Hospital Tank, how big?

[hillg2784]

I have ich! It’s 200 gallon display with 15 fish, the largest at about 4in. What size hospital tank do ai need? I’m planning on going fallow so they will need to be in there for a good bit. Also do I cycle the tank like normal before moving them over? This is my first run in with ich.

 

[JayM]

Hard to say without knowing exactly what fish you have, but I would suggest at least 40 gallons if they're all peaceful fish. If you have some that are potentially aggressive, you may need bigger, or perhaps multiple containers.

 

[W31Olds]

I would go with 2 40 gallon breeders and balance the inhabitants based on who gets along with whom.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have ich! It’s 200 gallon display with 15 fish, the largest at about 4in. What size hospital tank do ai need? I’m planning on going fallow so they will need to be in there for a good bit. Also do I cycle the tank like normal before moving them over? This is my first run in with ich.

A 55 g would be ideal otherwise a pair of 40 breeders and the unfortunates of having a large tank well stacked when there is an outbreak.
Add seeded sponges or media such as ceramic beads to tank. Also monitor ammonia levels with a reliable test kit during treatment

 

[Marine Betta]

I have ich! It’s 200 gallon display with 15 fish, the largest at about 4in. What size hospital tank do ai need? I’m planning on going fallow so they will need to be in there for a good bit. Also do I cycle the tank like normal before moving them over? This is my first run in with ich.

I would normally recommend using a cycled tank for qt/treatment, but if you do have ich, you do not have time to wait for a tank to cycle properly. You will have to deal with ammonia spikes through small frequent water changes. I recommend using an ammonia badge or a reliable ammonia test to monitor ammonia. Many copper products are chelated with an amines, and this will give a false reading on most ammonia tests.

Use Copper Power or Coppersafe, bring the concentration to 2.25 ppm as quickly as possible, keep it there for 30 days, and get a reliable copper test to monitor copper levels.

I would keep the tank going after treatment is over, so you can qt new fish before placing them in the display.

 

[mfinn]

At least a 55.
When I had a out break of velvet in my 240, I moved 23 fish into a 90 gallon tank ( 4 were dead the first day ). I had lots of 4" pvc fittings and short pieces of pipe I layered the bottom with ( random angles ).
I was lucky I had 2 large sponge filters going in my sump to provide biological filtration.
I moved 15 fish back in the 240.

 

[hillg2784]

Hard to say without knowing exactly what fish you have, but I would suggest at least 40 gallons if they're all peaceful fish. If you have some that are potentially aggressive, you may need bigger, or perhaps multiple containers.

4 × Clownfish

1 × Flame Angel

1 × Debelius Fairy Wrasse

2 × Carpenter’s Flasher Wrasse

1 × Lubbock’s Fairy Wrasse

1 x Melanurus Wrasse

1 x Royal Gramma

1 x Orange Fin Tomini Tang

1 x Blue Eye Kole Tang

1 x Coral Beauty

1 x Yellow Angel

Had 2 more but they didn’t make so have 15 to move.

 

[hillg2784]

A 55 g would be ideal otherwise a pair of 40 breeders and the unfortunates of having a large tank well stacked when there is an outbreak.
Add seeded sponges or media such as ceramic beads to tank. Also monitor ammonia levels with a reliable test kit during treatment

I have plenty of media, bio balls and brick. I can take the bio balls from here and move them into the hospital tank. Should I just had them to HOB filter or the bottom of the tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have plenty of media, bio balls and brick. I can take the bio balls from here and move them into the hospital tank. Should I just had them to HOB filter or the bottom of the tank.

Yes, that would be ideal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

4 × Clownfish

1 × Flame Angel

1 × Debelius Fairy Wrasse

2 × Carpenter’s Flasher Wrasse

1 × Lubbock’s Fairy Wrasse

1 x Melanurus Wrasse

1 x Royal Gramma

1 x Orange Fin Tomini Tang

1 x Blue Eye Kole Tang

1 x Coral Beauty

1 x Yellow Angel

Had 2 more but they didn’t make so have 15 to move.

I just noticed that you said you’ve already lost two fish. Once fish loss has begun due to ich, it can be difficult to stop it fast enough to keep additional losses from happening.

You’ll need to get the treatment process started right away, get the fish into full coppersafe or copper power ASAP. I’d shoot for 2.25 to 2.5 ppm.

Good luck!

