Current Quarantine Protocol

[Jay Hemdal]

Does the kind of salt used matter for QT? BRS had advised non reef salt to avoid interaction of the Ca, Mg Alk etc with the treatment. Should I only use the 'regular' salt for QT?

Is there any authoritative source is could consult to know whether copper and prazi are safe to use on my fish? I see the warnings on checking if the fish can handle these, but unsure where.

Non-reef salt helps if you are using ionic copper. You can use it with amine-chelated copper, but it is more expensive.

Chelated copper is safe for all typical aquarium fish except sharks, rays and flashlight fish. Eels may go off feed when dosed. Prazi is safe if dosed correctly with good aeration. Some people report issues with wrasses, but many of those reports seem related to poor oxygenation.

I’ve listed some other contraindications here:

Fish treatment variations by species and medication

Fish treatment variations by species and medication Not all fish species are able to be treated with generally used medications. There are some sensitivity issues between species that must be managed. However, sensitivity to a drug can also be seen in different dosages, how the drug is applied...

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[MUHAMMED ZEKİ]

2026 Quarantine Procedures

Jay Hemdal
David Scarborough

Introduction
Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired marine fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before adding the fish to your display tank. This process may not fully control Brooklynella, Uronema, viruses or internal parasites. Those issues however, make up a proportionally much smaller number of disease cases in marine fish.

Options

1) Full quarantine process. 64 days including a 14-day observation period.

2) Two weeks copper (for velvet) followed by 30 days hyposalinity (for ich, flukes, Brooklynella and black ich). 45 days, with 5 days at the end to return from hyposalinity.

3) Combining copper and prazi to reduce the treatment time from 64 days to around 35 days. There is increased stress on the fish for doing this in some cases.


Quarantine tank Requirements:
Tank must be large enough to comfortably handle the number and size of fish for up to 9 weeks.

Tank should have a filtration system that has completed the nitrogen cycle. Canisters, HOB overflow filters, or appropriately sized sponge filters are acceptable.

• The tank should offer clear lateral viewing of the fish, bins and opaque containers that only allow for "top down" viewing are not a good idea to use, since careful observation of the fish is very important.
• The filtration system must not use carbon or other absorbing/adsorbing filtrants (e.g. Polyfilter) that might absorb copper or medication. NO calcareous rock LIVE or DEAD.
• Bare bottom should be used. A saucer with non-calcareous sand can be utilized for wrasses, gobies, blennies or other species which are overly stressed by the bare bottom. Painting the underside of the tank black can also help
• Heater/thermometer
• Removable structure, e.g. PVC pipe may be used to provide hiding places for the fish.
• Ambient light will often be adequate for the QT tank. Avoid using bright reef lights.
• A means to maintain oxygen levels should be available. Air stones and sponge filters are usually adequate. Powerheads may create too much current and they do not aerate well.
• A lid should be used to prevent the fish from jumping out of the tank.
• Set salinity level and temperature to the same levels as in your Display Tank.

1) Full Quarantine Process

Days 1 – 2: Observation - let the fish settle in and determine proper diet.

• Set QT temperature to 78 - 79 degrees F.
• Adjust the salinity to match the value that the fish will be arriving in (if known).
• Acclimate the new fish to the QT:
  • If not done in step above, measure salinity of the water in which the fish arrived.
  • Adjust salinity in QT to within 2 ppt of the salinity of the water in which the fish arrived.
  • Acclimate the fish to the QT gradually over 45 minutes Use aeration. Additonal acclimation information is here: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/acclimation-methods.903/
• Observe the fish for any symptoms which might influence the treatment(s) you should administer.
• Determine if the fish are eating adequately to proceed.

Day 2: Begin Copper Treatment

• Add Coppersafe or copper power to the QT to achieve a concentration of 2.25 ppm over the course of 24 hours. This can be done in two doses 12 hours apart or multiple smaller doses if you prefer. Coppersafe will not be effective until a concentration over 2.0 ppm is present. A target of 2.25 ppm will allow for fluctuations without the risk of falling below the 2.0 ppm threshold. Hanna Copper checker is the most accurate test to use.
• Never use ammonia removing products or other reducing agents (dechlorinator) when dosing copper. Most products bind copper with an amine to reduce toxicity to the fish. Reducing agents risk breaking that bond, releasing free copper that can harm the fish.
• Feed and top off tank water normally.

