QT tank requirements and medications

[kvosstra]

So all fish looked great for 10 days - and we were getting a heat spell - no sign of disease on any fish. I put them into the main display and was shocked to see that some fish had ich in a matter of a day. I'm pretty sure that the fish in the main display must have had the disease, since I carefully checked each and every fish - and I asked my friend if they had ICH before and he said he thought they did, but that it just went away.

SO... I'm assuming that I now need to catch all the fish and leave the display empty for 30 days...is that the normal procedure?

Should I treat with Maracyn II again with the copper to prevent secondary infections?

I also have the issue of having some larger fish to deal with - I'm not sure a 40G is going to work - and water quality would be an issue for sure. (there is a mature chevron tang, copperband butterfly, 3 leopard wrasses (small, med, and large), and a mandarin (who needs the pods to live...)

I also have the issue of the leopard wrasses, since they sleep buried in the sand. Should I put them separately with some other fish into a tank and use hyposalinity to remove the ich?

And finally the issue of the mandarin - what will he eat while in QT?

I'm just so disappointed right now - I would hate to lose my new beautiful fish (rhomboid wrasse, pair of helfrichi's, 2 pairs of other reef safe wrasses, and a small powder blue tang)

Thanks

-Kyle

 

[LargeAngels]

I don't treat with Maracyn II unless I see an issue.

Yes, leaving the main display fishless for 4-6 weeks is needed. You can put a couple of small containers of sand for the leopard wrasses in QT. I'd go buy a larger QT tank. Cheaper than loosing some of those fish.

 

[kvosstra]

I have a 90 that I was planning on selling - but I guess Ill keep it for a few more weeks. Starphire 90's are expensive QT tanks.

Thanks...

-Kyle

 

[kvosstra]

Should I "dip" the fish before I put them in QT to remove/kill the attached parasites? What should this be made of? OR Will simply putting them in QT with the cupramine kill off the parasites quickly enough to not harm the fish too badly?

Thanks, - Kyle

 

[LargeAngels]

FW dips are only affective at removing fluke adults and velvet (if attached longer than 24 hours.) It does nothing for ich. I only do dips if they trying to determine if they have flukes, fish I suspect have a heavy infestation of flukes or are heavily infested with velvet.

 

[kvosstra]

so no need to make a more concentrated copper solution as a dip or anything like that?

Does the copper kill the ICH that are attached to the fish or only those that are swimming or unattached?

 

[shelburn61]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13019965#post13019965 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LargeAngels
FW dips are only affective at removing fluke adults and velvet (if attached longer than 24 hours.) It does nothing for ich.

I have always read that FW dips are effective on ich just like velvet in causing embedded parasites drop off? Not 100% effective, but provides temporary relief to the fish.

What about treatments like formalin, malachite green, or acriflavin for ich/velvet? Seems copper treatment requires more attention to keeping the effective concentration without killing the fish...

 

[shelburn61]

Hypo for ich?

 

[LargeAngels]

Personally I don't like dealing with Formalin and Cupramine has been so easy and affective I stick with it. Cupramine's affective range is 0.20 -0.8 ppm, with 0.5 ppm recommended. So it is easy to keep within the affective range. I think the confusion on FW dips being affective against ich comes up when velvet is misdiagnosed as ich.

Yes, Hypo is affective for ich. but not velvet.

 

[hottuna]

Large angels...i have a 40 gal qt connected to a 30 gal with 8 inches of aragonite on the bottom of the 30....can I use cupramine and get it to an effective level? or will the aragonite absorb it all ?40 gal is barebottom with pvc pipes for the fish to hide...30 gal is just for bio filtration during the qt....

 

[LargeAngels]

Gravel will do the same thing as the LR (absorb the copper.) With that much I would disconnect or be ready to add quite a bit until you reach the right level.