LFS told me...

[chrisqueenz]

That they would dip a future purchase (Naso tang) in a heavy copper treatment for about 55min to kill off any ich that may still be on the fish. 2 questions

1. Will a heavy copper treatment kill the ich right off the fish in 55min?

2. Are they trying to just sell, sell, sell?

I have been around for a little while, but never heard of a LFS doing this, if it was so easy to rid fish from ich this way, then why not do this to all fish who are easily prone to get ich?

 

[chrisqueenz]

He also told me that it dissappears in a tank after about 18 days of them not hosting on any fish? This I highly doubt, isn't it about 12 month?

 

[jnc914]

The story about the copper is a bit bogus. Copper effects free floating ich once it drops off the fish. If you dip a fish in a high concentration (whatever that means) of copper it will likely kill the fish, not any ich attached on the fish. Copper needs to be maintained at a therapeutic level (.5 mg/l)for anywhere from 2-4 weeks. Also ich will survive alot longer than 18 days in a fallow tank. Some have suggested 4-6 months. I think you need to start shopping at a different LFS.

 

[limitdown]

Ich cannot be killed while it's on the fish because it's protected under the fish's skin (without killing the fish).
You'll need to wait until they've fallen off before any medicine can kill them.
Although I don't advocate the 55min dip, you should always have Seachem's Cupramine copper treatment on hand in case you have an outbreak in the future.

 

[jackfishy]

sounds bogus to me too. I thought copper takes time to kill parasite, there is no instance treatment.


Jack