QT Pre-Treatment

[tallguy88]

So after reading, reading, and more reading I still am confused on pre treatment in QT.

I just bought a Blue Tang and put him in my 20g Quarantine tank.

QT Tank
-20g
-Small Bubbler
-Hang On Filter with Carbon filter removed(Cut a bit of filter floss to fit in to catch large particles for easy cleaning)
-3" PVC Pipe Sections
-Some Plastic plants for more hiding spots (Help with Stress)
-Heater

I followed the advise of a thread on here and started to treat with Prazipro after 24 hours of him in the tank, after I was sure he was eating. He still is a little shy at times laying down along the PVC pipe at the bottom or swimming at the top around the heater or filter pipe hiding. I take this as normal as Blue Tangs like to "Play Dead" from what I read.

My next step is I want to wait about a week for him to acclimate more and then start treating with Cupramine?

How do I do this properly and how Long? Want to be sure I am doing this write. I have only done this QT process once before on a pair of firefish and they seemed ok but they are a lot hardier fish from what I hear, also only did half a dose per the bottle instructions of the Cupramine. Just ordered a Seachem copper test to be accurate on levels of copper. Your opinions of dosing levels/increments.

I hope to get this QT process figured out and dialed in for all my future fish I bring home.

Thank You Very Much!

 

[Spar]

Your process looks good so far, including equipment.

For Cupramine - you will want to bring the copper level to .5 over a 4 day period (dose 1/4 the total amount necessary each day). After each dose, test the copper with your Seachem test to make sure you aren't over dosing. After the first 2 to 3 doses you will get the hang of how much each dose is increasing, so you can appropriately dose your final amount.

After that, let the tank sit at .5 for 4 weeks, then start doing water changes and running carbon to get rid of the copper. Be sure to test the copper level regularly (as often as you prefer, but at least every day for the first few days, and then tapering it off to every 3-4 days or more often, until you get comfortable).

If you do intermittent water changes, you will need to bring the new water to .5 copper before adding it to the tank; you do not want your current water to drop below .35 even if for a few minutes.

some fish don't take well to copper, so make sure to watch him closely for a bad reaction.

the Tang should stop being shy and eating fine after a few days, but yes they do lay on their sides sometimes, making themselves look bigger, etc.

read up on the Tank Transfer Method if you end up not liking the copper method; my personal preference for treating Ich.