Brook or Velvet..?

[Humblefish]

How often do you do water changes during the copper treatment? Copper levels are consistent and ammonia is still safe, but the glass walls have a coat of ???. Thinking about cleaning it off and doing a 5-10g water change... Thoughts?

By the way, today is day 23 of copper.

So long as ammonia is zero, I just do water changes in QT on an "as needed" basis. To remove poop/uneaten food from the bottom, to clear cloudy water, basically just to tidy up the QT.

 

[evmibo]

Thanks for the response. The water is a little cloudy and there's a couple things like poop and food that could be vacuumed out. Is it okay to add the copper instantly after adding the new saltwater? Or even as the new water is going in? I was hoping that I wouldn't have to get copper on buckets and pumps outside of the QT.

 

[Humblefish]

Thanks for the response. The water is a little cloudy and there's a couple things like poop and food that could be vacuumed out. Is it okay to add the copper instantly after adding the new saltwater? Or even as the new water is going in? I was hoping that I wouldn't have to get copper on buckets and pumps outside of the QT.

Unfortunately, it is very important for the Cu level to remain stable and never fluctuate. So, I would recommend mixing any copper with the replacement water in a bucket to ensure the therapeutic level remains constant.

 

[evmibo]

Okay thanks. 5g change today.

 

[Kyl]

So helpful! Thank you so much! Ill probably have some more questions soon ;)

I'm QT'ing everything now. I've always been too lazy because I've honestly just gotten lucky for the last 8 years. A loss like this makes me realize how worth it it actually is...

Seems to be a lot of velvet going around lately in some of the forums/fb groups I peruse. Glad you managed to save some, I was lucky and saved five of seven in January. As HF noted since you're removing them to run fallow, might as well run fallow for 76 days and clean out any potential crypto in there too.

 

[evmibo]

@Humblefish
@melypr1985

Today is day 31, and copper has been stable at 1.5-2.0ppm.

Time to make the transition to antibiotics (metronidazole and kanaplex).

Iirc waterchanges, and running carbon to get Cu out before running the antibiotics, correct?

Dose both antibiotics together, or separately?

I will likely go over the 76 day mark, probably 80-85 before the fish go back to DT.

 

[Humblefish]

Iirc waterchanges, and running carbon to get Cu out before running the antibiotics, correct?

Using a poly filter would be more effective than running carbon.

Dose both antibiotics together, or separately?

Together

 

[evmibo]

Okay I'll get a poly filter going asap, will probably do another water change too, except with no copper in the new water this time...

Once copper is at zero and the poly filter is removed I'll begin antibiotics. Then just cruise control until day ~80. Sound good? Should I anticipate on dosing metronidazole more than once? I have 10 x 250mg pills, so was planning on doing 500mg (QT tank is 30g).

Will just follow the kanaplex directions, which I haven't looked at yet tbh.

Anything else I need to take into consideration here, or something I may be missing? Thanks again for all of the help :).

 

[Humblefish]

@evmibo I would dose metro every 48 hrs for 10 days, same as Kanaplex.

 

[evmibo]

So should I have gotten more than 1 poly filter? It's been in for about 3 days, all blue but copper is still above 1ppm. How long should it take for the copper to be taken out of the water/how many filters are typically needed?

Thanks again for all of the help. Fish are good still!

 

[Brew12]

So should I have gotten more than 1 poly filter? It's been in for about 3 days, all blue but copper is still above 1ppm. How long should it take for the copper to be taken out of the water/how many filters are typically needed?

Thanks again for all of the help. Fish are good still!

So glad your fish are doing well!

Its hard to say how many filters it will take. That really depends on water changes and the size of the tank. Since you are using a larger QT it isn't surprising that you need more than 1 filter. Especially if you didn't do a large water change prior to adding the filter.

 

[evmibo]

Okay I'll pickup another filter and do a WC too. After copper is out I'll do the 10 day antibiotic run with both metro and kanaplex.

 

[Brew12]

Okay I'll pickup another filter and do a WC too. After copper is out I'll do the 10 day antibiotic run with both metro and kanaplex.

I would pick up 2 more filters. ;)

Not only are they great for removing copper but I believe they are the best product to use if you ever have a heater or pump fail and put contaminants in your water. I feel they are more effective at removing heavy metals than GAC. Its a nice insurance policy to have.

 

[evmibo]

DAY 80!

I officially love poly filters! That being said it did take longer than expected to get my copper levels down to zero, even with a couple water changes. Unfortunately, my yellowfin fairy wrasse stopped eating one day as the copper levels were being brought back to zero, he declined quickly, before I could start metro and kana. I assuming there was some type of infection, or potentially copper persisted for too long?

Currently, the foxface and pink streak wrasse are happy, fat and looking great. I have 2 more doses of metro and kana.

In hindsight, I would setup a different tank immediately after the copper is finished to start the antibiotics right away. There's been a learning curve here...

Question: after I get these two guys back into the display next week (very excited by the way) and want to start rebuilding my fish population. Is it advised to send fish through a mandatory freshwater dip, followed by a copper treatment before they go into the display? I want to ensure something like this doesn't happen again...