Days 3 – 32: Continue Copper Treatment

• Monitor copper ppm regularly. If the copper level remains steady day to day, you can test less often, but if the concentration falls below 2.0 ppm, you may need to extend the 30-day count for the copper treatment.
• Monitor water quality parameters as you would for your display tank.
• If the copper or ammonia levels ever exceed guidelines, be prepared to administer water changes (pre dosed with copper) to correct the problem.

Day 34: Copper Done

• Begin copper removal through water changes.
• Binding agents Cuprisorb may be used to hasten the removal process, but work best with ionic copper.
• Carbon is usually too slow or ineffective at removing copper and should not be relied upon without adequate monitoring.

Day 35: Praziquantel Treatment #1

• Confirm copper has been removed adequately to drop the concentration to less than 1 ppm. Copper and Prazi should not be administered simultaneously unless there is suspicion of a severe fluke infection.
• Add Praziquantel to the QT per the dose on the label.
• Ensure the additional oxygenation source is working. This treatment will potentially reduce the oxygen levels within the QT to critical levels without additional air flow.
• Remove carbon or other chemical filtrants. Continuing running any protein skimmers, but don't collect the skimmate, let it run back into the tank. Additional information about dosing praziquantel is found in this file: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/

Day 42, Day 49: Praziquantel Treatment #2, #3

• Add Prazi to the QT per the instructions on the label, 8 days apart. Spacing needed for these treatments is based on killing new flukes hatching from previously laid eggs. The time interval is not well known. A range of 7 to 9 days seems to give the best results.

Day 64: New Fish QT complete

Observe fish for 2 weeks after last prazi dose. Note: many public aquariums do not move fish out of quarantine unless they are in the middle of a full copper treatment. This vastly reduces the risk from Cryptocaryon or Amyloodinium. To use that method, substitute a copper treatment for this 2 week observation period, and move the fish out around day 10.

• Optional - conduct a 5-minute freshwater dip if the fish is of a species particularly susceptible to Neobenedenia flukes. If flukes are detected, reduce QT salinity to 50% and hold for an additional 35 days.
• Confirm salinity and temperature of QT and DT are the same, add fish to DT. No acclimation is required if the two tanks match in these parameters.

2) Modified Quarantine Process with Hyposalinity

This method is faster than the full process, but hyposalinity is less forgiving and some fish are sensitive to it. It does have the added benefit of helping to control Brooklynella in clownfish and black ich turbellarians in tangs.

Days 1 – 2: Observation - let the fish settle in and determine proper diet.

• Set QT temperature to 78 - 79 degrees F.
• Adjust the salinity to match the value that the fish will be arriving in (if known).
• Acclimate the new fish to the QT:
  • If not done in step above, measure salinity of the water in which the fish arrived.
  • Adjust salinity in QT to within 2 ppt of the salinity of the water in which the fish arrived.
  • Acclimate the fish to the QT gradually over 45 minutes Use aeration. Additonal acclimation information is here: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/acclimation-methods.903/
• Observe the fish for any symptoms which might influence the treatment(s) you should administer.
• Determine if the fish are eating adequately to proceed.

Day 2: Begin Copper Treatment

• Add Coppersafe or copper power to the QT to achieve a concentration of 2.25 ppm over the course of 24 hours. This can be done in two doses 12 hours apart or multiple smaller doses if you prefer. Coppersafe will not be effective until a concentration over 2.0 ppm is present. A target of 2.25 ppm will allow for fluctuations without the risk of falling below the 2.0 ppm threshold. Hanna Copper checker is the most accurate test to use.
• Never use ammonia removing products or other reducing agents (dechlorinator) when dosing copper. Most products bind copper with an amine to reduce toxicity to the fish. Reducing agents risk breaking that bond, releasing free copper that can harm the fish.
• Feed and top off tank water normally.

