Cinnamon clown with spots during copper treatment

[bshake]

Hello everyone my fish have all been in QT with copper power 2.35-2.50 ppm and nitrofurazone for the last 31 days. Since I had an ich on my purple tang so took everyone out. Currently in the process of setting up a new 125 gallon for everyone. I’m pretty sure copper never dropped below therapeutic during the whole 30 days maybe. This week I lost 2 wrasses that seemed healthy but I’m assuming it was my trigger fish that kept nipping at them everything else looked okay in the tank until today.

I woke up and saw my cinnamon clown covered in white appears to be white spots. So I tested the copper and it was at 2.44 PPM.

I just did a 50% but the Ammonia alert badge was reading “green alert” for the past 2 days and today it was yellow. I’ve been adding Microbactor Start XLM to help with ammonia in the tank.

 

[bshake]

Hello everyone my fish have all been in QT with copper power 2.35-2.50 ppm and nitrofurazone for the last 31 days. Since I had an ich on my purple tang so took everyone out. Currently in the process of setting up a new 125 gallon for everyone. I’m pretty sure copper never dropped below therapeutic during the whole 30 days maybe. This week I lost 2 wrasses that seemed healthy but I’m assuming it was my trigger fish that kept nipping at them everything else looked okay in the tank until today.

I woke up and saw my cinnamon clown covered in white appears to be white spots. So I tested the copper and it was at 2.44 PPM.

I just did a 50% but the Ammonia alert badge was reading “green alert” for the past 2 days and today it was yellow. I’ve been adding Microbactor Start XLM to help with ammonia in the tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Your clown while in quarantine has ich. How were you measuring and Monitoring the copper level? In addition , Not sure why you mixed/added Nitrofurazone which also treats for ich, microbes, protozoan, bacteria, and fungus mainly in freshwater fish. Its best used for newly arrived fish and for healing wounds on fish
How do the other fish look?

 

[Spare time]

I have a feeling the copper ppm is too low and there is a testing issue going on.

 

[bshake]

Your clown while in quarantine has ich. How were you measuring and Monitoring the copper level? In addition , Not sure why you mixed/added Nitrofurazone which also treats for ich, microbes, protozoan, bacteria, and fungus mainly in freshwater fish. Its best used for newly arrived fish and for healing wounds on fish
How do the other fish look?

I use the Hanna copper checker to monitor the copper levels while the fish are in QT. I check the copper levels every 2 or 3 days and they have been above therapeutic for the past 31 days.

I saw a video on BRS for QT that says Nitrofurazone is good for any bacterial infection's that may occur that’s why I’ve been adding it and that some of the fish had fin damage from aggregation since the 3 QT tanks are much smaller than my DT.

All the other fish are topless, so scratching or anything

 

[bshake]

The videos are not showing up clearly from the YouTube links and also the 2 I uploaded from my phone are not displaying on here from what I can see

 

[bshake]

I have a feeling the copper ppm is too low and there is a testing issue going on.

If the testing is off or the number seems off to me I usually test again to make sure I get an accurate result. Maybe the Nitrofurazone is throwing off the Hanna checker because it colors the water a bit?

 

[Spare time]

The videos are not showing up clearly from the YouTube links and also the 2 I uploaded from my phone are not displaying on here from what I can see

The video worked for me

 

[MnFish1]

I use the Hanna copper checker to monitor the copper levels while the fish are in QT. I check the copper levels every 2 or 3 days and they have been above therapeutic for the past 31 days.

I saw a video on BRS for QT that says Nitrofurazone is good for any bacterial infection's that may occur that’s why I’ve been adding it and that some of the fish had fin damage from aggregation since the 3 QT tanks are much smaller than my DT.

All the other fish are topless, so scratching or anything

Thanks - thats helpful. I don't think nitrofurazone is an issue - though I tend to never add 2 medications at once. IMHO - there has to be an error in your measurements - i.e its low at times you're not measuring - OR - if you have an extremely high stocking density in your tank - (QT) that can also play a role

 

[vetteguy53081]

If the testing is off or the number seems off to me I usually test again to make sure I get an accurate result. Maybe the Nitrofurazone is throwing off the Hanna checker because it colors the water a bit?

Yes, it changes color and the nitro is likely counteracting the chelated copper which has stabilizers and it will break them down. Nitrofurazone when by itself can help with a few issues but not blended with other treatments

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I agree - from the video, there is no other logical conclusion other than the clown has ich - it is so classic looking, the size and patterns of the spots all point to ich. However, as you've mentioned, that does not reconcile with the fish being in copper above 2.0 for a month.

The water looks a bit cloudy and the blonde naso is breathing a bit fast, is there good aeration? You need to keep the ammonia below 0.25 ppm at all times.

