How does Crypto survive this?

[kv2wr1]

Long story short. I have a powder blue tang that I didn't QT and got Crypto in the display. Took all of the fish out and let the display go fallow 12 weeks. I put all of the fish in a large hospital tank and treat 4 weeks of copper. After seeing no signs after 4 weeks, I remove the copper and keep the fish in HT for an additional 8 weeks. I did not see any spots even on the PBT. Slowly introduce the fish back. The pbt is second to last fish. He goes in and no spots for 3 days. I introduce the yellow tang and still no spots. About 1 week after all of the fish are in, PBT has a few spots.

All of the equipment that I used to catch the fish was bleached and I used hot water. I even took apart the filtration on the display and bleached that. Let it go bone dry for several months.

At this point I will not put them back in the HT as this will cause more stress (I lost my yellow kole eye the first time). Since the tank is a fowlr with reef like parameters and no clean up crew corals or inverts, I'm tempted to use cupramine in the display.


Any thoughts? The only thing I can think of is that I did not erradicate it in the HT, they built up a temporary immunity and brought it back into the main tank.

 

[geaux xman]

What all fish do you have and what kind of copper are you using? if Cupramine, what dosage? Did you have anything in the HT that could've absorbed the copper?

 

[kv2wr1]

Cupramine to 0.35-0.5 ppm for 4 weeks. Other fish are : juvenile flame angel, juvenile sargassum trigger, juvenile porcupine puffer, yellow tang, and two common clowns. I used carbon to take the copper out after 4 weeks. No spots on the powder blue now, but if they come back and on the other fish I am thinking of using copper in the display for 4 weeks.

 

[Mrscribbled]

Ive delt with stubborn strains before and have ended up bleaching entire display tanks.

 

[geaux xman]

Dosing the DT can be tough b/c of the rock absorbing out the copper. Then you end up having to dose over twice as much and often times its hard to get accurate copper test results. So you easily run the risk of overdosing the fish.

One option is dosing the fallow DT with cupramine at 1+ppm for about 7 weeks.

Then dosing the HT ~.5ppm for 4 weeks.

 

[Mrscribbled]

Dosing the DT can be tough b/c of the rock absorbing out the copper. Then you end up having to dose over twice as much and often times its hard to get accurate copper test results. So you easily run the risk of overdosing the fish.

One option is dosing the fallow DT with cupramine at 1+ppm for about 7 weeks.

Then dosing the HT ~.5ppm for 4 weeks.

Using copper in a fallow tank would be pointless because the copper only kills the free swimming stage which only lives 48 hours without a host. A biocide such as bleach or formaldahyde is the only thing that will kill cysys.

 

[kv2wr1]

I think if worse comes to worse, that is what I will have to do. Since it was only the powder blue tang that showed a few spots and no longer has them now, do you think that I should break down the hospital tank, sterilize it with bleach and recycle it? Once it's been recycled, move the fish over and treat with something else such as Chloroquine Phosphate?

Should I then break down the display and bleach everything? Take out the sand & rock and let it go bone dry then soak in bleach water, then in ro/di with dechlorinator, then bone dry again?

Or do you think that I could use Chloroquine Phosphate in the display?

So far all fish are eating and have good weight. None are showing signs including the powder blue.

 

[Mrscribbled]

If ich does reapear, retreat fish via copper and pour bleach directly into the system. Leave run for 24 hours. Drain, air dry everything, rinse, then re start with dr Tim s one and only. Ive done this 4 times with great success.

 

[wooden_reefer]

Long story short. I have a powder blue tang that I didn't QT and got Crypto in the display. Took all of the fish out and let the display go fallow 12 weeks. I put all of the fish in a large hospital tank and treat 4 weeks of copper. After seeing no signs after 4 weeks, I remove the copper and keep the fish in HT for an additional 8 weeks. I did not see any spots even on the PBT. Slowly introduce the fish back. The pbt is second to last fish. He goes in and no spots for 3 days. I introduce the yellow tang and still no spots. About 1 week after all of the fish are in, PBT has a few spots.

All of the equipment that I used to catch the fish was bleached and I used hot water. I even took apart the filtration on the display and bleached that. Let it go bone dry for several months.

At this point I will not put them back in the HT as this will cause more stress (I lost my yellow kole eye the first time). Since the tank is a fowlr with reef like parameters and no clean up crew corals or inverts, I'm tempted to use cupramine in the display.


Any thoughts? The only thing I can think of is that I did not erradicate it in the HT, they built up a temporary immunity and brought it back into the main tank.

The effective length of time for fallow die off of ich and that of active treatment with fish for kill-off of ich likely differ.

The former is likely longer, but since one has to allow fallow period and keep fish separately, one might as well actively treat for the full fallow duration.

I always actively treat for at least 8 weeks, often 10-12 weeks. I have not seen ich in nearly 30 years. 4 weeks is barely one ich lifecycle, too chancy.

 

[kv2wr1]

The effective length of time for fallow die off of ich and that of active treatment with fish for kill-off of ich likely differ.

The former is likely longer, but since one has to allow fallow period and keep fish separately, one might as well actively treat for the full fallow duration.

I always actively treat for at least 8 weeks, often 10-12 weeks. I have not seen ich in nearly 30 years. 4 weeks is barely one ich lifecycle, too chancy.

Do you treat with cupramine 2 weeks on and then 2 weeks off for 8-12 weeks or have cupramine present the whole 8-12 weeks? Also what concentration do you use for this period of time? 0.50 ppm?

Thanks for all of the responses so far.

 

[wooden_reefer]

Do you treat with cupramine 2 weeks on and then 2 weeks off for 8-12 weeks or have cupramine present the whole 8-12 weeks? Also what concentration do you use for this period of time? 0.50 ppm?

Thanks for all of the responses so far.

I more often than not use copper than hypo, and when I use copper it will be straight uncheleated copper.

I use a small amount of calcerous material (when allows the straight copper to precipitate). The copper concentration will vary between 0.15 and 0.3 ppm metallic.

Long ago, I faithfully tested for copper each time I added copper. Now I no longer test for copper every time I add, but every third time or so. Some copper will be gone and some will remain; such has become very predictable. As long as I test every third time, the level will not be too high for too long. Straight copper has both the vice and virtue of precipitating; short duration of slight high does much less harm.

I always cycle the medium for QT very well before QT and I always use UV against bacterial infection (not ich). If there is no bacterial infection, I can treat for ich for a very long time (10-12 weeks) with no WC and very little actual work for the entire 10-12 weeks, as long as I do not need to use an antibiotic that harms nitrification bacteria.

 

[sleepydoc]

Is it possible you inadvertently contaminated your DT while you were fallow with some shared equipment? Water change tubing/pumps, etc?

 

[sandwi54]

Is it possible you inadvertently contaminated your DT while you were fallow with some shared equipment? Water change tubing/pumps, etc?

That would be my first suspicion as well. MANY people make the mistake of sharing equipment between DT and QT and wonder why their treatments don't work.