Advice on wrasse quarantine procedure

[1fastfxr]

Hello everyone. So I just bought my first wrasse's, a carpenter's flasher wrasse and a splendid pintail. I have qt'd everything that has gone into my tank thus far (fish, corals, and inverts). My question is for those of us that do qt, how do you do it for wrasse? I have prophylaticaly treated all of my current fish with Copper Power and Metroplex in the water column followed by 2 doses of PraziPro and food soaked in Metroplex and Kanaplex bound by Focus. I know that wrasse can be especially delicate. Some say if treating with copper only Copper Power should be used. If so what concentration should the tank be held at (is 2.5 ppm still ok)? Other's, including one of my lfs's says don't even think of using copper. If copper isn't an option what about using ParaGuard instead? Is it effective? I've also heard people say they come out of copper just fine and die during the Prazipro treatment. Is General Cure safer to use on wrasse than PraziPro? What are your experiences and recommendations? Any and all advice is really appreciated. I DO NOT want to kill these little guys by quarantining using the wrong not wrasse safe products.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello everyone. So I just bought my first wrasse's, a carpenter's flasher wrasse and a splendid pintail. I have qt'd everything that has gone into my tank thus far (fish, corals, and inverts). My question is for those of us that do qt, how do you do it for wrasse? I have prophylaticaly treated all of my current fish with Copper Power and Metroplex in the water column followed by 2 doses of PraziPro and food soaked in Metroplex and Kanaplex bound by Focus. I know that wrasse can be especially delicate. Some say if treating with copper only Copper Power should be used. If so what concentration should the tank be held at (is 2.5 ppm still ok)? Other's, including one of my lfs's says don't even think of using copper. If copper isn't an option what about using ParaGuard instead? Is it effective? I've also heard people say they come out of copper just fine and die during the Prazipro treatment. Is General Cure safer to use on wrasse than PraziPro? What are your experiences and recommendations? Any and all advice is really appreciated. I DO NOT want to kill these little guys by quarantining using the wrong not wrasse safe products.

Those fish are tough to quarantine but copper power and then a properly done prazi treatment is still your best bet. Skip the metro in the food, unless you take the time to dose them properly (0.5 % in gelatin food or focus).
I’ve had poor results curing issues with marine fish using Paraguard but it works well with FW fish.
Jay

 

[i cant think]

Hello everyone. So I just bought my first wrasse's, a carpenter's flasher wrasse and a splendid pintail. I have qt'd everything that has gone into my tank thus far (fish, corals, and inverts). My question is for those of us that do qt, how do you do it for wrasse? I have prophylaticaly treated all of my current fish with Copper Power and Metroplex in the water column followed by 2 doses of PraziPro and food soaked in Metroplex and Kanaplex bound by Focus. I know that wrasse can be especially delicate. Some say if treating with copper only Copper Power should be used. If so what concentration should the tank be held at (is 2.5 ppm still ok)? Other's, including one of my lfs's says don't even think of using copper. If copper isn't an option what about using ParaGuard instead? Is it effective? I've also heard people say they come out of copper just fine and die during the Prazipro treatment. Is General Cure safer to use on wrasse than PraziPro? What are your experiences and recommendations? Any and all advice is really appreciated. I DO NOT want to kill these little guys by quarantining using the wrong not wrasse safe products.

I personally would throw any wrasse straight into the DT. I know people disagree with this move however it has the least amount of stress on them and they can thrive in an established tank that has plenty of natural food for them.

I have never QTed, yes this may come back at me some day however so far it’s been around 10-12 years of being in this hobby (Even when I was in the LFS I rarely used QT, I would let them heal over time). Remember, if it’s a thriving fish then your chances of them dying due to ich is less likely. In the wild they don’t have any of these medications, but they do have a healthy diet and stable parameters the majority of the time.

 

[Peng1606]

Hello everyone. So I just bought my first wrasse's, a carpenter's flasher wrasse and a splendid pintail. I have qt'd everything that has gone into my tank thus far (fish, corals, and inverts). My question is for those of us that do qt, how do you do it for wrasse? I have prophylaticaly treated all of my current fish with Copper Power and Metroplex in the water column followed by 2 doses of PraziPro and food soaked in Metroplex and Kanaplex bound by Focus. I know that wrasse can be especially delicate. Some say if treating with copper only Copper Power should be used. If so what concentration should the tank be held at (is 2.5 ppm still ok)? Other's, including one of my lfs's says don't even think of using copper. If copper isn't an option what about using ParaGuard instead? Is it effective? I've also heard people say they come out of copper just fine and die during the Prazipro treatment. Is General Cure safer to use on wrasse than PraziPro? What are your experiences and recommendations? Any and all advice is really appreciated. I DO NOT want to kill these little guys by quarantining using the wrong not wrasse safe products.

Have quarantined multiple wrasses (leopards, red fin, pintail, solorensis, orange back, carpenters) using copper power up to 2.2 without issues.
My red fin is huge and started killing all other wrasses recently except the leopards so at moment can’t add any other wrasse except leopards.

