Dead mimic tang and othe fish breathing rapidly

[JAC-]

The best way to measure copper is with the Hanna Checker. The worst way is with the API kit.

I'm worried about your plan because if it IS velvet, the fish won't last 5 days.

Looking for gill flukes in dip water requires a microscope, fill flukes are tiny. They end up looking like little balls of snot, I often miss them myself.

Jay

Got it, thankfully I know where I can get a Hanna for copper tomorrow and I have an aquarium emergency budget set aside.

Getting a new tank going now.


New plan,

Remove what fish are practical to catch and FW dip them on the way to the new tank.

New tank will be dossed with copper and monitored closely for cycle. Think I have enough bacteria laden things to instacycle the tank.

Dose current tank with PraziPro.

See what works and repeat it on the other tank.

Again, thanks for the help. Feedback is always welcome. I've seen @Jay Hemdal and @vetteguy53081 's posts many times and learned a lot from you guys. Thanks for doing what you guys do.

 

[JAC-]

Update,

I'll be putting fish in the QT / Medical tank with copper in just a moment. I was able to get Cupramine (claims it's effective against Oodinium) and a seachem copper test.

Last night I dosed the PraziPro in the display tank, added an air stone, and moved the power heads closer to the top of the water.

When I arrived home a few moments ago, all the fish were looking much better. No rapid breathing, and back to normal swimming around the tank. That said, I now see three or four very tiny white or tan spots on the powder blue tang and two on the longnose butterfly. I'll try and get a picture up to follow.

I'm interpreting this as velvet based on the previous symptoms and descriptions provided and highly thankfull that it appears to be mild at the moment.

I suppose it is possible I had flukes and velvet, but I am attributing the positive signs to the increased available oxygen and placing that scar of a feather in my cap for the next time I see an warning signs of disease. I'll also be working to generally increase available oxygen in my water for the long term as an improvement.

Thanks again for the assistance. I will continue to update as this progresses.

 

[JAC-]

Sort update, it's been a whirlwind. All fish in the copper treatment are doing well, surprising for all of them being crammed in a 40 gallon. No rapid breathing, all fish are still eating, I no longer see any spots on any of the fish though that seems early to me.

My initial dose of the cupramine should have put me at .25 mg/L copper my seachem test showed non-detected I have a small amount of sand in the tank so it is likely absorbing it. I highly recommend anyone look elsewhere for a copper test. My readsea NH3/NH4 (ammonia/ammonium) test read .8 which sent me into a panic, because I can't use prime or any other kind of binder with the cupramine.

Thankfully after hours of water changes and only reducing it two .2, my knowledge of copper and test kits has now vastly expanded. With the fish having not shown any signs of ammonia toxicity or stress I am feeling comfortable enough to get a few hours of sleep before work tomorrow.

Never repeating the failure to quarantine again.

I have a lot more to learn, but this experience has at the least taught me much.

Happy reefing friends,