How to treat all new arrivals in a QT tank?

F

fltekdiver

Active member
I just started up my 120DT on 7/8. Last week, after having perfect water parameters in my DT, I added my first two fish, a paired set of clowns

A week after adding them into my DT tank, I pulled them out and started up my QT tonight. Now I have to go Fallow for 8+ weeks because I'm not sure if they have parasites.

I've read I could have left them in the DT, and treated them with PraziPro

Only other thing in the DT are the CUC

I'm not sure I want to treat them with copper in the QT tank, as I'm new to salt water, and didn't expect to be into the medicine so quickly. This hobby is over whelming enough for a beginner

So my question is, my pair of clowns will be in the QT for I'm guessing 8 weeks, since my DT will have to go Fallow now?

And if I treat them with PraziPro and they seem better, do I need to still do a cooper treatment?

I added Seachem Prime when I started up the QT tonight, so I just read I have to wait 2 days for that to disappear

So everytime I buy fish for my 120DT, do I need to treat new livestock everytime with PraziPro and copper?

I'm reading allot of people have killed healthy fish by not knowing what their doing treating fish In a QT by over dosing with meds. That alone is scaring me

I read someone killed $1k in fish, by using PraziPro and Seacheam Cupramine

My QT tank is a 29 gallon with HOB filter, 265 GPH power head, heater, bare bottom

Also, if I'm going to have to QT fish everytime I buy one for 6 weeks, that can take a long time to stock a 120

Can I buy a small yellow tang this weekend, add him to the clowns, and treat and QT them all so in 8 weeks, which will be 5 months then from initial start up, I'll at least have 3 fish In the tank

Lastly , can I add LPS in the DT while it is Fallow ?
 
Sorry, I should have posted the link. Where everyone was very helpful:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2320357

I'm not sure about the medication procedures and which medications do I have to treat every new fish with. Even fish that appear healthy, when I first buy them, in the QT

Today. They were acting normal. Eatting healty, and looking good.

But to be safe, I want to treat them, and any other new arrivals

Now I have to go Follar which I'm not happy about, I'm not even sure if they are sick, but I want to do it the right way. I don't want a fish to die, because I didn't want to wai a extra week or two

However , I don't want to kill a fish either. By no knowing how to dose the medications, and which ones to use

I'm looking for a safe medication, that will treat any new fish when I QT them, so I don't have to worry about getting the DT infected again.
 
Coppersafe is good stuff wont kill all the nasties but does a good job for most stuff we deal with and not as risky as formalin.
 
Here is my QT procedure:

Day 1: Receive fish, let them acclimate in peace. Light feeding late in the day.
Day 2: Continue acclimation, feed normally
Day 3: Start PraziPro treatment if eating normally
Day 8: Partial water change, start second PraziPro treatment to kill any remaining helminths and/or eggs. Start slowly dosing Cupramine (0.55ml/day for 5 days)
Day 12: Full Cupramine level reached (0.40mg/l); maintain for four weeks
Day 19: Partial water change, add Cupramine @ 0.40mg/l to new water before adding to tank
Day 26: Repeat water change as above
Day 33: Repeat water change as above
Day 40: Partial water change, remove Cupramine with Cuprasorb; observe for 1-2 additional weeks
Day 47-54: Transfer to DT

I've never used Coppersafe, but have found Cupramine to be quite effective and safe for fish as long as you raise the levels slowly. Don't follow the manufacturer's directions on the bottle as it can stress fish and cause them to stop eating.

Trust me, I know how you are feeling with a new tank and no livestock in it. My tank has only been running since February and I'm not fully stocked yet. This hobby is all about patience and going slowly. Many of the fish we care for live many years, if not decades. A few weeks of additional care are worth it IMO.
 
Deinonych said:
Here is my QT procedure:

Day 1: Receive fish, let them acclimate in peace. Light feeding late in the day.
Day 2: Continue acclimation, feed normally
Day 3: Start PraziPro treatment if eating normally
Day 8: Partial water change, start second PraziPro treatment to kill any remaining helminths and/or eggs. Start slowly dosing Cupramine (0.55ml/day for 5 days)
Day 12: Full Cupramine level reached (0.40mg/l); maintain for four weeks
Day 19: Partial water change, add Cupramine @ 0.40mg/l to new water before adding to tank
Day 26: Repeat water change as above
Day 33: Repeat water change as above
Day 40: Partial water change, remove Cupramine with Cuprasorb; observe for 1-2 additional weeks
Day 47-54: Transfer to DT

I've never used Coppersafe, but have found Cupramine to be quite effective and safe for fish as long as you raise the levels slowly. Don't follow the manufacturer's directions on the bottle as it can stress fish and cause them to stop eating.