 

[1fastfxr]

@Jay Hemdal and @Peng1606. Thanks for your advice guys. After more research I have decided to try dosing General Cure. Then 6 days later doing a 5 gallon water change and doing GC again. 6 days after that I will do another 5 gallon water change and ramp Copper Power up to 1.75 to 2.0 ppm over a 5-7 day period. After 30 days in copper (if all goes well) I will do another water change and add Cupramine to the HOB. Then I will observe for at least a week. Does this sound like a plan? I also have another question. My qt is rated at 20 gallon, which actually holds 16. Can I use 2 full packs of GC per dose? Or do I use one and one half packs per dose?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

@Jay Hemdal and @Peng1606. Thanks for your advice guys. After more research I have decided to try dosing General Cure. Then 6 days later doing a 5 gallon water change and doing GC again. 6 days after that I will do another 5 gallon water change and ramp Copper Power up to 1.75 to 2.0 ppm over a 5-7 day period. After 30 days in copper (if all goes well) I will do another water change and add Cupramine to the HOB. Then I will observe for at least a week. Does this sound like a plan? I also have another question. My qt is rated at 20 gallon, which actually holds 16. Can I use 2 full packs of GC per dose? Or do I use one and one half packs per dose?

I prefer to go copper first, then prazi/GC. Also, don't take 5 to 7 days to ramp up copper, that is always a mistake. The issue is that protozoans are the most common killer of new marine fish and you need to use copper first and then worry about flukes (prazi/GC).

This whole thing about "ramping up copper slowly" is completely wrong - it is based on using the old copper/citric acid medication that needed to be ramped up over 48 hours. This got misapplied to the new copper products and lengthened to 5-7 days. Trouble is, fish often die from protozoan diseases in the time it takes. Remember, copper takes 3 days to work, so it can be 10 days to control - too long!

Many dealers, and myself often end up putting fish right into full copper - no issues. What IS an issue is not dosing it accurately. You should use a Hanna high range probe, or at least a good copper test kit. Add a partial dose, test it and then add the second part of the dose and test again.

Jay

 

[DeadEnd]

I prefer to go copper first, then prazi/GC. Also, don't take 5 to 7 days to ramp up copper, that is always a mistake. The issue is that protozoans are the most common killer of new marine fish and you need to use copper first and then worry about flukes (prazi/GC).

This whole thing about "ramping up copper slowly" is completely wrong - it is based on using the old copper/citric acid medication that needed to be ramped up over 48 hours. This got misapplied to the new copper products and lengthened to 5-7 days. Trouble is, fish often die from protozoan diseases in the time it takes. Remember, copper takes 3 days to work, so it can be 10 days to control - too long!

Many dealers, and myself often end up putting fish right into full copper - no issues. What IS an issue is not dosing it accurately. You should use a Hanna high range probe, or at least a good copper test kit. Add a partial dose, test it and then add the second part of the dose and test again.

Jay

Even for wrasse's? I thought people preferred to slowly raise copper because of their sensitivity to it?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Even for wrasse's? I thought people preferred to slowly raise copper because of their sensitivity to it?

That only applies to ionic copper meds. Coppersafe and copper power don’t have that issue. Slow ramp ups just allow disease to gain a foothold. I do suggest people add it in two doses, over 12 to 24 hours, with testing in between, but that is just to ensure accurate dosing.
Jay

 

[DeadEnd]

That only applies to ionic copper meds. Coppersafe and copper power don’t have that issue. Slow ramp ups just allow disease to gain a foothold. I do suggest people add it in two doses, over 12 to 24 hours, with testing in between, but that is just to ensure accurate dosing.
Jay

Ah! That makes sense. And you keep CP at 2.5 ppm or lower? I am tryint to figure out what to do with the two wrasse's I just got. I am also considering TTM method. Any recommendations other than what you have already pointed out?

Thanks

 

[1fastfxr]

Again, I am very inexperienced. But that's why i elected to use mollies. If either the wrasse showed signs of ich or velvet, or the mollies "hit" while the wrasse showed nothing I would have ramped Copper Power up faster than 7 days. Since neither did I took a week since I agree that wrasse are sensitive to copper. The one thing I would have done different is if there were no indications of disease, I would have treated with GC in the water column before copper because wrasse are noted to have flukes.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Ah! That makes sense. And you keep CP at 2.5 ppm or lower? I am tryint to figure out what to do with the two wrasse's I just got. I am also considering TTM method. Any recommendations other than what you have already pointed out?

Thanks

I run both of those copper meds at 2.4 to 2.5 ppm (using a good testing device). TTM is pretty rough on wrasse due to the moving and bare buckets. It also is mainly designed to work for marine ich, and even with modifications, falls short for direct living protozoans.

Jay

 

[Dave1993]

I personally would throw any wrasse straight into the DT. I know people disagree with this move however it has the least amount of stress on them and they can thrive in an established tank that has plenty of natural food for them.

I have never QTed, yes this may come back at me some day however so far it’s been around 10-12 years of being in this hobby (Even when I was in the LFS I rarely used QT, I would let them heal over time). Remember, if it’s a thriving fish then your chances of them dying due to ich is less likely. In the wild they don’t have any of these medications, but they do have a healthy diet and stable parameters the majority of the time.

i would do this as i don't QT either i do have ich in my tank but it doesn't bother my fish

 

[nereefpat]

Wrasses are fairly resistant to external parasites, but that's a double edged sword. They can be a Typhoid Mary for those parasites, introducing and infecting your other fish in the display. They also regularly have internal parasites. Just FYI.