How to treat sick puffer?

[CenterConsole]

I got my first puffer a couple of months ago, yellow belly dogface. I put him in QT with prazipro, got him eating good then just recently put him in my display. He got ich and looked pretty bad. So I put him back in QT and I had to leave for a week for work, got a call saying he was dead, came home the next day, I went to take him out of QT and he started swimming! This puffer is a fighter and I'm determined not to lose him. I can't copper him so I don't know how else to treat him. His fins are beat up looking and his colors are blotchy along with ich. I don't think it's velvet because he would have been dead by now. No one picked on him in the display and he's alone in QT and has gotten worse. I also have an eel in the display so I can't pull all the fish and treat with copper. How do you QT fish that can't take copper! Thanks for any help.

 

[VeL]

I myself had to leave the DT fishless for 10 weeks due to ich outbreak. I have a Green Mandarin fish that also does not tolerate copper. Regardless of the saying that Mandarins are not prone to ich I decided to establish a second QT for it alone. 15 gallon tank with 1.5" sandbed with some base rocks, sponge seeded with nitrifying bacteria from the DT. This way Mandarin fish survived the 6 weeks Hyposalinity treatement followed by 6 more weeks in normal conditions. Was eating decapsulated artemia eggs.
I will be getting a diamond goby next week that I also plan to put in the hyposalinity sandbed QT.

 

[CenterConsole]

Thanks for the reply. I'm considering hypoing the whole FOWLR display. I don't have a QT tank big enough for my eel, he'd have to stay in the display. Also I'm not sure what other diseases are in the tank besides ich. I'm currently treating the puffer with maracyn to help with his fin rot. I've heard good things about kick ich and know only hypo and copper are the only true remedies for ich, but figured I'd give it a shot in the display for now until I can come up with a finalized plan.