Are you using coppersafe?

Have you been using the nitrofurazone for the whole time? I'm not a fan of dosing two medications at once, and I don't use antibiotics unless there is a specific disease to be treated. Antibiotics should never be used as a preventative, I really disagree with BRS on that.

Here is a trick - next time you make up water for a water change, dose it with the exact amount of coppersafe needed for that volume, let it mix well and then test it. You should get a reading of near 2.25 ppm. If you don't, there is a problem with the test meter, or the bottle of coppersafe, or the way you are dosing it.

Jay

 

[bshake]

Thanks - thats helpful. I don't think nitrofurazone is an issue - though I tend to never add 2 medications at once. IMHO - there has to be an error in your measurements - i.e its low at times you're not measuring - OR - if you have an extremely high stocking density in your tank - (QT) that can also play a role

Honestly every time I measure with Hanna copper checker its read about accurate and if its reading off then I measure it again to double check and make sure that it’s correct. I do have a quite a few fish in that 29 gallon tank but I have 4 QT tanks set up since I took down my 75 gallon DT tank and setting up 125. They’re all heavily stocked at the moment but looks like everyone was healthy

 

[bshake]

Yes, it changes color and the nitro is likely counteracting the chelated copper which has stabilizers and it will break them down. Nitrofurazone when by itself can help with a few issues but not blended with other treatments

Honestly I don’t know why they would recommend putting Nitrofurazon with copper if that’s the case. The BRS video 80/20 QT video is misleading in that case and since they’re probably one of the bigger reefing information outlets it’s not good. What do you recommend for fish with injuries like damaged fins and something that would combat any bacterial infections while they’re in copper power?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Honestly I don’t know why they would recommend putting Nitrofurazon with copper if that’s the case. The BRS video 80/20 QT video is misleading in that case and since they’re probably one of the bigger reefing information outlets it’s not good. What do you recommend for fish with injuries like damaged fins and something that would combat any bacterial infections while they’re in copper power?

Seachem Kanaplex which is a broad spectrum treatment

 

[Spare time]

Honestly I don’t know why they would recommend putting Nitrofurazon with copper if that’s the case. The BRS video 80/20 QT video is misleading in that case and since they’re probably one of the bigger reefing information outlets it’s not good. What do you recommend for fish with injuries like damaged fins and something that would combat any bacterial infections while they’re in copper power?

Don't use antibiotics unless there is actively an infection

 

[bshake]

I agree - from the video, there is no other logical conclusion other than the clown has ich - it is so classic looking, the size and patterns of the spots all point to ich. However, as you've mentioned, that does not reconcile with the fish being in copper above 2.0 for a month.

The water looks a bit cloudy and the blonde naso is breathing a bit fast, is there good aeration? You need to keep the ammonia below 0.25 ppm at all times.

Are you using coppersafe?

Have you been using the nitrofurazone for the whole time? I'm not a fan of dosing two medications at once, and I don't use antibiotics unless there is a specific disease to be treated. Antibiotics should never be used as a preventative, I really disagree with BRS on that.

Here is a trick - next time you make up water for a water change, dose it with the exact amount of coppersafe needed for that volume, let it mix well and then test it. You should get a reading of near 2.25 ppm. If you don't, there is a problem with the test meter, or the bottle of coppersafe, or the way you are dosing it.

Jay

Honestly yesterday when I checked and fed the tank he didn’t seem to have anything on him not that I noticed. Today when I looked he was all covered and he’s the only fish in the tank that has any visible spots on him. I know tangs get those mucus plus that look like ICH would you think its possible for the the clown to have something similar?

Yes I have been using nitrofurazone for the past month since they’re in QT because my trigger keep going after the wrasse and my sand sifting gobby and biting their fins and I don’t want them getting infected and from what I thought from the video it would help since its an antibacterial.

I’m using copper power not Coppersafe. What I usually do is add the Copper to the freshly mixed salt water following the Fishotel site calculator to the 5 gallon buckets then add it to QT tanks. Then I measure 24 hours later then it’s usually within range of that I was aiming at which is usually 2.4-2.5 PPM of copper

 

[bshake]

Seachem Kanaplex which is a broad spectrum treatment

So would Seachem Kanaplex help with healing the torn fins on the fish?

 

[bshake]

Don't use antibiotics unless there is actively an infection

But what should I do to heal their torn fins?

 

[Spare time]

But what should I do to heal their torn fins?

They can heal on their own.

 

[bshake]

BTW what’s a better copper calc the Fishotel or Calconic? The issue I’m seeing with Calconic is that it goes down often. Like I just checked it and its down again lol