 

[hillg2784]

I just noticed that you said you’ve already lost two fish. Once fish loss has begun due to ich, it can be difficult to stop it fast enough to keep additional losses from happening.

You’ll need to get the treatment process started right away, get the fish into full coppersafe or copper power ASAP. I’d shoot for 2.25 to 2.5 ppm.

Good luck!

Up to three now. This sucks! Copper Power and Hannah being delivered overnight, thank you Amazon! Picking up a 50g at petsmart today.

Will it be ok to take water from the DT and put into the QT, it makes for easy transfer of fish. I assume it’s fine but just want to double check.

 

[Uncle99]

Up to three now. This sucks! Copper Power and Hannah being delivered overnight, thank you Amazon! Picking up a 50g at petsmart today.

Will it be ok to take water from the DT and put into the QT, it makes for easy transfer of fish. I assume it’s fine but just want to double check.

Would that not potentially transfer the infection to QT?

That I would not do.

 

[hillg2784]

Would that not potentially transfer the infection to QT?

That I would not do.

The infection is already coming over with the fish, but your point also makes sense.

 

[Uncle99]

The infection is already coming over with the fish, but your point also makes sense.

Interesting….never thought of that.

Just always jumped to a “sterile” state, never really thought that through.

It’s likely only the QT which we would not want to infect the DT after fallow starts.

My QT’s are all 10 gallons so new water no big deal.

 

[hillg2784]

Interesting….never thought of that.

Just always jumped to a “sterile” state, never really thought that through.

It’s likely only the QT which we would not want to infect the DT after fallow starts.

My QT’s are all 10 gallons so new water no big deal.

My thought process is that the DT is already bad and so are the fish. If I used new water it likely will become infected as I wait for the copper to run its course. Taking the bad water out gives the fish some stability in the transfer I would think

Plus I don’t have enough RO on hand at this moment, wouldn’t be until tomorrow afternoon/evening.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Up to three now. This sucks! Copper Power and Hannah being delivered overnight, thank you Amazon! Picking up a 50g at petsmart today.

Will it be ok to take water from the DT and put into the QT, it makes for easy transfer of fish. I assume it’s fine but just want to double check.

Yes - that’s ok to do, no fear of moving any disease with the water, as most of the parasites are on the fish anyway……

 

[hillg2784]

Once I get the fish into the tank, I’ll bring copper up to 2.0–2.5 ppm and keep it there consistently for 14–30 days.

What should I do after that? I’m trying to figure out the best setup for the following ~48 days.

Can I keep them in the same tank once I stop dosing copper? And is it okay to add ceramic media to the HOB filter to establish beneficial bacteria?

Do I buy yet another tank to setup for the next 48ish days? Wife will really love this option lol.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Once I get the fish into the tank, I’ll bring copper up to 2.0–2.5 ppm and keep it there consistently for 14–30 days.

What should I do after that? I’m trying to figure out the best setup for the following ~48 days.

Can I keep them in the same tank once I stop dosing copper? And is it okay to add ceramic media to the HOB filter to establish beneficial bacteria?

Do I buy yet another tank to setup for the next 48ish days? Wife will really love this option lol.

Coppersafe / copper power needs to be run for a full 30 days at 2.25 ppm. Yes, you can keep them in the same tank (assuming your tank is properly cycled) for the additional 30 days that you need to wait before adding the fish back into the previously infected tank (so that the parasites die out due to a lack of any fish hosts).

Yes - adding cycled ceramic media to the QT is one very good way to manage the ammonia level during a copper treatment.

 

[hillg2784]

Coppersafe / copper power needs to be run for a full 30 days at 2.25 ppm. Yes, you can keep them in the same tank (assuming your tank is properly cycled) for the additional 30 days that you need to wait before adding the fish back into the previously infected tank (so that the parasites die out due to a lack of any fish hosts).

Yes - adding cycled ceramic media to the QT is one very good way to manage the ammonia level during a copper treatment.

I thought that I read the copper would strip the beneficial bacteria off the ceramic media. The qt is setup with no media at this time, is this the correct way? I planned to use cuprisorb after 30 days and then add the ceramic media balls.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I thought that I read the copper would strip the beneficial bacteria off the ceramic media. The qt is setup with no media at this time, is this the correct way? I planned to use cuprisorb after 30 days and then add the ceramic media balls.

No - copper has a minimal effect on nitrifying bacteria - typically about 25% or less. You should add the ceramic media now.

At the end of the copper treatment, just doing some partial water changes is the best way to reduce its level.