QT management

[salty joe]

I am in the process of getting a tank ready for live rock. I plan on letting the rock cure for at least two months before adding any fish.

As far as I'm concerned, any fish coming out of the wild has any number of parasites. So my feeling is to treat no matter what. I am thinking about using Chloroquine Phosphate along with Prazi for a total of two weeks in an effort to wipe out Ich, velvet, Brooke, internal and external flukes and worms.

I have never used either one of these drugs. In the past I was careless and did not use a quarantine. Never again. I wonder if somebody with experience could give me their opinion on my plan.

 

[Triton_Z]

I agree, proactive or prophylactic treatment of your incoming fish is a good idea. I do not have any direct experience with Chloroquine phosphate, however there is a long active thread going over the details in this forum.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2136214

I would add either a freshwater temp and pH adjusted dip with methylene blue, or Seachem Paraguard, or Formalin bath/dip to any fish prior to placing in QT. One of those baths/dips will help knock off any initial infestation. I use freshwater dips on any incoming fish myself.

I would treat Prazipro for three rounds and plan on keeping your fish in QT for longer than two weeks. 3-5 day treatments followed by a break of 1 week between subsequent treatments is recommended. A good two weeks of observation after treatment will give you some cushion room to confirm their health.

 

[b0bab0ey]

As far as I'm concerned, any fish coming out of the wild has any number of parasites. So my feeling is to treat no matter what. I am thinking about using Chloroquine Phosphate along with Prazi for a total of two weeks in an effort to wipe out Ich, velvet, Brooke, internal and external flukes and worms.

A few suggestions:

- If possible, I wouldn't mix Prazi with CP. The mfg of PraziPro has confirmed that mixing Prazi w/copper cuts down on Prazi's effectiveness. The same probably holds true when mixing it with CP. I know personally I've had to treat a fish 4-5x w/Prazi to get rid of Flukes while I was also treating w/copper.

- Consider "tank transfer method" (see link below) for prophylactically treating Crypto. Don't get me wrong, CP looks very promising. But it's very difficult to obtain, and I'm going to have to do a lot more testing before I'm ready to give it my thumbs up. I've already made a deal with a LFS to obtain fish infected w/Crypto to experiment on.

- I would QT for a total of at least 9 weeks. Believe me, I realize what a PITA that is. But IMO it takes that long to treat and observe to ensure you have a healthy fish. Obviously nothing is 100% but the longer you can QT the better your odds are.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1996525

 

[salty joe]

Thanks guys. I guess I have a lot to figure out with QT. Looking forward to the CP results.

 

[snorvich]

Tank transfer is very easy. The initial receiving tank is temp and SG adjusted to the bag water with SG a few points couple of points lower than the bag water is ok but it cannot be higher. This means there is no need for drip acclimation and does not result in prolonged stays in bag water where pH can rise and ammonia toxicity can increase once the bag is opened which is particularly important after prolonged stays in the bag.

The total tank transfer period requires 12 days. After every three day stay in the first tank, the fish is transfered on the morning of the fourth (and 7th and 10th) day to the next tank (two tanks are required, typically a 20 gallon tank times two). The first tank is then drained and cleaned and readied for the next transfer. During the 12 day tank transfer process ( 3 day stays 4 transfers) look for other maladies. Since there are no medications to interact with in the transfer tanks which contain freshly mixed salt water aged and aerated overnight , an ammonia detoxifier is used during each 3 day period. Bound copper products for example can't be safely used with ammonia detoxifiers as more toxic free copper occurs with lethal copper toxicity, even though total copper measures the same.

If there is reason to suspect infestation with brooklynellosis, velvet or flukes , do a formalin bath before starting a treatment with copper for velvet, formalin for brooklynellosis or prazipro for flukes.

Since not all maladies will present symptoms in the 12 days( flukes can easily be missed ), use a larger cycled QT tank for an additional 2 to 4 weeks of observation depending on the condition of the fish with treatment as necessary.

Most fish receive no medications yet all are effectively prophylactically treated for cryptocaryon irritans (ich),the most common killer

Ammonia is monitored and has never been an issue during the 3 day stay but a detoxifier is added just in case, The cycled tank takes care of itself.

BTW there is no need to worry about nitrite or nitrate.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Since not all maladies will present symptoms in the 12 days( flukes can easily be missed ), use a larger cycled QT tank for an additional 2 to 4 weeks of observation depending on the condition of the fish with treatment as necessary.

What about prophylactically treating w/Prazi during tank transfer? In every tank until the fish hits the larger cycled QT tank? Good idea/bad idea?

 

[snorvich]

What about prophylactically treating w/Prazi during tank transfer? In every tank until the fish hits the larger cycled QT tank? Good idea/bad idea?

I do it after tank transfer. Always. I always prefer to have one thing going on at a time as it is very difficult to establish causality with more than one action being effected.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I do it after tank transfer. Always. I always prefer to have one thing going on at a time as it is very difficult to establish causality with more than one action being effected.

Makes sense. For the same reason, I am trying to get away from mixing Prazi with copper (or something else). Thanks for your opinion. As always, it's much appreciated.

 

[salty joe]

I do it after tank transfer. Always. I always prefer to have one thing going on at a time as it is very difficult to establish causality with more than one action being effected.

Do you do three Prazi treatments of five days each with a week between treatments? Do you treat new fish with Prazi no matter what?

 

[MrTuskfish]

I do it after tank transfer. Always. I always prefer to have one thing going on at a time as it is very difficult to establish causality with more than one action being effected.

I don't like to mix meds/treatments , either. There should be plenty of QT time to treat ich and use Prazi-Pro seperatly. What's the hurry? No reason to combine treatments, that I can see.

I'm on the last day of tank-transfer for a friends Sohal that had a nasty case of ich. So far, I'm convinced that TT is the easiest (for most folks), safest, and most fool-proof way to prevent or cure ich.....and I have use copper for many years. I basically followed Snorvich's sticky.
Re: The Quinine drugs. I almost bought and tried some QS a while back. I talked to 3 fish-lab-tech types and they all said the same thing: QS was very difficult to keep in suspension and testing the level is impossible for a home hobbyist. Because QS level is critical, I decided to pass. there are some good reports, though.

 

[snorvich]

Do you do three Prazi treatments of five days each with a week between treatments? Do you treat new fish with Prazi no matter what?

Yes, and yes. Prazi is reef safe and many fish can profit from its usage. Other than cost, no downside.