Days 3 – 16: Continue Copper Treatment

• Monitor copper ppm regularly. If the copper level remains steady day to day, you can test less often, but if the concentration falls below 2.0 ppm, you may need to extend the 14-day count for the copper treatment.
• Monitor water quality parameters as you would for your display tank.
• If the copper or ammonia levels ever exceed guidelines, be prepared to administer water changes (pre dosed with copper) to correct the problem.

Day 16: Copper Done, begin hyposalinity. Hold fish at a specific gravity of 1.009 for 30 days and then return to normal salinity over 3 to 5 days. Refer to this file for complete instructions:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hyposalinity.880546/

Day 47: Begin returning tank to normal salinity.

Day 50: Quarantine process completed.



3) Modified Quarantine Process with Overlapping Copper and Prazi

Note: Pure powdered prazi should be used as liquid Prazi products may cause more stress to the fish that is important to minimize since the fish are concurrently being dosed with copper.

Days 1 – 2: Observation - let the fish settle in and determine proper diet.

• Set QT temperature to 78 - 79 degrees F.
• Adjust the salinity to match the value that the fish will be arriving in (if known).
• Acclimate the new fish to the QT:
  • If not done in step above, measure salinity of the water in which the fish arrived.
  • Adjust salinity in QT to within 2 ppt of the salinity of the water in which the fish arrived.
  • Acclimate the fish to the QT gradually over 45 minutes Use aeration. Additonal acclimation information is here: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/acclimation-methods.903/
• Observe the fish for any symptoms which might influence the treatment(s) you should administer.
• Determine if the fish are eating adequately to proceed.

Day 2: Begin Copper Treatment

• Add Coppersafe or copper power to the QT to achieve a concentration of 2.25 ppm over the course of 24 hours. This can be done in two doses 12 hours apart or multiple smaller doses if you prefer. Coppersafe will not be effective until a concentration over 2.0 ppm is present. A target of 2.25 ppm will allow for fluctuations without the risk of falling below the 2.0 ppm threshold. Hanna Copper checker is the most accurate test to use.
• Never use ammonia removing products or other reducing agents (dechlorinator) when dosing copper. Most products bind copper with an amine to reduce toxicity to the fish. Reducing agents risk breaking that bond, releasing free copper that can harm the fish.
• Feed and top off tank water normally.

Days 3 – 32: Continue Copper Treatment and start prazi treatment

• Monitor copper ppm regularly. If the copper level remains steady day to day, you can test less often, but if the concentration falls below 2.0 ppm, you may need to extend the 30-day count for the copper treatment.
• Monitor water quality parameters as you would for your display tank.
• If the copper or ammonia levels ever exceed guidelines, be prepared to administer water changes (pre dosed with copper) to correct the problem.
• On day 7: Add Praziquantel to the QT per the dose on the label.
• Ensure the additional oxygenation source is working. This treatment will potentially reduce the oxygen levels within the QT to critical levels without additional air flow.
• Remove carbon or other chemical filtrants. Continuing running any protein skimmers, but don't collect the skimmate, let it run back into the tank. Additional information about dosing praziquantel is found in this file: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/
• Second prazi dose on day 14 and a third dose on day 23. A 25% water change (treated with copper) should be made prior to each prazi dose.

Day 34: Treatments Done

• Begin copper removal through water changes.
• Binding agents Cuprisorb may be used to hasten the removal process, but work best with ionic copper.
• Carbon is usually too slow or ineffective at removing copper and should not be relied upon without adequate monitoring.
• Confirm salinity and temperature of QT and DT are the same, add fish to DT. No acclimation is required if the two tanks match in these parameters.

***********************************************

General Notes:

Do not use copper or hyposalinity on sharks, rays, some eels or flashlight fish.

Do not use ionic copper products, as these are harsher than amine-chelated products such as Copper Power of Coppersafe.

Wild caught clownfish are prone to Brooklynella, and may need metronidazole or formalin treatments. Other sensitivities towards medications are listed in this file:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-treatment-variations-by-species-and-medication.1078949/

All wild caught fish have a potentially high mortality rate from a variety of other reasons, just be aware that losing fish during this quarantine time can happen.

