75 days in copper and blue hippo still scratching.

chicago · Nov 20, 2021

Ok.. so this has been discussed before.. but this is nuts... After 40 years of reefing and tank wipe out from ick I know strongly QT all my fish and I dont believe the easy route of anyone saying there is always ick in a tank.. to that end on my DT after tank wipe out I went fallow for a while and any fish I had were treated with Copper outside of my DT. Reintroduced an swore off Blue hippo and powder blue tangs... now a few years later.. no ick and tank is good.. so I have Blue Hippo tang in my 55QT.. so I am not looking to add him to the DT unless I am certain he has no ick... these guys are ick magnets and carriers in my Opinion... so after 75 days plus in a QT tank with copper at levels above 2.. checked with Hanna checker .. this guy has not visible signs of ick.. but he scratches like he has it.. he is eating .. no issues just scraches same spot over and over on the edge of heater..

Thoughts... Humblefish?

Jay Hemdal · Nov 20, 2021

chicago said:
Ok.. so this has been discussed before.. but this is nuts... After 40 years of reefing and tank wipe out from ick I know strongly QT all my fish and I dont believe the easy route of anyone saying there is always ick in a tank.. to that end on my DT after tank wipe out I went fallow for a while and any fish I had were treated with Copper outside of my DT. Reintroduced an swore off Blue hippo and powder blue tangs... now a few years later.. no ick and tank is good.. so I have Blue Hippo tang in my 55QT.. so I am not looking to add him to the DT unless I am certain he has no ick... these guys are ick magnets and carriers in my Opinion... so after 75 days plus in a QT tank with copper at levels above 2.. checked with Hanna checker .. this guy has not visible signs of ick.. but he scratches like he has it.. he is eating .. no issues just scraches same spot over and over on the edge of heater..

Thoughts... Humblefish?

Although I’ve used coppersafe long term (120 days) I generally suggest people restrict their copper treatments to 30 days.
Ultimately though, scratching is more a symptom of flukes than of ich. Sometimes, scratching is behavioral or idiopathic (no apparent reason).
To rule out flukes, a comprehensive praziquantel treatment could be done.
Jay