Trust me, I know how you are feeling with a new tank and no livestock in it. My tank has only been running since February and I'm not fully stocked yet. This hobby is all about patience and going slowly. Many of the fish we care for live many years, if not decades. A few weeks of additional care are worth it IMO.
Click to expand...

Perfect, thank you !!

That's exactly what I was looking for

I'll follow this , I was up till 1:30am, reading on treatments, and QT tanks

Thanks again :dance:
 
10 4 I will probably go with it I just want to make sure I didn't kill them now that I know how to do it
This morning I fed them to see if they will eat and they were very spunky swimming around and ate all the color is back I don't think they are sick I think it was a moment or two and they were actin funny. However I am still going to treat them with a both. I decided I am going to pick up a small yellow tang and treat him with them. Once I treat them with copper how do I get the tank ready for the next session I buy after these fish go back to display tank

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk
 
I (personally) would think twice about adding a tang into your QT. Tangs are messy, and oxygen hogs, and more sensitive to the QT process. Its 'harder' to qt them than the clowns, and depending on the size of your QT you may be overloading it.
If you have QT'ed before, I might not advise against it, but for your 'first time', I'd just advise a little caution.
Also, remember that if you add a fish anytime during your QT process, you have to start over on your times.
 
Deinonych said:
Here is my QT procedure:

Day 1: Receive fish, let them acclimate in peace. Light feeding late in the day.
Day 2: Continue acclimation, feed normally
Day 3: Start PraziPro treatment if eating normally
Day 8: Partial water change, start second PraziPro treatment to kill any remaining helminths and/or eggs. Start slowly dosing Cupramine (0.55ml/day for 5 days)
Day 12: Full Cupramine level reached (0.40mg/l); maintain for four weeks
Day 19: Partial water change, add Cupramine @ 0.40mg/l to new water before adding to tank
Day 26: Repeat water change as above
Day 33: Repeat water change as above
Day 40: Partial water change, remove Cupramine with Cuprasorb; observe for 1-2 additional weeks
Day 47-54: Transfer to DT
Click to expand...

Seems like a pretty sensible approach. I have gone back and forth on whether to treat prophylactically or only if symptoms are observed - particularly with copper. I've begun to think that prazipro is sensible regardless since symptoms of worms can be less obvious (clearly), but I am conflicted about copper.
 
ca1ore said:
Seems like a pretty sensible approach. I have gone back and forth on whether to treat prophylactically or only if symptoms are observed - particularly with copper. I've begun to think that prazipro is sensible regardless since symptoms of worms can be less obvious (clearly), but I am conflicted about copper.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I had decided to treat prophylactically with copper. I got my first fish in QT, a purple firefish, which seemed in perfect health and eating well. I did the prazi pro with no problem. Started ramping up the copper over several days. Got to about the halfway point and the fish started showing signs of distress. I did a 50% water change and put the carbon back in. Fish was dead the next morning. Bottom line is I'm a little gun shy now to treat with copper prophylactically. When I say copper the actual medication was cupramine.
 
Thank you, ill hold off then, and in 8 weeks when The clowns come out of qt, ill do a 50% water change, run carbon, and start all over with the tangs

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk
 
You can, but every time you add something, the clock resets. IMO, your tank is too new for corals at this point. I didn't add my first LPS frag until 4 months in, when I was sure I had my parameters dialed in. Even then, I had to make weekly adjustments to calcium and alkalinity. Your alkalinity in particular is going to be in flux for the first several months as it reaches equilibrium with your substrate and rock.
 
ca1ore said:
Seems like a pretty sensible approach. I have gone back and forth on whether to treat prophylactically or only if symptoms are observed - particularly with copper. I've begun to think that prazipro is sensible regardless since symptoms of worms can be less obvious (clearly), but I am conflicted about copper.
Click to expand...

Prazipro is a no-brainer - it's super gentle on fish and effective. I was initially very wary of copper as well. But, I've found that fish tolerate it very well if you ramp up the concentration slowly - hence my taking 5 days to get it to full strength.

I'm an even bigger proponent for QT now, as I recently had to pull all of my fish out of my tank due to ich sneaking in on a piece of coral. I don't ever want to go through that again, as it took me days to get the rockwork back the way I had it (not to mention the stress on the fish). I will now QT everything that goes into my tank -- even inverts.
 
I started my new qt process with chloroquine phosphate instead of copper. So far it seems to be less harsh to the fishes than my last qt batch of fish that I use cupramine with.

Currently I have about 11 fish in qt and they are doing great. Give cp a look if you are shy with copper.
 
Prophylactically treating all new fish with 2 rounds of Prazipro, followed by 4 weeks of either chloroquine phosphate or copper will resolve most disease problems. Or reverse it if you think external parasites are the imminent issue.

TT is a good, chemical-free substitute for CP/copper treatment; but you still have to observe afterwards for Velvet.
 
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