If the fish appear ill during any quarantine process, the issue needs to be diagnosed in case additional treatment is required. The Fish Medics on Reef2Reef can help you with that, or refer to this file for self-diagnosis:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/self-diagnosis-of-common-marine-fish-diseases.1141555/

I read your message, thank you. I live in Türkiye. Would it be sufficient to give the fish I bought from a local aquarium shop an oxygen and methylene blue bath for 18 days?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I read your message, thank you. I live in Türkiye. Would it be sufficient to give the fish I bought from a local aquarium shop an oxygen and methylene blue bath for 18 days?

Methylene blue does not control marine fish diseases well, if at all.

Your best option, if you cannot get the medications we use in the US would be hyposalinity:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[MUHAMMED ZEKİ]

Metilen mavisi, deniz balıklarındaki hastalıkları kontrol etmede etkili değildir, hatta hiç etkili olmayabilir.

Eğer ABD'de kullandığımız ilaçları temin edemiyorsanız, en iyi seçeneğiniz hiposalinite olacaktır:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2024 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Teşekkür ederim dost

 

[kboogie]

To anyone following this thread. I just posted a major update to our quarantine process on the first page of this thread. Basically, it introduces two other options to the full quarantine method that are equally effective, but take less time. These two methods may be a bit more stressful for some species, but some people seemed more interested in shaving time off of the process......

I'm excited to see that the 34-day process I follow, overlapping Copper and Prazi powder treatments, is now official!!!

I've had great success with this process, as mentioned in the update, it cuts the time in half, while maintaining 99.9% effectiveness.

I hope people apply common sense and choose an option based on the sensitivity of the species.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I'm excited to see that the 34-day process I follow, overlapping Copper and Prazi powder treatments, is now official!!!

I've had great success with this process, as mentioned in the update, it cuts the time in half, while maintaining 99.9% effectiveness.

I hope people apply common sense and choose an option based on the sensitivity of the species.

Just remember when overlapping, it is safer to use plain prazi powder as opposed to prazi in a liquid solvent. In both cases you need to add extra aeration. I would also be careful overlapping with prazipro if you are treating wrasses.

 

[kboogie]

I'm excited to see that the 34-day process I follow, overlapping Copper and Prazi powder treatments, is now official!!!

I've had great success with this process, as mentioned in the update, it cuts the time in half, while maintaining 99.9% effectiveness.

I hope people apply common sense and choose an option based on the sensitivity of the species.

Just remember when overlapping, it is safer to use plain prazi powder as opposed to prazi in a liquid solvent. In both cases you need to add extra aeration. I would also be careful overlapping with prazipro if you are treating wrasses.

Agreed.

 

[Michael Hughes]

Jay, what are your thoughts on adding MetroPlex for species susceptible to brook and Uronema? Worth it? If so, how would you time it during the copper plus prazi approach?

Happy Easter, btw!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Jay, what are your thoughts on adding MetroPlex for species susceptible to brook and Uronema? Worth it? If so, how would you time it during the copper plus prazi approach?

Happy Easter, btw!

There isn’t any truly effective treatment for internal Uronema. Brooklynella is not highly affected by metronidazole at typical doses. I only use metronidazole to treat for suspected internal flagellates, either orally at 1% by weight of the food, or in water at typical doses..

 

[Mac8128]

Jay, I run a nano tank and want to QT 1 fish in the very near future, a Yellow Clown Goby.

I have a 5.5g QT tank setup running a sponge filter. Assuming I empty the QT out and add back exactly 5g of saltwater.......

For those of us that do not have Hanna Copper Checkers and would rather not buy one for a possible one time use, is there a way to add (in two doses spread 12 hours apart) a measured amount of Coppersafe or Copper Power to hit a 2.25ppm?

I see where you note that you should monitor the copper levels while in QT. Sorry for the stupid question, why would the copper levels change in a system with just one fish, a sponge filter and a couple of pieces of pvc fittings? Like I said, I would rather not buy a Hanna Copper Checker, but I will if need be.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Jay, I run a nano tank and want to QT 1 fish in the very near future, a Yellow Clown Goby.

I have a 5.5g QT tank setup running a sponge filter. Assuming I empty the QT out and add back exactly 5g of saltwater.......

