What do you 'treat' with during QT?

[MrsReefK]

Ok, I've been reading and reading in prep for our QT for our new tank. There's a lot of talk on what a QT is, how to set it up, and how long to do it, but I don't find as much chatter on what to 'dose' with during QT.

All of our fish will be QT'd going forward. I'm a process person, need a full process in place. One I've heard good things about is Prazipro, are there others?

What do you use?
Do you use multiple meds?
How long do you QT for?

I know this is all opinion, I'm sure it's been asked. Sorry, I've read and read and still want to hear more.

We have 2 20g long QT's for our 290g DT.

 

[MrsReefK]

In addition, how about your inverts? I'll be ordering our CUC soon, should they go through any type of treatment in QT before going to DT?

I'm trying to (of course) keep as much disease/parasites out of my DT, I can stand my tankmates to be in QT for X weeks if it means years of a disease/parasite free atmosphere for them in the future.

 

[ThRoewer]

All I do prophylactic is to give every new fish a formalin bath against possible occult Brooklynella, Amyloodinium or Uronema infections.
After that they go into a QT for minimum of 2 months of observation.

Some people do TTM and PraziPro right away, but I prefer to wait if treatment is actually necessary.
Especially PraziPro can have a negative effect on some fish. Also, most reef fish are not as worm infested as for example wild freshwater cichlids.

I feel the best is to make the fish feel comfortable. For that reason I rather use Real Reef rock to decorate the QT instead of PVC.

 

[ThRoewer]

CUC should best go into the tank before any fish are bought and their quarantine is the initial fallow period of the tank.
Later added inverts are somewhat more tricky. Ideally you need to keep them in their own QT which can be a challenge with some.
Prophylactic treatment of inverts for fish diseases is not possible.
With shrimp and crabs (excluding hermits and decorator crabs) I would say they are safe as soon as they have molded since getting into the QT. Whatever cysts may have been on them should be shed with the old skin.

 

[Dmorty217]

I do what the Roewer does with Formalin baths followed by observation for 4-6 weeks sometimes longer depending on the fish and health when it arrived. I use Chloroquine Phosphate for ich and Praziquantel for internals. Internals aren't always as easy to diagnose and certain fish are prone to having things when they arrive so treatment process varies for individual fish.

 

[Deinonych]

Prazi x2 (7 days apart), followed by TTM then observation. I get all my fish mail order, so I typically let them settle in for several days post-arrival to ensure they are eating and on a schedule.

 

[snorvich]

Prazi x2 (7 days apart), followed by TTM then observation. I get all my fish mail order, so I typically let them settle in for several days post-arrival to ensure they are eating and on a schedule.

This. I use Chloroquine Phosphate ONLY for amyloodinium as it is iffy for ich. However, ThRoewer's formalin dip is an excellent idea.

 

[Dmorty217]

This. I use Chloroquine Phosphate ONLY for amyloodinium as it is iffy for ich. However, ThRoewer's formalin dip is an excellent idea.

The CP being iffy for ich is suddenly becoming more of the norm for whatever reason. Have a friend who is battling ich with CP and not much luck for whatever reason. The CP is less than 1 year old (I believe). TTM is always the preferred method for dealing with ich

 

[snorvich]

The CP being iffy for ich is suddenly becoming more of the norm for whatever reason. Have a friend who is battling ich with CP and not much luck for whatever reason. The CP is less than 1 year old (I believe). TTM is always the preferred method for dealing with ich

The issue is that CP only treats the infective stage of the ich life cycle and CP may have lost its effectiveness before the infective stage emerges. Remember the back end of the ich life cycle is less deterministic whereas the life cycle of oodinium is highly predictable.

 

[Deinonych]

The CP being iffy for ich is suddenly becoming more of the norm for whatever reason. Have a friend who is battling ich with CP and not much luck for whatever reason. The CP is less than 1 year old (I believe). TTM is always the preferred method for dealing with ich

I could never eliminate ich using CP, and I was using pharmaceutical grade medication. I subscribe to the theory that there is some biological mechanism that denatures CP (I use Bio-spira to cycle my QTs). Ever since I switched to TTM, I've had no problems with ich.

 

[ThRoewer]

Other issues with CP are:
- There are good solid indicators that certain bacteria strains (like found in bio filter starters) break CP down to an ineffective form.
- CP has shown to bind with clean glass surfaces. This may make administering the right dosage difficult, especially in smaller QTs.
- Some fish react negatively or get outright poisoned by it.
- Extended exposure (above 4 weeks) seems to have a negative effect on many fish.

 

[Deinonych]

Other issues with CP are:
- There are good solid indicators that certain bacteria strains (like found in bio filter starters) break CP down to an ineffective form.
- CP has shown to bind with clean glass surfaces. This may make administering the right dosage difficult, especially in smaller QTs.
- Some fish react negatively or get outright poisoned by it.
- Extended exposure (above 4 weeks) seems to have a negative effect on many fish.

+1

Plus, there are no OTC test kits available, and few of us have access to a spectrophotometer for testing the concentration in solution. I still keep some on hand in case I ever need to deal with velvet in QT.

 

[ThRoewer]

... whereas the life cycle of oodinium is highly predictable.

Well, is it really? Previously the same was thought about Cryptocaryon and only relatively recent studies found that there are some cysts (of certain strains?) that stay behind for 3 months (or even longer).
We know more about it than in the 70s and 80s but are still far from knowing it all.

I don't know how much research has gone into Amyloodinium, but I somewhat doubt that we know all about it yet.

 

[ThRoewer]

... (I use Bio-spira to cycle my QTs). ...

I would advise against the use of ANY bacteria starters in combination with CP. Rather do water changes and re-dose the replaced water.

 

[Deinonych]

I would advise against the use of ANY bacteria starters in combination with CP. Rather do water changes and re-dose the replaced water.

Yep. That's the plan if I ever need to use it.

 

[Deinonych]

I don't know how much research has gone into Amyloodinium, but I somewhat doubt that we know all about it yet.

My understanding is that a great deal of research has been done on Amyloodinium, due to its harmful affect on the food fish industry.

 

[snorvich]

My understanding is that a great deal of research has been done on Amyloodinium, due to its harmful affect on the food fish industry.

I agree.

 

[MrsReefK]

Huh. I didn't get a single notification for this thread. So glad you all helped! For fish I will be doing: formalin dip, then TTM with prazipro on transfer 2 and 4. Then observe for 6 weeks.

For corals and inverts, corals will be dipped in coralRx or Bayer, haven't decided yet. Then observed for 4-6 weeks in QT. I guess I could do TTM on inverts, would seem tough with full CUC. Either way, fish QT is figured out, now need to solidify macros, inverts and corals.

I am determined to keep DT pest and disease free.

 

[MrsReefK]

Oh, who freshwater dips? Why do you freshwater dip? What's your QT process that you use along with FW dips?

 

[Deinonych]

Huh. I didn't get a single notification for this thread. So glad you all helped! For fish I will be doing: formalin dip, then TTM with prazipro on transfer 2 and 4. Then observe for 6 weeks.

For corals and inverts, corals will be dipped in coralRx or Bayer, haven't decided yet. Then observed for 4-6 weeks in QT. I guess I could do TTM on inverts, would seem tough with full CUC. Either way, fish QT is figured out, now need to solidify macros, inverts and corals.

I am determined to keep DT pest and disease free.

TTM only works on fish, as it exploits the feeding/cyst-forming stages. These stages are not relevant with inverts, as the parasite cannot use inverts as hosts. The encysted form can be present on any hard surface (live rock, substrate coral skeleton, shells), so 72 days observation for inverts is optimal.