 

[Brew12]

DAY 80!

I officially love poly filters! That being said it did take longer than expected to get my copper levels down to zero, even with a couple water changes. Unfortunately, my yellowfin fairy wrasse stopped eating one day as the copper levels were being brought back to zero, he declined quickly, before I could start metro and kana. I assuming there was some type of infection, or potentially copper persisted for too long?

Currently, the foxface and pink streak wrasse are happy, fat and looking great. I have 2 more doses of metro and kana.

In hindsight, I would setup a different tank immediately after the copper is finished to start the antibiotics right away. There's been a learning curve here...

Question: after I get these two guys back into the display next week (very excited by the way) and want to start rebuilding my fish population. Is it advised to send fish through a mandatory freshwater dip, followed by a copper treatment before they go into the display? I want to ensure something like this doesn't happen again...

I'm sorry you lost the yellowfin but it sounds like everything is doing much better. Congrats!

I believe every fish should go through copper or CP before going into a DT. Too many parasites in the distribution chain right now. I normally dose Prazipro instead of a FW dip. At the very least I would do a FW dip when I buy a fish to check for flukes and again prior to putting them in my DT.

Just as an FYI, if you have a 2 QT setup you can treat with copper for 10 days and move them into a clean QT. Then you can treat them with whatever else they need or just observe them for a few weeks. The extra time in the copper is only needed to kill the tomonts.

 

[evmibo]

So I think prazipro dose (2), then 1.5-2.0ppm coppersafe (30 days?) in 1 QT will be the easier route for me in this case. (I read the opening post here for prazipro, have never used it before, I will take caution with wrasses)

The next time I need to dose coppersafe followed by antibiotics (assuming antibiotics won't be needed with new, healthy looking fish) I would use the 2QT method since getting rid of the copper proved to take longer than I would have liked. So can I/should I drain + clean the tank and all equipment and then reuse the same tank? Is copper leaching back into it at a concerning level really going to be an issue since I'll be putting it coppersafe into it again anyway?

Thanks again and again for guiding me through these procedures! :)

 

[melypr1985]

So can I/should I drain + clean the tank and all equipment and then reuse the same tank?

Yes, absolutely clean and sterilize the QT before setting it up with new fish. Here's how to sterilize a QT:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/video-how-to-sterilize-a-quarantine-tank.201/

 

[A sea K]

Hello evmibo, Its been quite some time. Sorry to hear about your fish but I hope you have been well.
I've stumbled onto this thread as I am going through the same issue, lost most of my fish but 3 flasher wrasses, a single firefish and my marine betta all seem to be pretty much unaffected.
Spent the weekend setting up a second QT system as initially I thought my problem was flukes and I actually got some fish from the LFS as replacements (foolishly thinking all would be well after a couple of rounds of Prazi in the DT) and they are in my initial QT tank.
Sounds like a long battle is ahead and I do not feel well prepared but I am gaining knowledge quickly.

 

[evmibo]

Day 84

The lucky ones (the foxface and the pink streak wrasse) will be going back into the display on day 86, Friday! I will begin to break down the QT and begin cleaning procedure, and I will order new fish soon!!

Yes, absolutely clean and sterilize the QT before setting it up with new fish. Here's how to sterilize a QT:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/video-how-to-sterilize-a-quarantine-tank.201/

Thanks for the link :)

Hello evmibo, Its been quite some time. Sorry to hear about your fish but I hope you have been well.
I've stumbled onto this thread as I am going through the same issue, lost most of my fish but 3 flasher wrasses, a single firefish and my marine betta all seem to be pretty much unaffected.
Spent the weekend setting up a second QT system as initially I thought my problem was flukes and I actually got some fish from the LFS as replacements (foolishly thinking all would be well after a couple of rounds of Prazi in the DT) and they are in my initial QT tank.
Sounds like a long battle is ahead and I do not feel well prepared but I am gaining knowledge quickly.

Yes it has! Good to hear from you.

Peace of mind is worth it for me. I'm at a point in the hobby where I find rushing anything more stressful, and less rewarding.

I'm about 99.5% sure that these two fish will be completely clean once they go back into the display. And then with all new arrivals going through two doses of Prazi + 30 days of Coppersafe I'll feel pretty darn confident too.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Hello evmibo, Its been quite some time. Sorry to hear about your fish but I hope you have been well.
I've stumbled onto this thread as I am going through the same issue, lost most of my fish but 3 flasher wrasses, a single firefish and my marine betta all seem to be pretty much unaffected.
Spent the weekend setting up a second QT system as initially I thought my problem was flukes and I actually got some fish from the LFS as replacements (foolishly thinking all would be well after a couple of rounds of Prazi in the DT) and they are in my initial QT tank.
Sounds like a long battle is ahead and I do not feel well prepared but I am gaining knowledge quickly.

If you need any help, feel free to start a treatment thread to ask advice :) Lots of good stickies in the disease and treatment forum as well!