Ich and copper treatment question

[Joshsmit56001]

So I just pulled my clowns from the display tank and placed them in QT. I've been reading a lot about ich and treatment. I do not actually have ich that I know of, just treating prophylactic. The reason for this is when I went back to the LFS I bought the fish from, the tanks certainly had ich. I plan on leaving my display fallow for 10 weeks. I just slowly started adding copper over 5 days, but I was thinking about if a fish could get reinfected in the QT after removing the copper after 4 weeks. I'm assuming you can't treat the QT with copper for the full 10 weeks of the fallow tank and be safe for the fish.

Can a fish get reinfected if you treat with cupramine for 4 weeks, remove the copper, and leave in QT for another 6 weeks?

Is it better for me to start the copper the last 3-4 weeks of fallow period?

Should I be using Paragaurd or Prozipro (or something else in addition to these) as well prophylactic?

Thanks!


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[Ngoodermuth]

Ich and copper treatment question

Can a fish get reinfected if you treat with cupramine for 4 weeks, remove the copper, and leave in QT for another 6 weeks?

Is it better for me to start the copper the last 3-4 weeks of fallow period?

Should I be using Paragaurd or Prozipro (or something else in addition to these) as well prophylactic?

Thanks!


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Technically, yes. It is possible for a fish to be reinfected after 30 days of copper if they are held in the same tank. Most strains of ich complete their life cycle in 30 days or less, and copper is pretty harsh on fish, so that's why the 30 day window is recommended. It's the sweet spot between effectiveness and reducing the stress of copper on your fish.

Some strains though, including the infamous 72-day strain, can take longer. It's not as common, but possible. If you happen across one of those strains 30 days might not be long enough for all the encysted parasites to emerge and die-off. Again, these strains are not the most common- but, they are out there.

So ideally, you would remove your fish from the copper treated tank after 30 days and transfer them to another, clean, non-medicated tank for 2-3 weeks of observation before transferring them to your DT. If you only have one QT to work with it is still possible just a bit more tricky - you can remove the fish to a temporary holding tank/container and put in a couple of hours of work to clean the QT and all equipment with vinegar and water, and dry it completely (a hairdryer can help speed this up) before refilling it and replacing the fish for observation.

In theory, if you wait until the last 30 days of your fallow period to treat with copper- you could remove them from the QT without lowering the copper level. But, that doesn't leave much room for error (say the copper level dips, unnoticed, and the ich has a chance to re-attach before treatment is finished) So, it's always best to have a few weeks of observation after.

In your case, where there are no symptoms present observation might not help in any case if the fish have an immunity and are acting as carriers... you might consider testing your DT with a few black mollies to see if there are any parasites present (and if the prophylactic treatment is even necessary)

Search: Freshwater Black Mollies vs. Marine Fish Diseases.

If you do decide to treat prophylactic with copper, Praziquantel is another one I would typically recommend as it is relatively easy on the fish and flukes are very common and can go unnoticed for some time before becoming an issue.




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[JustinM]

Yes they can become reinfected as ngoodermuth has stated.


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[slickmin]

I had great success over the pass 5 years with treating with copper for 7 days then returning the fish to the display. I don't have time to be taking care of 2 tanks.

 

[AnemoneEvo]

I have a question. If I am treating with copper, and accidentally used a cup that was used to top off my QT (copper treated), and used it to take some clean RODI water from my DT ATO reservoir, will that have detrimental effects on my corals and inverts???

I don't have an ATO for my QT. I leave for school early in the mornings and usually in a hurry. I am not completely sure whether that top off cup I used came into contact with my copper treated QT. Is this type of cross contamination evident within a few hours as the water in my ATO reservoir is slowly adding water to my sump, or will it be a while before I see any adverse effects?? I'm very worried about this, I didn't mean to cross contaminate. Please advise.

I have kept all the copper meds, and test kit separately, and have since labeled my top off cup as "copper".

 

[Jdub968]

I have a question. If I am treating with copper, and accidentally used a cup that was used to top off my QT (copper treated), and used it to take some clean RODI water from my DT ATO reservoir, will that have detrimental effects on my corals and inverts???

I don't have an ATO for my QT. I leave for school early in the mornings and usually in a hurry. I am not completely sure whether that top off cup I used came into contact with my copper treated QT. Is this type of cross contamination evident within a few hours as the water in my ATO reservoir is slowly adding water to my sump, or will it be a while before I see any adverse effects?? I'm very worried about this, I didn't mean to cross contaminate. Please advise.

I have kept all the copper meds, and test kit separately, and have since labeled my top off cup as "copper".

+1 with two above however I will add even if you treat for 30 days and move the fish to a sterile tank the fish can still ick could possibly still reinfect the fish if you have this so called 72 day ick species one of the tomonts can encrust in the gill of the said fish and hatch in the new sterile tank. I only mention this because nothing is a 100% imo. However the mentioned protocal above is the safest bet just make sure to observe the fish for three weeks after cu is done. The cup you mentioned, if it was just a little bit of water with cu In it I wouldn't worry if your stressed about it dump the Ato res rinse it and refill it.do not run paraguard with cu and beings you have a few weeks to wait run the cu then run prazipro after

 

[Jdub968]

I had great success over the pass 5 years with treating with copper for 7 days then returning the fish to the display. I don't have time to be taking care of 2 tanks.

This is actually a method I've been think about trying in theory this should work for velvet and ick 7 days in cu then staging into a sterile tank for observation or in to the DT

 

[AnemoneEvo]

Thanks for the peace of mind Jdub968. Everything is my reef is alive and well ��

 

[JustinM]

The 72 day strain was tested in 60 degree water. It is very unlikely in our aquariums but because it happened, we still prepare for the worst, hope for the best. IMO, most ich reinfections are due to cross contamination or not sterilizing the HT.