Current Quarantine Protocol

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Im not asking to cut QT short, im just saying given certain fish are sensitive to copper is there any drawbacks to easing into copper over a period of 2 to 3 days rather than hitting 2.25ppm in under 24 hours.

If you are using amine chelated copper, you don’t need to ramp up slowly, that’s old advice from using ionic copper.

You just need to add it in controlled portions in order to reach a proper dose - that takes most folks 24 hours.

LFS acclimate fish right into full copper all the time.

 

[EricR]

This is probably a silly question and may have been covered before but couldn't find it so...

What's the longest the "free swimming" stage of ich/velvet/brook/other? could live on a dry surface?

I'm thinking in terms of equipment, like conductivity probe that you use in QT, then rinse with freshwater and dry, then want to put back into normal (non-QT) use.
*dry out is likely critical but then are we talking minutes/hours or is there some survival method whereby some infectious parasite could still be problematic longer than that?

EDIT -- my question relates to fishless, invert QT so no chance (I think) of tomonts/trophonts on the equipment in question

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

This is probably a silly question and may have been covered before but couldn't find it so...

What's the longest the "free swimming" stage of ich/velvet/brook/other? could live on a dry surface?

I'm thinking in terms of equipment, like conductivity probe that you use in QT, then rinse with freshwater and dry, then want to put back into normal (non-QT) use.
*dry out is likely critical but then are we talking minutes/hours or is there some survival method whereby some infectious parasite could still be problematic longer than that?

EDIT -- my question relates to fishless, invert QT so no chance (I think) of tomonts/trophonts on the equipment in question

24 hours of total dryness will kill ALL reproductive stages of marine protozoans. Even fluke eggs cannot survive drying like that. Here is the issue though - seawater is hydroscopic - it doesn't dry out well. You need to rinse/soak off ALL of the seawater with fresh water, and then completely dry the material for 24 hours. This is especially important with porous surfaces like rock and sand.

 

[huthain]

24 hours of total dryness will kill ALL reproductive stages of marine protozoans. Even fluke eggs cannot survive drying like that. Here is the issue though - seawater is hydroscopic - it doesn't dry out well. You need to rinse/soak off ALL of the seawater with fresh water, and then completely dry the material for 24 hours. This is especially important with porous surfaces like rock and sand.

Jay is copper power effective at above 2.0? Is the 2.25 just a buffer so you dont over dose or under dose as well as to account for testing errors?
Im currently running 2 tanks one qt 2.20 and other at 2.18, is that sufficient or does it need to be bumped up?

I also have a bucket for water changes at 2.35

On a side note are these dots normal on a juvenile-ish Naso

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Jay is copper power effective at above 2.0? Is the 2.25 just a buffer so you dont over dose or under dose as well as to account for testing errors?
Im currently running 2 tanks one qt 2.20 and other at 2.18, is that sufficient or does it need to be bumped up?

I also have a bucket for water changes at 2.35

On a side note are these dots normal on a juvenile-ish Naso

Correct - the 2.25 dose is to allow for variation in testing methods. For moderate active infections I often dose at 2.5, but I'm confident that my testing is accurate. We've found that around 2 ppm, copper power takes longer to cure and sometimes fails.

 

[huthain]

Correct - the 2.25 dose is to allow for variation in testing methods. For moderate active infections I often dose at 2.5, but I'm confident that my testing is accurate. We've found that around 2 ppm, copper power takes longer to cure and sometimes fails.

My hippo and sohal seel to have some white spots should i just keep it within the range that I have it on right now or try to bump it up a notch

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

My hippo and sohal seel to have some white spots should i just keep it within the range that I have it on right now or try to bump it up a notch

You're fine at that level - your water change water ill bump it up a little at the next water change.

 

[huthain]

You're fine at that level - your water change water ill bump it up a little at the next water change.

Appreciate you

 

[huthain]

You're fine at that level - your water change water ill bump it up a little at the next water change.

Jay one of my tangs is scratching on the sand (non calcerous) while in full cooper treatment, I dont see any white spots so maybe its flukes in his gill? Do I rush to prazi or do I finish copper and then get to prazi? Im on day 7 of 30 cooper at the moment.

Thanks

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Jay one of my tangs is scratching on the sand (non calcerous) while in full cooper treatment, I dont see any white spots so maybe its flukes in his gill? Do I rush to prazi or do I finish copper and then get to prazi? Im on day 7 of 30 cooper at the moment.

Thanks

That’s a tough question - if the fish isn’t scratching too much and not breathing fast and is feeding well, I’d finish the copper before running prazi.

 

[huthain]

That’s a tough question - if the fish isn’t scratching too much and not breathing fast and is feeding well, I’d finish the copper before running prazi.

I didnt notice rapid breathing and its got a great appetite too!