For those of us that do not have Hanna Copper Checkers and would rather not buy one for a possible one time use, is there a way to add (in two doses spread 12 hours apart) a measured amount of Coppersafe or Copper Power to hit a 2.25ppm?

I see where you note that you should monitor the copper levels while in QT. Sorry for the stupid question, why would the copper levels change in a system with just one fish, a sponge filter and a couple of pieces of pvc fittings? Like I said, I would rather not buy a Hanna Copper Checker, but I will if need be.

In tanks with no calcium substrate, I have dosed coppersafe without a copper tester, but you need to know the exact water volume, then you need to dose the copper using a pipette or syringe, not a measuring spoon. It makes me nervous flying blind like that though…..

Still, copper can react with the calcium in the seawater, requiring a test and slight adjustment.

Also, it seems that the instructions for copper power are wrong and will dose too low if you don’t test and add a bit extra.

 

[Mac8128]

Thanks Jay for all your work on setting up and keeping your QT procedures updated. I currently have two fish in my QT tank, a Yellow Clown Goby and a Ruby Red Dragonette. My first goal was observation and making sure that they are eating. I have witnessed their eating patterns for about a week now. As of today they both are clearly eating Calanus and the smallest Dki Marine pellets. As I progress thru the QT process, I have been rereading much of this thread. As you recommend, I plan on keeping a QT tank setup at all times. I use a 5g tank with a 10g sized sponge filter. You mentioned in a post that folks could keep the QT tank running long term using a non-aggressive, hardy fish. What fish might you recommend for a QT tank of my size and one that will only see nano sized fish processed thru it. I am going to upgrade to a 40g breeder at some point and I am thinking that I would most likely add (one at a time) a Tailspot Blenny and either a Firefish or Royal Gramma. So I would need a hardy fish in the QT that would get along with them.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay for all your work on setting up and keeping your QT procedures updated. I currently have two fish in my QT tank, a Yellow Clown Goby and a Ruby Red Dragonette. My first goal was observation and making sure that they are eating. I have witnessed their eating patterns for about a week now. As of today they both are clearly eating Calanus and the smallest Dki Marine pellets. As I progress thru the QT process, I have been rereading much of this thread. As you recommend, I plan on keeping a QT tank setup at all times. I use a 5g tank with a 10g sized sponge filter. You mentioned in a post that folks could keep the QT tank running long term using a non-aggressive, hardy fish. What fish might you recommend for a QT tank of my size and one that will only see nano sized fish processed thru it. I am going to upgrade to a 40g breeder at some point and I am thinking that I would most likely add (one at a time) a Tailspot Blenny and either a Firefish or Royal Gramma. So I would need a hardy fish in the QT that would get along with them.

Keeping a QT active depends a bit on how often you expect to use it. If you will be running a new set of fish through the tank within a few weeks, it will be fine with a little "ghost feeding", where you just add a pinch of food every other day or so. Keeping fish in it also works if the time frame is going to be longer, but really, the BEST way to handle longer periods of time is to put the sponge filter into the sump of your DT, to keep it active, then drain and dry the QT. Then, when you need it, just refill the QT, add the seasoned sponge filter and you are good to go. You will sometimes hear that the QT needs to be "sterilized" between uses. That only needs to be done in cases where there was some terrible disease issue that wiped out the fish in the QT for some unidentified reason. In those cases, you need to nuke everything and start over. For cases where the fish came out of the QT fine, there is nothing in the QT that isn't in your DT now that you've added fish to it, so there is no need to sterilize the QT.

 

[Mac8128]

For smaller QT, I prefer to use double sponge filters. Poyfilter will absorb copper, but if you mean polyester "polyfill" that's o.k. to use unless it has flame retardant on it. Bioballs really do not have much surface area for bacteria to grow on. there are inert media like Siporax that work much better.

@Jay Hemdal
Jay, just happened to see this. I run a 5g QT before placing fish into my nano. It has a well seasoned 10g sized sponge filter. I haven't started the Prazipro process yet so wondering if it makes sense to add a second sponge filter. I'm assuming that after some time it would provide a little more of a safety net for Ammonia plus the extra air flow should help during the Prazipro periods. Thoughts?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

@Jay Hemdal
Jay, just happened to see this. I run a 5g QT before placing fish into my nano. It has a well seasoned 10g sized sponge filter. I haven't started the Prazipro process yet so wondering if it makes sense to add a second sponge filter. I'm assuming that after some time it would provide a little more of a safety net for Ammonia plus the extra air flow should help during the Prazipro periods. Thoughts?

