How long should I observe in qt with black molly?

[christwendt]

Hello. I have added black mollies to my qt tank that has fish I didn’t treat with copper ( wrasse, mandarin). How long should I observe for ich before adding fish to display tank with these mollies ? Two weeks? A month? Thank you.

 

[threebuoys]

Hello. I have added black mollies to my qt tank that has fish I didn’t treat with copper ( wrasse, mandarin). How long should I observe for ich before adding fish to display tank with these mollies ? Two weeks? A month? Thank you.

The use of mollies as a "canary" for parasites is not a reliable method.

To understand better, you have the mollies, wrasse and mandarin all in the qt presently. You are performing an observational qt without copper. While ich is easier to see on black mollies, you have no guarantee it will infect the mollies should it be present in the tank. While some species are more prone to ich than others, less healthy fish are more likely to contract parasites than healthy fish.

Even when copper is used in QT, our protocol is for 30 days copper plus 16 days prazi. While you may use this as a guideline, you should not automatically assume the fish are ich free. Very healthy fish can fight visible infection for a considerable time before a decline in health make them more susceptible to eventual infection.

 

[christwendt]

The use of mollies as a "canary" for parasites is not a reliable method.

To understand better, you have the mollies, wrasse and mandarin all in the qt presently. You are performing an observational qt without copper. While ich is easier to see on black mollies, you have no guarantee it will infect the mollies should it be present in the tank. While some species are more prone to ich than others, less healthy fish are more likely to contract parasites than healthy fish.

Even when copper is used in QT, our protocol is for 30 days copper plus 16 days prazi. While you may use this as a guideline, you should not automatically assume the fish are ich free. Very healthy fish can fight visible infection for a considerable time before a decline in health make them more susceptible to eventual infection.

Thank you for explaining that. I did treat with prazi 3 rounds. Currently feeding api general cure soaked food. I just read copper with wrasse and mandarin is not ideal. From what you are saying there is obviously still risk but I’m best keeping the mollies in observational qt for as long as possible. I worry due to thick slime coat on wrasse and resistant to parasites of a mandarin they could be hiding ich and not showing symptoms. That is why I have addd the mollies. My display tank is ich free as everything in there has gone through strict copper of 30 days. These are the last two fish to add ( wrasse and mandarin). Do you suggest I treat them with copper ?

 

[threebuoys]

Thank you for explaining that. I did treat with prazi 3 rounds. Currently feeding api general cure soaked food. I just read copper with wrasse and mandarin is not ideal. From what you are saying there is obviously still risk but I’m best keeping the mollies in observational qt for as long as possible. I worry due to thick slime coat on wrasse and resistant to parasites of a mandarin they could be hiding ich and not showing symptoms. That is why I have addd the mollies. My display tank is ich free as everything in there has gone through strict copper of 30 days. These are the last two fish to add ( wrasse and mandarin). Do you suggest I treat them with copper ?

I have used the standard copper protocol (CopperSafe or Copper Power) with wrasses with no problems. You should provide a container of non-calcareous sand for the wrasse to bury in at night.

I have not personally handled mandarins, but they are known to be more sensitive to copper. @Jay Hemdal can give you more insight on the best way to handle the mandarin.

Edit: another method to consider for the mandarin is hypo salinity (sg between 1.009 and 1.010). This method can effectively combat ich but is not as effective for other parasites.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello. I have added black mollies to my qt tank that has fish I didn’t treat with copper ( wrasse, mandarin). How long should I observe for ich before adding fish to display tank with these mollies ? Two weeks? A month? Thank you.

You defeated purpose of quarantine and want to offer some level of protection for fish Prior to moving to display tank. For Mandarin and wrasse, You can utilize Ruby Rally Pro which covers and array of issues at full dosage for 30 days with added aeration or Often the addition of black molly is utilized with mandarins as an alert method of parasite outbreak. Its rarely mandarins get ich but we have to assume all new acquisitions have something on them
Wrasses can tolerate low level copper (2.0) but Same method with ruby rally pro will work as they too rarely get ich parasite.
Chloroquine Phosphate is option but has to weighed and mixed precisely and therefore difficult to work with

 

[christwendt]

You defeated purpose of quarantine and want to offer some level of protection for fish Prior to moving to display tank. For Mandarin and wrasse, You can utilize Ruby Rally Pro which covers and array of issues at full dosage for 30 days with added aeration or Often the addition of black molly is utilized with mandarins as an alert method of parasite outbreak. Its rarely mandarins get ich but we have to assume all new acquisitions have something on them
Wrasses can tolerate low level copper (2.0) but Same method with ruby rally pro will work as they too rarely get ich parasite.
Chloroquine Phosphate is option but has to weighed and mixed precisely and therefore difficult to work with

I was reading about ruby rally and it doesn’t seem to cover ich ? Maybe I’m missing something. I just don’t have a good way to treat these two for ich. I will look into hypo salinity ( need an extra ato) and TTM. Thanks guys

 

[christwendt]

I have used the standard copper protocol (CopperSafe or Copper Power) with wrasses with no problems. You should provide a container of non-calcareous sand for the wrasse to bury in at night.

I have not personally handled mandarins, but they are known to be more sensitive to copper. @Jay Hemdal can give you more insight on the best way to handle the mandarin.

Edit: another method to consider for the mandarin is hypo salinity (sg between 1.009 and 1.010). This method can effectively combat ich but is not as effective for other parasites.

I will look into hypo salinity. I mainly just need to cover for ICH as I have treated everything else with api general cure and soaked foods.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I was reading about ruby rally and it doesn’t seem to cover ich ? Maybe I’m missing something. I just don’t have a good way to treat these two for ich. I will look into hypo salinity ( need an extra ato) and TTM. Thanks guys

It does not cover ich but velvet. If its ich youre concerned with I would not place a mandarin in hypo but option is to run chloroquine Phosphate since you are not treating actual parasites and TTM IME causes stress moving fish from tank to tank. In the process , this mandarin is barely going to get a meal with TTM unless it will accept frozen such as Baby brine or rotifiers.
Ive heard of Peroxide baths for them but not keen on this method