I need some advice for this situation…

Sharkbait19

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Hello,
Recently, I moved my fish into quarantine systems to treat ich, and began running copper at therapeutic levels. In the new environment, I’ve noticed that my aurora goby and kamohara blenny have stopped eating entirely, and that my blenny is swimming weird. Some of you may remember a similar situation with my Hawkfish, who died a few months ago due to an unknown cause, after weeks of food reluctance and awkward swimming. Additionally, the blenny has a strange fuzziness on the head, almost like excess mucous, exactly like my Hawkfish had. I have noticed one thing that I never found on the hawk—white stringy poop. This basically confirms internal parasites to me, in addition to the ich which I am already treating for. Naturally, I would begin treating for these parasites immediately, especially since the fish are already in a hospital tank. There’s just one catch—I’m going on vacation early Tuesday morning, so don’t have the time for close observation and treatment. One thing that I noticed in particular is that both the goby and blenny only stopped eating once they were moved from the main tank. There, I always saw them eating pods, and they would always aggressively eat pellets and mysis. While I am almost sure they have internal parasites, something tells me that the stress of the quarantine system doesn’t help either. For the sake of giving them the best chance while I’m away, I was considering moving them back into the main display, where they can at least live in the most suitable environment. Then, when I return, I can transfer them back and begin treating them properly and attentively (obviously restarting the ich fallow when they move out). The only problem is that there is a chance they will get ich in the main display—although they’ve seemed quite resilient to it so far. My biggest concern is that anything can happen while I’m gone—and I won’t be there to stop anything.
Sorry for the long write-up, but I just wanted to describe the full story. What do you guys think is the best course of action? Do I have time to treat the fish before my trip, or should I just move them back into the main display, where they’ll hopefully have a better chance of survival?
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threebuoys

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Do you have any sand in a container in the QT for them to rummage in, plus maybe something a little more enclosed than pvc for them to hide in? I'm thinking something environmental has turned their eating habits off.
 

Rtaylor

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I’d move them back or at least remove copper from the qt until you return. Copper is an appetite suppressant. Leaving them in a deteriorating situation seems like the least likely option for a good outcome. Even with ich in the main tank, it sounds less risky than all other options.
 

Rtaylor

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Do you have any sand in a container in the QT for them to rummage in, plus maybe something a little more enclosed than pvc for them to hide in? I'm thinking something environmental has turned their eating habits off.
Copper is an appetite suppressant so that is the most likely reason they have stopped eating.
 

threebuoys

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Copper is an appetite suppressant so that is the most likely reason they have stopped eating.
I understand that line of thought but I have personally never had that problem and I QT all of my fish with the full 30 day copper. So, I believe it is worthwhile to explore other possible explanations.
 
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Sharkbait19

Sharkbait19

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I think for safety I’ll wind up moving them into the main display, simply because it has an abundant food source, and there won’t be any potential problems with copper.
 

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