ttm or cupramine?

[pyithar]

hi. i have:
1x blue hippo tang (about 2.5 inches)
1x pearlscale butterfly
2x ocellaris clowns
1x banggai cardinal

a total of 5 fishes in my 20G quarantine tank for nearly a month. the tang's been scratching from the moment it was added to the qt. i saw one or two white spots on its body the next day so i figured it was ich and i treated the tank with cupramine at copper centration of 0.5 mg/L for three weeks.

but the tang was still scratching throughout the treatment time so i thought it's because of flukes. i can't find prazipro where i live so i used api general cure which also contains praziquantel but the scratching continued.

because of non stop scratching, the skin is very rough now and i could see some bumps on it as well. to prevent bacterial infections, i used furan-2. i've not seen any sympton of ich nor scratching on other 4 fish. and they all, including the hippo tang, eat very well.

now i'm thinking 3 weeks of cupramine was not enough. so the question is should i do 4 weeks this time? or should i do tank transfer on all 5 fish using 15 gallon plastic tubs? i'm afraid if it's not ich and some other parasites, ttm won't work. i can't find chloroquine phosphate, paraguard, or any other medicine where i live. the only thing available is cupramine.the followings are pics of the blue hippo tang:

i'm sorry about the quality of the pics. the fish is very fast and shy so hard to take a pic. thank you for your time and knowledge in advance.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

My understanding Cupramine it is to maintained for 4 weeks to be effective. What level did you maintain it? After a month in quarantine you should be clear of other parasites. I say should be because low levels of copper can mask symptoms of velvet.

 

[pyithar]

thank you for the reply. it was maintained at 0.5 mg/L copper level for 3 weeks. i only have some pvc in the qt and hob filter with no media in it. i also test the copper concentration every other day. should i do cupramine treatment again, this time for 4 weeks?

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I don't personally use copper. I'm in the TT camp. You could do 4 weeks of copper but I would lean towards doing TT and in 12 days treatment is done.

 

[pyithar]

ok. thanks. i'll do the tank transfer and observe for a month. if it doesn't work, i'll do the 4 weeks of cupramine or chloroquine phosphate. i have a friend coming over from the u.s in august. i've just asked her to buy nls ick shield powder for me.

 

[pyithar]

just an update: all the fish are fine after the tank transfer including the hippo tang. i'll be observing them for four more weeks in a qt. they're all eating and no more scratching from the blue tang.

 

[snorvich]

I don't personally use copper. I'm in the TT camp. You could do 4 weeks of copper but I would lean towards doing TT and in 12 days treatment is done.

This is what I would do. I feel strongly that after TT, fish need to be in chemical free water for a month of observation.

 

[pyithar]

This is what I would do. I feel strongly that after TT, fish need to be in chemical free water for a month of observation.

ok steve. tank transfer finished this morning. the fish are in chemical free water. i'll be observing them for a month. thanks.

 

[snorvich]

ok steve. tank transfer finished this morning. the fish are in chemical free water. i'll be observing them for a month. thanks.

Watch fish behavior. If there is an issue, behavior will be the precursor and give more time to decide on treatment if required.