can it ever be used as a reef again? This is not a worry for my 10 G but I was thinking of using my 48 gallon at a QT after this versus purchasing a 20 gallon? BUT after I do my QT's I think I may want to make it a reef again or a FOWLR out of this tank?

Neptune...

 

[tylersarah]

A few questions:
* So Cupramine will work on this even if it was ich and not velvet or fungal
infection? Cupramine will be effective against velvet and ich, I suspect you have velvet, do the fish have a dusty and/or pinched appearance?
* The clown died from heavy breathing on observation not even a spot on him? Velvet tends to look dusty, some spots may be visible. The parasite entered the gills, hence the need for fw dips for immediate relief
* The goby had more cottony appearance then velvet? He never did breathe heavy. I still don't know how to ID his illness? also being QT in a 10 gallon I now understand was way to small for these 3 anyway. I don't know **will get a 20g QT for next fish purchase. Will keep 10g for Emergency only.The 10 gal can be used for tank transfer method if you like, or a 5 gal bucket filled enough to cover a heater.

* In the sticky notes when it says copper is that equal to Cupramine? Cupramine is a brand of copper, I prefer to use Cupramine because it's non-chelated
* When I purchased Cupramine I asked for a test kit and they said no test kit for cupramine unless I purchased the copper solution they had? I did not choose the copper solution b/c in my notes i had written Cupramine was preferred method? I use a Salifert test kit with Cupramine

Clown is eating BUT hiding from me.. and at bottom of tank. This is not like her. She is always swimming in the open... SO I assume she has what the other clown died from? Goby never breathed heavy? I would fw dip her asap, you can go to the grocery store and purchase RO water from their machines

Raising salinity now.. will do a freshwater dip after I can get my hands on more RO/DI water. I have not yet installed my RO/DI system.. It was my holiday gift. I get RO/DI from my LFS... I refuse to enter that store again : (You can't blame the LFS, no fish store is free of disease, that's why QT is so important. The first 5 gals or so of RO/DI needs to go down the drain anyway, I would go to the LFS (or grocery store) and get some RO

Neptune...

 

[tylersarah]

tylersarah - the cupramine dosing chart is awesome! now it finally makes sense.

Example: (.381) * (.5mg/L) * (10.5 gallons) = 2mL of Cupramine to dose slowly over a period of time

Is this always the strength to use? .5mg/l? That's the recommended final dosage on the Cupramine bottle, I personally think it is too high. I would used Humblefish's recommendation of .35 as the minimum effective level and remember this needs to be dosed over several days, ESPECIALLY since the fish is in hyposalinity which will increase the copper strength to an unknown level, obviously start slow and test. I wouldn't be comfortable dosing more than .05 mL per day while in hypo, but that's not my area of knowledge. I would fw dip 2x/day until salinity is back to 1.025

after you use cupramine in a QT tank can it ever be used as a reef again? This is not a worry for my 10 G but I was thinking of using my 48 gallon at a QT after this versus purchasing a 20 gallon? BUT after I do my QT's I think I may want to make it a reef again or a FOWLR out of this tank? FOWLR is certainly fine, I'm unsure of a reef, I know Cu can bind to glass, it would have to be thoroughly cleaned.

Neptune...

 

[Neptune 555]

re: the tank transfer method... If a 10 gallon was to small for 3 fish? how could I put them in a rubbermaid of 5 gallons? But if I could use rubbermaid bins for tank transfer bingo I am all set... b/c it is only for 3 days they are OK? Your help in digesting this information is invaluable.. I have done the reading.. but this is giving me the implementation for my situation. ty!! BUT yes now I get the irony I only have one fish left. : (

Neptune.

 

[HumbleFish]

I would recommend keeping the Cu level slightly above 0.35 - maybe closer to 0.4 if you can make that determination from the test kit you are using. The reason is you don't want to skirt the minimum line too closely, and you DO want to leave yourself a little wiggle room just in case the copper level drops a tad.

re: tank transfer method... I use two 10 gal tanks to do TT. All equipment is unique to each 10 gal tank, so I can thoroughly sterilize everything in-between transfers (very important). No rocks/sand, only PVC fittings for hiding places. I try to keep the bio-load light, but just recently I successfully QT'd two dwarf angels using TT in a 10 gal. I also once QT'd a 5-inch foxface in a 10 gal using TT (in a pinch). The great thing about TT is you can use ammonia neutralizers to get you thru the 3 days (if need be) because there are no chemicals to interact with. The bad thing is it can be time consuming and you do go thru a lot of salt. I keep IO on hand just for TT.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I will do some research on QT regimen. I had thought I would do hypo for 4 weeks that would bring me to about 6 weeks in QT with raising and lowering salinity. NOW after reading these threads... I want to confirm.
Newsmyra80 - when you Qt your tang for a month what treatment did you use?
Humblefish - what is your QT protocol? I will keep LiveAquaria on my list. Yes I am going to try online ordering since my sick fish were received at LFS and I think they knew what had happened... and let me treat for ich when they knew they sold me a fish with Velvet. anyway...

Neptune

At the time I had the tang I just had it in a QT, no meds. However, it came from an LFS that runs low levels of copper through their systems. I recently read, on this forum, that low levels of copper can mask velvet symptoms and it could take 30 days for those symptoms to show. Now I do FW dips, TT along with dosing Prazi. After which I observe for 6 more weeks. I may do another FW dip before they go in the main. I have a Midas Blenny and a Royal Gramma in a QT right now...they've got another month to go.
I will say that one of the best things I bought is a microscope. It can help to identify diseases and parasites to wit proper treatment can be promptly applied as opposed to guessing.

 

[Neptune 555]

Newsmyrna 80,,,

nice procedure... are you enjoying hobby again? Yes understand tank transfer helps with ich. Just wondering why Prazi only why not Cupramine or both?

neptune

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I'm loving it again!! TT is for ich and it's relatively easy. Cupramine is not well tolerated by all fish so unless they show symptoms of something I don't use it. Prazi on the other hand is well tolerated and I've had my fair share of flukes this year
I only have 3 fish in my 80 gallon and I'm taking my time adding more