I think I’m done.

[Hugh Mann]

Someone asked, but I didn't see a reply.

How far away is your quarantine from tour display? What precautions are you taking to avoid cross contamination?
I have been told bubbles from an air stone can launch ich laden globs over 3 meters! The slightest drop of water going from your quarantine to display is enough to disrupt the fallow period.

My QT is 15ft from the display (same room, but nowhere else to put it), I use solid covers, seperate equipment for each tank, and thoroughly wash my hands and arms going between tanks.

 

[maroun.c]

Aeorosol contamination could indeed be the case but if his QT has copper then theoretically it shouldn't be an issue. I'd still either move the QT farther away or seal the top.
Properly sized UV might also help in the tank. I had some strain of ich eyars back that my fish were ok with but which affected an killed any ich prone fish (mainly multiple Achiles) I added a properly sized UV (for ich not for algae blooms) and it helped big time. I had more than 70 fish in the system and fallow period or Quarantining all those was next to impossible.
there was also a theory that if ich doesn't show up on the fish for 6 months then it would have disappeared from the tank. yet it takes months seing some fish getting the occasional spots and then the frequency getting more and more distant till it never happens anymore.
good luck with it I realize how frustrating it can be.

 

[jamie1210]

Hippo tangs and any tangs related to the same genus as powder blues are big No No's in my tank. Trust me, I am a demon about QTing fish, but c'mon! QTing coral and inverts? that's where I draw the line! I've had incidents where I don't add fish for over a year w/o any problems, and then the SECOND I added a coral, within 1 week, my hippos and Powder blue tang get ich!

I decided that keeping these types of tangs definitely are NOT worth the stress lol, so I've decided to go with tangs that are pretty much (IME) ich-proof. These are ones from the zebramosa genus (ie. yellow and purple tangs), and Naso's (vllamingi's, if your tank is big enough).

Really, it's not worth quitting the hobby over, but just avoid ich-prone fish

 

[Uncle99]

I note that in your post, you state 13 days n copper and you see spots.
Using cuprimine correctly, the expectation is that spots would be gone in 4-8 days but treatments go for 15 days after last spot was seen, and a further 7 days with carbon.
If your tang got spots in copper, the dose is likely to low. Too low doesn’t work, too high kills the parasite and the fish. Copper is hard on the tang group, I have had great success with Hypo when dealing with confirmed ick.

 

[Saaqib_Ansari]

Just came back from work and blue tang is covereeeeed in spots AH.! I’ve used nearly 800litres + of salt water in the last 3/4 weeks.
I may give copper treatment another go with a hanna checker at the moment I only had a salifert kit which I know is trash. But when I get a day off work that is. Hopefully the fish make it Til then

 

[kkarvelas]

Yeah I would agree stress being the biggest factor. When I had my break out was when I did a tank transfer. The Tomingi tang got it then most of my fish started scratching. I let it run its course. Didnt lose a single fish out of about 15.

How long was the outbreak your case?

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Just came back from work and blue tang is covereeeeed in spots AH.! I’ve used nearly 800litres + of salt water in the last 3/4 weeks.
I may give copper treatment another go with a hanna checker at the moment I only had a salifert kit which I know is trash. But when I get a day off work that is. Hopefully the fish make it Til then

Hang in there! I have been battling Ich too here lately. You are not alone!

 

[Dburr1014]

Quarantine tank needs to be at least 10 feet from the display. Even your nets and other equipment can introduce Ick if used in the display and qt. Ick can and will go airborne with water particles in the air.
Read the directions on your test kit again. Did you miss anything? I'm saying this cuz I read the directions wrong 1/2 way into my treatment and had to start the clock again. Apparently there is a difference in the reading from the top down or to the side when reading the copper level. (duh)

I had a tang and 5 other fish in one 20 gallon hospital tank with a lot of pvc pipe for hiding places. Not ideal but workable and no fish loss. I used bacteria and ammonia lock everyday to make them safe, it was hell. 4 months of it.

On a positive note: you have kept the fish alive for this long and with all the tank swapping. You can do this with just some more planning.
Keep all the fish in one tank with hiding places. Check the copper everyday, bring it up and back down slowly. (over a coarse of a few days) also check ammonia everyday and have a plan if it rises.
Good luck to you, you can do this.

