Please help

[wakeupneo]

The powder blue I bought a few weeks ago seems to have taken a turn for the worse in his battle with ich. Yesterday I set up a hospital tank. Does this tank need to be cycled? Can I just drip acclimate him normal and add him in?

The water in the QT is hypo 1.009. Is this sufficient?

Looking forward to quick replies. Time is of the essence.

BTW the people at the LFS give worthless advice and feel there is no point in even asking them.

 

[HumbleFish]

I'm no expert on hypo, but I think it would be better to have the SG in the QT match the DT and then lower it down. The sticky says, "over 48 hours, slowly lower the salinity in the hospital tank to 1.009". I wouldn't leave him in a bucket, doing drip acclimation for 48 hrs.

 

[triggreef]

^ That if you really set on hypo. ^

I'd suggest tank transfer or cupramine. Cupramine would be the easiest way if your lazy.

I just got done with 4 weeks of cupramine on my pbt and he never showed a spot. Also as far as I know the fish never stops eating no matter how much you feed it.

 

[wakeupneo]

Cupramine is an additive I simply add to the water, correct? Or do I add it to his food?

Do I need any sort of filtration media when using Cupramine?

So add this to the water and its good to go?

25% water changes?

 

[DrPat]

copper kills inverts

copper kills inverts

Cupramine is an additive I simply add to the water, correct? Or do I add it to his food?

Do I need any sort of filtration media when using Cupramine?

So add this to the water and its good to go?

25% water changes?

IME I WOULD RAPIDLY TRANSFER THE FISH TO 1015 IN A QT AND ADD COPPERPOWER raise the water temps to 85F and aerate heavily also add2 tablespoons of fritz zyme or similar product to the filter on day1 ,3,7 and 14 to establish a biofilter or better yet if you have a filtersponge from the dt .Add it to the qt filter Never use a copper product in a reef tank most meds that kill parasites will also kill reef inverts.also get a seachem amonia alert badge.

 

[wakeupneo]

So I bought the Cupramine...

It recommends I use 16/40L drops the first day, wait 48 hours and repeat.

Do I do this with the fish in the QT, do I do this before hand?

Do I do water changes? The instructions are very vague.

So the two treatments and thats it?

Thanks gang, I don't know what I would do without you all. God knows if I relied on the advice from the peeps as the LFS I would have been out of the hobby by now due to frustration.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Here's a copy of how I use Cupramine. Also, ALL the fish in your tank now have ich; the tank has it, not just the fish you see with spots. You need to find a way to QT?HT all of your fish while your DT stays fishless for 12 weeks or so. When this is over, use a good QT regemin on all new fish and never go through this again. BTW; your comments on LFS advice are absolutely right. Too bad, they used to be a good source of info.

"I really like Cupramine and use it with all new fish; have for years. I like a softer approach to Cupramine, here it is. I use Cupramine at about .35-.40 pmm, lower than the bottle directions of .5ppm. I also take several days to go from 0 to .35-.40, not the 3 days SeaChem suggests. Also, be sure fish are eating in the QT before adding any Cu; loss of appetite is a 1st sign of copper intolerance. If a fish seems to be having CU problems (this is rare); remove Cu ASAP and let the fish recover and start over. Of course, in an emergency, all of this is out the window. SeaChem (Mfg. of Cupramine) is fine with this procedure and has said they will change labeling, but who knows when. SeaChem has excellent tech support: 1-888-seachem, I think). Here's everything you need to know about Cupramine, the FAQ are great;http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...Cupramine.html

I've used Cupramine, using this procedure on more fish than most folks would believe, Enough to stock about 1000 gals of DTs before and after Katrina, and fish from other sources) and haven't seen ich in any of my DTs in many years."

 

[wakeupneo]

Here's a copy of how I use Cupramine. Also, ALL the fish in your tank now have ich; the tank has it, not just the fish you see with spots. You need to find a way to QT?HT all of your fish while your DT stays fishless for 12 weeks or so. When this is over, use a good QT regemin on all new fish and never go through this again. BTW; your comments on LFS advice are absolutely right. Too bad, they used to be a good source of info.

