30 Days in copper are done - General Cure next?

[rhitee93]

I have two clowns and a Tomini tang that have just spent 30 days at therapeutic level in Copper Power. Before this they spent several days in my qt/observation tank without medication. I saw some white spots come and go on the tang. They looked a little big to be ich, but since I had some time before the DT was going to be ready for fish I decided to start treating with copper power.

Here is how that went:

So now I have a decision to make. The current commonly accepted best practice around these parts would be to dose Praziquantel for 10 days. I don't have that, but could order some.

Another option would be to dose general cure which has Praziquantel in it, and I do have a box of that on hand. In either of these cases, I understand I'd need to change out the water to get the copper level down.

I could also just plop them in the display tank. I'd really love to do this, but I recognize that is me being impatient.

These little guys have really bulked up in the 5 or so weeks I've had them. Their colors are also much deeper than when I got them. To me they look very healthy, but it's been 20 years since I had fish so I'm essentially a newbie.

Should I do the round of general cure? My understanding is that is for flukes and worms. Is there a high likelihood this is necessary? I haven't seen any stringy poops. Nor have I noticed any scratching or signs of the fish being irritated.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have two clowns and a Tomini tang that have just spent 30 days at therapeutic level in Copper Power. Before this they spent several days in my qt/observation tank without medication. I saw some white spots come and go on the tang. They looked a little big to be ich, but since I had some time before the DT was going to be ready for fish I decided to start treating with copper power.

Here is how that went:

So now I have a decision to make. The current commonly accepted best practice around these parts would be to dose Praziquantel for 10 days. I don't have that, but could order some.

Another option would be to dose general cure which has Praziquantel in it, and I do have a box of that on hand. In either of these cases, I understand I'd need to change out the water to get the copper level down.

I could also just plop them in the display tank. I'd really love to do this, but I recognize that is me being impatient.

These little guys have really bulked up in the 5 or so weeks I've had them. Their colors are also much deeper than when I got them. To me they look very healthy, but it's been 20 years since I had fish so I'm essentially a newbie.

Should I do the round of general cure? My understanding is that is for flukes and worms. Is there a high likelihood this is necessary? I haven't seen any stringy poops. Nor have I noticed any scratching or signs of the fish being irritated.

general cure not the most effective although it says to treat ich. The prazi in GC is low level
How are you testing copper (kit)?
Please post pics and even video under white light intensity to verify if its ich or cryptocaryon or other

 

[rhitee93]

Testing was done daily with a Hanna kit.

There isn't any signs of disease at this point, but I can try to get a video later if that is still of interest.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have two clowns and a Tomini tang that have just spent 30 days at therapeutic level in Copper Power. Before this they spent several days in my qt/observation tank without medication. I saw some white spots come and go on the tang. They looked a little big to be ich, but since I had some time before the DT was going to be ready for fish I decided to start treating with copper power.

Here is how that went:

So now I have a decision to make. The current commonly accepted best practice around these parts would be to dose Praziquantel for 10 days. I don't have that, but could order some.

Another option would be to dose general cure which has Praziquantel in it, and I do have a box of that on hand. In either of these cases, I understand I'd need to change out the water to get the copper level down.

I could also just plop them in the display tank. I'd really love to do this, but I recognize that is me being impatient.

These little guys have really bulked up in the 5 or so weeks I've had them. Their colors are also much deeper than when I got them. To me they look very healthy, but it's been 20 years since I had fish so I'm essentially a newbie.

Should I do the round of general cure? My understanding is that is for flukes and worms. Is there a high likelihood this is necessary? I haven't seen any stringy poops. Nor have I noticed any scratching or signs of the fish being irritated.

I treat all new fish for external flukes. General Cure has 75 mg praziquantel per 100 gallon dose. This works out to be 2 ppm. That is the standard dose for treating flukes. GC also has Metronidazole in it, that makes it not reef safe. Often, people need to treat for flukes in their displays, so they need to use Prazipro of pure Praziquantel. In a quarantine set up like yours, GC is fine to use. The only thing is that the instructions say to repeat the dose after 48 hours, actually, you need to do a second dose after 8 days, to try and break the life cycle of any egg laying flukes.