 

[huthain]

Hey @Jay Hemdal my blue tang died in one of my QT tanks do I have to restart from day 1 for copper or do I stay on day 8?
He did show signs of ich at a point not sure if thats what got him? He was eating well but did have a pinched belly so perhaps combination of ich and parasites?

 

[huthain]

Unfortunately I suspect ammonia was high in my tank, I had 3 other fish that were refusing to eat. I was banking on the seachem alert sadly it seems its not the most reliable. I did a 60% water change for now with copper at the same level. Hoping the fish will recover from this

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hey @Jay Hemdal my blue tang died in one of my QT tanks do I have to restart from day 1 for copper or do I stay on day 8?
He did show signs of ich at a point not sure if thats what got him? He was eating well but did have a pinched belly so perhaps combination of ich and parasites?

You won’t need to restart the copper, sounds like the tang had multiple issues like you supposed.

I generally tell folks to run copper for 30 past the point when ich spots were seen on any fish in the tank.

 

[winxp_man]

Hey @Jay Hemdal my blue tang died in one of my QT tanks do I have to restart from day 1 for copper or do I stay on day 8?
He did show signs of ich at a point not sure if thats what got him? He was eating well but did have a pinched belly so perhaps combination of ich and parasites?

Ich will not make a fish not eat especially if you have the fish in copper. That is unless it’s ich infestation on the fish. Flukes will cause that and ammonia could also. Depending on your QT tank setup, how long you had the fish in QT and so on can effect the fishes eating. Pinched belly sounds like it’s been days without food.

Some things to keep in mind about QT. How the fish is swimming, breathing, eating, even reacting to light, wanting to hide or shy and entire time in QT, (this one can be fish based also), and these are things to keep in mind that even in a regular tank.

The naso I saw in the pic above could also be showing stress markers. Have seen this in them when in holding tanks, or QT. BUT can also be fluke cones, or ich cones. The cones are markers where a diseases emerges and drops off from on the body of the fish.

How did you setup your QT tank? Aeration in good amount? Dosing of bacteria? Keeping water clean?

As for the ammonia badge, just so you know, once you touch it it’s pretty much shot from what I know.

 

[huthain]

Ich will not make a fish not eat especially if you have the fish in copper. That is unless it’s ich infestation on the fish. Flukes will cause that and ammonia could also. Depending on your QT tank setup, how long you had the fish in QT and so on can effect the fishes eating. Pinched belly sounds like it’s been days without food.

Some things to keep in mind about QT. How the fish is swimming, breathing, eating, even reacting to light, wanting to hide or shy and entire time in QT, (this one can be fish based also), and these are things to keep in mind that even in a regular tank.

The naso I saw in the pic above could also be showing stress markers. Have seen this in them when in holding tanks, or QT. BUT can also be fluke cones, or ich cones. The cones are markers where a diseases emerges and drops off from on the body of the fish.

How did you setup your QT tank? Aeration in good amount? Dosing of bacteria? Keeping water clean?

As for the ammonia badge, just so you know, once you touch it it’s pretty much shot from what I know.

So im running 2 seperate qt tanks one seems to be doing great this one not so much.
Parameters are
Salinity 1.026
Copper 2.2

I have 2 ammonia badges now never made contact with the sensors. Both showing alert even though i did a 80% water change if not more.

I have a seachem tidal running with matrix thats been in my 1 year old tank for 2 months. I have 2 large sponge filters that were in my main tank seeding for 2 months and they are heavily aerating the tank. Temp is stable at 25c.

Up until yesterday all the fish were eating very very well including the blue that passed. Now my hawkfish and naso didnt eat. My sohal and foxface ate a bit so did my cleaner wrasse this morning which is when I rushed to a large water change.

Im using aqua medic salt which is fish only but it mixes very poorly sadly which has left a lot of precipitation at the bottom im attaching pics but the hawkfish seems to have some of the debris from the water change stuck to his slime coat because it wasn't there before the new water was added.

 

[huthain]

The naso is looking really bad dont know what i can do. Should I go buy prime? Will it go OK with copper power?

 

[huthain]

@winxp_man help :( I dont want to do something drastic but dont want to lose anymore fish

 

[huthain]

That’s a tough question - if the fish isn’t scratching too much and not breathing fast and is feeding well, I’d finish the copper before running prazi.

Jay would prime be ok with the copper power and for later on with prazipro liquid form

 

[winxp_man]

Jay would prime be ok with the copper power and for later on with prazipro liquid form

The consensus on this form is it does help much. Beyond a day or just hours and ammonia is right back and possibly even higher once prime is gone. Ammonia is not going anywhere with prime, is just gets coated for a moment when prime is used.

With all this said, a WC is your best best and dose bacteria. I have personally tried prime almost two years ago and nothing worked in the QT tank at the time. I resorted to simply doing WC’s.