"I really like Cupramine and use it with all new fish; have for years. I like a softer approach to Cupramine, here it is. I use Cupramine at about .35-.40 pmm, lower than the bottle directions of .5ppm. I also take several days to go from 0 to .35-.40, not the 3 days SeaChem suggests. Also, be sure fish are eating in the QT before adding any Cu; loss of appetite is a 1st sign of copper intolerance. If a fish seems to be having CU problems (this is rare); remove Cu ASAP and let the fish recover and start over. Of course, in an emergency, all of this is out the window. SeaChem (Mfg. of Cupramine) is fine with this procedure and has said they will change labeling, but who knows when. SeaChem has excellent tech support: 1-888-seachem, I think). Here's everything you need to know about Cupramine, the FAQ are great;http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...Cupramine.html

I've used Cupramine, using this procedure on more fish than most folks would believe, Enough to stock about 1000 gals of DTs before and after Katrina, and fish from other sources) and haven't seen ich in any of my DTs in many years."

Is this a fact that ALL my fish have it now? OMG this hobby will be the end of me:idea:

None of my other fish are showing any signs of ich. They are all well established. Perhaps they are immune?

I simply can't put all my fish in my quarantine. I can't treat the DT cause its full of coral and inverts.

So maybe ride it out and see what survives and dies? I have this approach but I cannot QT them all.

Could I just quarantine the infected powder blue for 8 weeks, if none of the other fish are showing signs that must mean they are immune, which then means that the ich could not find a suitable host, which means that it's life-cycle is over, which means Im ich free. This logic makes sense, no?

 

[HumbleFish]

Just to add to MrTusk's info.....

You really need to pick up one of these to keep tabs on the ammonia, and a good copper test kit (i.e. Seachem or Salifert). Being you don't have a cycled QT; it's not a matter of if, but how often, you will need to do WCs to keep the ammonia under control. Remember to treat any replacement water (from WCs, not topoff) with Cupramine. DO NOT use any ammonia reducers (i.e. Amquel or Prime) while treating with Cupramine. I personally advocate treating for 30 days to ensure the Ich is all knocked out.

 

[HumbleFish]

Is this a fact that ALL my fish have it now? OMG this hobby will be the end of me:idea:

If your Powder Blue has Ich, then the parasites have spread from the fish to the entire tank by now. The free swimmers will eventually infect all your other fish, as they need hosts to feed on. If you choose to "ride it out" then you're entering the realm of "Ich management". I am almost positive a Powder Blue Tang will not be one of the survivors.

 

[wakeupneo]

If your Powder Blue has Ich, then the parasites have spread from the fish to the entire tank by now. The free swimmers will eventually infect all your other fish, as they need hosts to feed on. If you choose to "ride it out" then you're entering the realm of "Ich management". I am almost positive a Powder Blue Tang will not be one of the survivors.

Say I QT my PBT for 8 weeks and none of my other fish get the parasite in that time. Isn't it safe to say they are immune, that the tank is ich free?

Ich as far as I know can't lay dormant, it needs to infect a host, If during an extended period, 8 weeks, no fish show any signs in the DT, I see no reason to believe that ich is still in the tank.

 

[HumbleFish]

Say I QT my PBT for 8 weeks and none of my other fish get the parasite in that time. Isn't it safe to say they are immune, that the tank is ich free?

Ich as far as I know can't lay dormant, it needs to infect a host, If during an extended period, 8 weeks, no fish show any signs in the DT, I see no reason to believe that ich is still in the tank.

So long as there is a fish host present to feed on, Ich will continue to reproduce and continue to go thru it's life cycle. It's only when you remove all the fish that this cycle gets interrupted, and the parasites eventually all starve to death. Ich can also live just in the gills of a fish, with no visible symptoms (white spots) present under the skin.

I suggest reading this and this to become more familiar with the foe you are now facing.

 

[MrTuskfish]

When the dust settles, I'd get recommendations for a few good books on our hobby and read them thoroughly. I'm not trying to be harsh, just trying to help; but this info on ich is usually known by all hobbyists either before, or soon after, they enter the hobby. The web and these forums are great; but I've said many times; you can't learn this hobby one question at a time. Frankly, without using a quarantine tank with all of your fish, I'm surprised you didn't have a ich infestation sooner.