Sponge filters take a surprising amount of time to become colonized with bacteria - a month or more. Before that time, they operate as a mechanical filter and aerator.
So - if you won’t be relying on the second sponge for ammonia control, go ahead and add it.

 

[kboogie]

Keeping a QT active depends a bit on how often you expect to use it. If you will be running a new set of fish through the tank within a few weeks, it will be fine with a little "ghost feeding", where you just add a pinch of food every other day or so. Keeping fish in it also works if the time frame is going to be longer, but really, the BEST way to handle longer periods of time is to put the sponge filter into the sump of your DT, to keep it active, then drain and dry the QT. Then, when you need it, just refill the QT, add the seasoned sponge filter and you are good to go. You will sometimes hear that the QT needs to be "sterilized" between uses. That only needs to be done in cases where there was some terrible disease issue that wiped out the fish in the QT for some unidentified reason. In those cases, you need to nuke everything and start over. For cases where the fish came out of the QT fine, there is nothing in the QT that isn't in your DT now that you've added fish to it, so there is no need to sterilize the QT.

What are your thoughts on does ammonium chloride to keep the nitrifying bacteria active during long periods of no fish in QT?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

What are your thoughts on does ammonium chloride to keep the nitrifying bacteria active during long periods of no fish in QT?

It does work, but I’ve had issues with using it long term at high doses. The pH of the tanks would drop and then the bacteria would just shut off. The apparent reason is that dosing only ammonium chloride doesn’t give the bacteria other materials it needs; phosphorus in particular. Ghost feeding keeps those levels up.

I don’t know at what point this issue with JUST dosing ammonium chloride will crop up. You can dose 0.5 ppm ammonia daily for a couple of months with no apparent issue.

 

[kboogie]

It does work, but I’ve had issues with using it long term at high doses. The pH of the tanks would drop and then the bacteria would just shut off. The apparent reason is that dosing only ammonium chloride doesn’t give the bacteria other materials it needs; phosphorus in particular. Ghost feeding keeps those levels up.

I don’t know at what point this issue with JUST dosing ammonium chloride will crop up. You can dose 0.5 ppm ammonia daily for a couple of months with no apparent issue.

in researching the topic of using an artificial ammonia source to feed nitrifying bacteria, I came across a post where Randy mentioned the issue with pH drop and that is why he recommends ammonium carbonate but apparently it is less stable so harder to use. I never thought about the point you make about the bacteria needing other minerals to thrive. That is a great point.

I ask these questions because I have to take down my “QT hotel” that I currently house in my guest bedroom. We have family staying for the celebration (daughter turning 18, her getting her HS diploma, wife getting her masters, wife’s birthday, daughter going to Europe for the summer). They will be here for a month. I was going to put the media and sponge filters in a storage bin in my office and add other unused media I have laying around to be ready for an incident or the need to rapidly setup additional QT space when fish don’t get along and dividers are not appropriate due to space.

 

[kmwcane]

I have completed the 30 day copper and 2 prazi doses in my quarantine tank and decided that I would add copper to therapeutic levels during the 14 day observation period. The fish have been in this second round of copper treatment for 5 days.

Question - I have to leave for a business trip and if I move these fish out of quarantine now it is easier for the person feeding my fish in my absence; are there any major issues with moving the fish now on day 5 of the second copper treatment?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have completed the 30 day copper and 2 prazi doses in my quarantine tank and decided that I would add copper to therapeutic levels during the 14 day observation period. The fish have been in this second round of copper treatment for 5 days.

Question - I have to leave for a business trip and if I move these fish out of quarantine now it is easier for the person feeding my fish in my absence; are there any major issues with moving the fish now on day 5 of the second copper treatment?

Some public aquariums also do that second copper treatment as extra insurance. I normally don’t, but there is no harm in doing it. They often just do 72 hours, so five days is fine.