Hi guys, this is my first post here. I’ve been reading up on the forums quite a lot lately, mostly because my 110g DT came down with what looked like an ich invasion. I’ve had this tank up and running for over a year. I wanted to ramp things up slowly so I started off with the basics, just love rock, sand and some chromis/shrimp/snails. Eventually I got a couple more fish, a pair of clowns, blenny and a firefish.
Just recently, I got a —powder blue tang—...flame angel and cardinalfish on July 1st. I bought it from an online retailer that states they quarantine their fish. Of course, they still recommend additional quarantine. I didn’t think I had the space and or wanted to convince my wife to store another tank in our home...
So about two weeks in, despite the fish eating well, nori/pellets/frozen mysis, the powder blue came down with what I think is ick. A couple of bright white spots, mostly on the fins then eventually scattered on the body. Then it started to show on the angel. I thought i’d try the “natural” and easier route...feeding them well with garlic guard drenched food. They ate it up but the parasite persisted.
So I had to do what was necessary, last week I bought a 40 gallon long QT and set it up as recommended by most sites except with the exception of maybe a thimble full of sand that dropped in when I was transferring the fish. I used a sock from my DT sump, and some of the DT water along with some bottled nitrifying bacteria to settle my tank asap so I could start dosing Cupramine. Obviously my first mistake was not putting fish into QT initially, then waiting so long trying the garlic method...then lastly and perhaps it didn’t matter in the end, but I waited five days until dosing to make sure the fish were comfortable in the QT. I started dosing yesterday(mostly because I found my royal gramma dead despite it eating well and not showing any tell-tale signs), getting the copper level to .26, using the hanna copper checker to verify. This morning I woke up to my powder blue and blenny dead. One of my clownfish and the angel look worse for wear and appear to have labored breathing though are still swimming around and eating. Instead of waiting another 24 hours, I added 1/4 dose just now and plan on reaching the required .50 ppm dose tomorrow night. Hopefully this saves them but I have my doubts. I plan on keeping my DT fallow until November 1st.
A couple questions. I should keep the required dose for two weeks? I would like to get a couple more fish to complete my tank and would prefer to have them all go through QT at the same time, so the fish I have now don’t have to sit through another copper dose and I can observe and verify all their health together before placing them back in the DT. Is it a bad idea to place fish from the store directly into a tank that has the therapeutic dose of copper? I’m thinking since most tanks in the store have some level of copper in the system it won’t be a complete shock to their system. Also, is it possible that what I thought was ick, is actually velvet since my fish seemed to die somewhat suddenly despite eating well, moving well. The clown and angel appear to look different then what the angel and tang appeared to have in my DT, or maybe that is just the lighting. Treatment is the same just more urgent in velvets case. If I suspect velvet then putting just bought fish in the QT with therapeutic copper is probably a bad idea?
I wish fish shops were more forthcoming when it comes to quarantine. WhenI purchased my fish and tank at the store spending a couple of grand of an investment and asking what was necessary to start this hobby, not once did they mention QT and that I would need to purchase another tank just to make sure the fish were healthy and to treat them otherwise. I’m surprised stores don’t ensure fish are disease free themselves as it’s kind of weird to purchase animals that are quite possibly contagious and dangerous to your entire livestock. Seems odd to me.
Anyway, any recommendations or comments would be appreciated. I know I can ramble a bit so apologies for that.
Just recently, I got a —powder blue tang—...flame angel and cardinalfish on July 1st. I bought it from an online retailer that states they quarantine their fish. Of course, they still recommend additional quarantine. I didn’t think I had the space and or wanted to convince my wife to store another tank in our home...
So about two weeks in, despite the fish eating well, nori/pellets/frozen mysis, the powder blue came down with what I think is ick. A couple of bright white spots, mostly on the fins then eventually scattered on the body. Then it started to show on the angel. I thought i’d try the “natural” and easier route...feeding them well with garlic guard drenched food. They ate it up but the parasite persisted.
So I had to do what was necessary, last week I bought a 40 gallon long QT and set it up as recommended by most sites except with the exception of maybe a thimble full of sand that dropped in when I was transferring the fish. I used a sock from my DT sump, and some of the DT water along with some bottled nitrifying bacteria to settle my tank asap so I could start dosing Cupramine. Obviously my first mistake was not putting fish into QT initially, then waiting so long trying the garlic method...then lastly and perhaps it didn’t matter in the end, but I waited five days until dosing to make sure the fish were comfortable in the QT. I started dosing yesterday(mostly because I found my royal gramma dead despite it eating well and not showing any tell-tale signs), getting the copper level to .26, using the hanna copper checker to verify. This morning I woke up to my powder blue and blenny dead. One of my clownfish and the angel look worse for wear and appear to have labored breathing though are still swimming around and eating. Instead of waiting another 24 hours, I added 1/4 dose just now and plan on reaching the required .50 ppm dose tomorrow night. Hopefully this saves them but I have my doubts. I plan on keeping my DT fallow until November 1st.
A couple questions. I should keep the required dose for two weeks? I would like to get a couple more fish to complete my tank and would prefer to have them all go through QT at the same time, so the fish I have now don’t have to sit through another copper dose and I can observe and verify all their health together before placing them back in the DT. Is it a bad idea to place fish from the store directly into a tank that has the therapeutic dose of copper? I’m thinking since most tanks in the store have some level of copper in the system it won’t be a complete shock to their system. Also, is it possible that what I thought was ick, is actually velvet since my fish seemed to die somewhat suddenly despite eating well, moving well. The clown and angel appear to look different then what the angel and tang appeared to have in my DT, or maybe that is just the lighting. Treatment is the same just more urgent in velvets case. If I suspect velvet then putting just bought fish in the QT with therapeutic copper is probably a bad idea?
I wish fish shops were more forthcoming when it comes to quarantine. WhenI purchased my fish and tank at the store spending a couple of grand of an investment and asking what was necessary to start this hobby, not once did they mention QT and that I would need to purchase another tank just to make sure the fish were healthy and to treat them otherwise. I’m surprised stores don’t ensure fish are disease free themselves as it’s kind of weird to purchase animals that are quite possibly contagious and dangerous to your entire livestock. Seems odd to me.
Anyway, any recommendations or comments would be appreciated. I know I can ramble a bit so apologies for that.