Jay

 

[rhitee93]

Thanks Guys.

I treat all new fish for external flukes.

OK, that is a good enough reason for me to go ahead and do this.

The only thing is that the instructions say to repeat the dose after 48 hours, actually, you need to do a second dose after 8 days, to try and break the life cycle of any egg laying flukes.

That seems a bit dangerous for them to leave out of the instructions. To make sure I understand, you're suggesting the initial dose, and then a second dose 8 days later? Or is it dose, wait 48 hours, dose again per the instructions, and then repeat the two applications 8 days later?

One more question: I have some live rock in the QT tank. I know this is an unusual choice to make, but at the time I made that decision it seemed sound. I expect to have this QT tank running for a year or so as I stock my DT, so I opted to have the nice filtration of the live rock and deal with the fact that it will absorb copper through careful testing and adjustment.

However, it will also leach copper out after I do some water changes to get rid of the copper in the water. How close to zero ppm does the copper need to be before I dose the GC? It might be easier to just setup another 10-gallon tank for the GC if it has to be near zero.

Thanks again!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks Guys.


OK, that is a good enough reason for me to go ahead and do this.


That seems a bit dangerous for them to leave out of the instructions. To make sure I understand, you're suggesting the initial dose, and then a second dose 8 days later? Or is it dose, wait 48 hours, dose again per the instructions, and then repeat the two applications 8 days later?

One more question: I have some live rock in the QT tank. I know this is an unusual choice to make, but at the time I made that decision it seemed sound. I expect to have this QT tank running for a year or so as I stock my DT, so I opted to have the nice filtration of the live rock and deal with the fact that it will absorb copper through careful testing and adjustment.

However, it will also leach copper out after I do some water changes to get rid of the copper in the water. How close to zero ppm does the copper need to be before I dose the GC? It might be easier to just setup another 10-gallon tank for the GC if it has to be near zero.

Thanks again!

To simplify - apply initial dosage known as an interval for 8 days, do a water change and do one more 8 day dose interval
Use airstone with prazi as it does reduce both oxygen and appetite. If running a skimmer, leave cup off first 24 hrs as skimmer will go nuts from the glycol solution in Prazi

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Guys.


OK, that is a good enough reason for me to go ahead and do this.


That seems a bit dangerous for them to leave out of the instructions. To make sure I understand, you're suggesting the initial dose, and then a second dose 8 days later? Or is it dose, wait 48 hours, dose again per the instructions, and then repeat the two applications 8 days later?

One more question: I have some live rock in the QT tank. I know this is an unusual choice to make, but at the time I made that decision it seemed sound. I expect to have this QT tank running for a year or so as I stock my DT, so I opted to have the nice filtration of the live rock and deal with the fact that it will absorb copper through careful testing and adjustment.

However, it will also leach copper out after I do some water changes to get rid of the copper in the water. How close to zero ppm does the copper need to be before I dose the GC? It might be easier to just setup another 10-gallon tank for the GC if it has to be near zero.

Thanks again!

The standard dosing for praziquantel is dose 1, then 8 days later dose 2. In some cases with Neobenedenia flukes, 3,4 and even 5 doses, 8 days apart are required.

Their using the two day dose is based on how metronidazole is dosed....

You do not need to get the copper to zero before dosing GC. I know that people have dosed it with copper (I don't like that idea though). Typically, if you do a water change to get the copper level below 50%, you're good to treat with GC.

Jay

 

[rhitee93]

Thanks again guys. I threw a heater in my salt water storage drum tonight, and will do a big water change in the morning in prep to dose GC tomorrow.

 

[rhitee93]

I did a 5 gallon water change this morning which is about 65% of the actual water volume in the qt. I checked the copper about an hour later and it was down to 0.79ppm. I went ahead and dumped in a packet of general cure, and will run to the pet store down the street at lunch to get a small air pump and airstone.

I'll keep checking the copper level to make sure it doesn't climb back up too much.

Had a long chat with my 3 fishy inhabitants that this delay was in their best interest, and that they get to move to the big tank in a couple of weeks. I don't think they cared a bit, but it made me feel better

 

[rhitee93]

OK, 8 days later and I did another water change and added another packed of GC. Next Friday the fish get to go to their forever home