Hypo and Fomalin?

[snake42490]

I have a tang that has black ich , flukes, ich and not sure on velvet, but I am wanting to treat to be safe. I got this fish for free just because of how sick it was.

My question, can I do a formalin dip with these fish even though I am keeping them in hypo? 1.008 is where they are at right now. Thanks!

 

[MarinaP]

Yes, you can. Make sure water is aerating well, above what you might normally have.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Velvet is a very fast killer and should be in copper ASAP, I know of nothing else that kills velvet. The copper will kill ich too. I don't understand why you're using hypo or formalin. Formalin is not an effective treatment for anything you've listed. Treat the fish with copper first, then Prazi-Pro for the flukes and black ich. A FW dip will give some relief from the velvet and flukes. You'll be able to see the flukes after the dip, if that's what he's got.

 

[snorvich]

Velvet is a very fast killer and should be in copper ASAP, I know of nothing else that kills velvet. The copper will kill ich too. I don't understand why you're using hypo or formalin. Formalin is not an effective treatment for anything you've listed. Treat the fish with copper first, then Prazi-Pro for the flukes and black ich. A FW dip will give some relief from the velvet and flukes. You'll be able to see the flukes after the dip, if that's what he's got.

I agree.

 

[snake42490]

Okay, I did the formalin and hypo as a dip. This seemed to help them out a lot. I know the formalin dislodges many of the parasites off the gills for temporary relief. I then moved them to a new QT tank that had been sterilized. I bumped up salinity from 1.007 to 1.011 for the night. At what point do you guys think I can introduce copper without having issues? 1.018 too low to add it??



***The reason I used hypo was because the fish was having issues breathing. I got it and it looked like a mutant fish. Hence why I got it for free. I didn't think introducing it with meds at first would help much. I dropped the salinity to 1.007 and added prazipro. I did that for 3 days then I did a tank transfer. Most the black ich seemed to be gone at this point. I switched tanks for the tank transfer method, added another round of prazi pro and this definitely seemed to get the last bit of black ich out of the fish. The bottom of the tank was frosted with little critters. Anyway, at this point the fish started eating and 90 % of the spots were gone. Then I noticed rapid breathing and I was thinking that it might have been velvet. So at this point I did a formalin dip to dislodge the parasite. I am thinking that I was right because after the formalin the breathing rate slowed down a lot. The fish were flushing their gills before and just looked like they were in trouble.

My plan is to slowly move the salinity up and start introducing copper.


***

How many weeks should I keep these guys in copper to rid them of Velvet?

 

[snorvich]

If it is velvet, it kills quickly.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I use Cupramine at 1.035-1.040 for four weeks. Yes, 1.018 is fine for copper. Lots of FOWLR tanks are kept at this level full time. Is fish showing any signs of velvet? I'm getting a little lost. If I'm following things correctly, the fish still has ich, and the copper will take care of it. Not seeing spots is a normal part of the ich life cycle. This fish is getting a lot of meds/treatments and moving around. Why do you suspect velvet?

 

[snake42490]

Let me try and clear this up for you. I got these fish for free because they were laying on their side at the store. I just said I would take them. Them as in 1 green chromis and Powder Brown tang.

I didn't want to do any meds on them at first because they were obviously so weak so I dropped them down to hypo at 1.007. This seemed to allow the fish to breath better. After observing more I noticed flukes were coming out of them along with these black worms and the tang had hundreds of black spots along with ich. I added prazi to the tank on the second day and started doing the Tank Transfer method.

The fish has kept improving and started to eat, the black spots, worms, flukes and ich is definitely gone now. They are on the last 3 days of the TTM. As in 10, 11 and 12.

****Update****

I moved the salinity up to 1.011, the fish are flushing their gills like they can't breath. No visible signs of Velvet, except this breathing. What I noticed this morning though was a red sore on the green chromis which now is making think that I am dealing with Uronema marinum. This would explain the breathing issues that I have noticed.. What do you guys think I am dealing with.... I have had them for 9 days now. Something is definitely causing non normal breathing. There is no ammonia and 0 Nitrate and Nitrites. The fish have been going into clean sterilized water.

What does this breathing distress and open sore sound like to you guys? Part of me does think if this was velvet that it would have already killed by now..

What do you think the rest of my treatment plan should look like?

 

[snake42490]

I removed the chromis and put him in his own tank. Here is a picture of what is going on today. It looks like his slim coat is gone.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I removed the chromis and put him in his own tank. Here is a picture of what is going on today. It looks like his slim coat is gone.

I'm almost sure this is uronema, its is showing up on chromis all over the place. I have no idea why.

 

[snake42490]

Thanks for the verification MrTuskfish.. The Chromis died, but the Tang is still alive. I have the salinity up to 1.017 and put half a dose of copper in with him. He didn't like the copper at all.. within two hours he turned pail and was on his side. This was using cupramine at half dose : /. the water didn't even register .2 and it says it can be up to .5

Any ideas what I can do? I put him in a clean tank and he perked up and is eating and looks fine.. Breathing pretty heavily, but doesn't appear to be getting any sores? Keep me posted with what you think I should do!

 

[snake42490]

**Update** Please anyone chime in


So the tang decided to start eating again today. Salinity is up to 1.020. For whatever reason the breathing has calmed down on the tang. I don't get it.... I don't know much on this parasite that i'm dealing with, but it seems like it's nasty on chromis. I read that healthy fish often do not get this parasite because it attacks weakened fish. It sounds like the uronema actually feeds on bacteria, but when you have newly shipped fish it will sometimes attack them.. If the fish stops showing signs of heavy breathing and going back to eating do you see any need to treat him? Tomorrow the fish is on day 12 of the TTM and is going in a new clean tank where it will stay for observation unless you guys think I should treat. I'm not feeling comfortable trying copper when the fish absolutely freaked with half a dose. I have chrloquine phosphate on hand, but haven't had the best luck using it on tangs. It usually just destroys their internal bacteria and they stop eating and die : /.. So i'm hesitant because of that.


If you could tell me about uronema, and what you guys would do to get rid of it.

 

[HumbleFish]

If you have CP on hand, that is your best bet for Ich, Velvet and even Uronema marinum. If you're paranoid about the tang & CP, dose at 20mg/gal. If all goes well, dose again at 20mg/gal - 24 hours later. You'll need to hold it at this concentration for at least 10 days (20-30 days is more desirable).

I've QT'd countless fish (including many tangs) with CP and have never experienced a sudden loss. Every now and then I'll encounter a specimen that will stop eating. The solution for that is to remove CP and choose a different treatment.