 

[Saaqib_Ansari]

Quarantine tank needs to be at least 10 feet from the display. Even your nets and other equipment can introduce Ick if used in the display and qt. Ick can and will go airborne with water particles in the air.
Read the directions on your test kit again. Did you miss anything? I'm saying this cuz I read the directions wrong 1/2 way into my treatment and had to start the clock again. Apparently there is a difference in the reading from the top down or to the side when reading the copper level. (duh)

I had a tang and 5 other fish in one 20 gallon hospital tank with a lot of pvc pipe for hiding places. Not ideal but workable and no fish loss. I used bacteria and ammonia lock everyday to make them safe, it was hell. 4 months of it.

On a positive note: you have kept the fish alive for this long and with all the tank swapping. You can do this with just some more planning.
Keep all the fish in one tank with hiding places. Check the copper everyday, bring it up and back down slowly. (over a coarse of a few days) also check ammonia everyday and have a plan if it rises.
Good luck to you, you can do this.

I have separated my blue tang to another tank as that’s the fish with the most problems will try treat it seperatley. The other fish I will use copper for AGAIN but I’m getting a hanna checker this time . What I don’t understand is how do I calculate how much more to add. Because cupramine just says x amount of drops for y amount of litres. what the heck does that mean if my tank is 0.4 and I need it to go up by 0.1

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

While there is some wild advice in this thread, there are several solid points/suggestions.

1. Move your QT away from your DT (10ft+), in your Pic it looks like they're right next to each other. That's just asking for contamination.

2. Get a Hanna Copper checker. If your copper falls out of therapuic range, you're opening a window for the parasite to survive and you just waste your time and unnecessarily stress the fish. If you can, try to get some chelated copper (ie Copper Power) as it is gentler on fish, especially tangs, than ionic copper and is easier to properly measure/dose due to higher therapeutic range. . Plus it is safe to use with Prime for ammonia management which makes WC easier. If you do a WC, predose the new water to therapeutic levels prior to adding it to the tank.

3. If you're using a single tank for QT, copper should be administered at therapeutic levels for 30 days.

While some tangs can be what everyone calls "ich magnets", ich still has to exist to get on the fish. Ich is a live parasite not some magical being that pops out of thin air; copper will kill ich. Proper QT (med, dosage, duration, cross contamination) will absolutely cure ich...anything else is ich management at best and a waste of time and money at worst.

 

[Saaqib_Ansari]

While there is some wild advice in this thread, there are several solid points/suggestions.

1. Move your QT away from your DT (10ft+), in your Pic it looks like they're right next to each other. That's just asking for contamination.

2. Get a Hanna Copper checker. If your copper falls out of therapuic range, you're opening a window for the parasite to survive and you just waste your time and unnecessarily stress the fish. If you can, try to get some chelated copper (ie Copper Power) as it is gentler on fish, especially tangs, than ionic copper and is easier to properly measure/dose due to higher therapeutic range. . Plus it is safe to use with Prime for ammonia management which makes WC easier. If you do a WC, predose the new water to therapeutic levels prior to adding it to the tank.

3. If you're using a single tank for QT, copper should be administered at therapeutic levels for 30 days.

While some tangs can be what everyone calls "ich magnets", ich still has to exist to get on the fish. Ich is a live parasite not some magical being that pops out of thin air; copper will kill ich. Proper QT (med, dosage, duration, cross contamination) will absolutely cure ich...anything else is ich management at best and a waste of time and money at worst.

Only issue is how am I going to move my tank it is right next to the DT I have no one else to put it

so you suggest using copper power over cupramine? Let me buy some now

 

[Saaqib_Ansari]

Only issue is how am I going to move my tank it is right next to the DT I have no one else to put it

so you suggest using copper power over cupramine? Let me buy some now

Just had a look is copper power not available in the Uk ??

 

[ReefGamer]

Hey, the fact that it has survived this long and has gone through so much treatment, stress, and ich/disease says a lot. I would definitely have high hopes for this tang even if that means managing ich in the system, not that I am recommending it.

That is my plan though as I swap coral with local reefers constantly. I do not have a tang yet ( been patiently waiting to get my regal tang) and have not seen ich yet either.

It does seem like you may be cross contaminating between the tanks in some way be it air way or equipment.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Just had a look is copper power not available in the Uk ??

Can you get coppersafe?

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

If you can't get chelated copper then just roll with what you have. Using cupramine you're looking for 0.5ppm therapeutic dose. I would HIGHLY recommend a Hanna copper checker for this. You can start at 0.25 and ramp up to 0.5 over a 24hr period. Once at 0.5, maintain for 30 days and when doing water changes, pre-treat new water to 0.5ppm copper prior to adding it in.

Also, I would read THIS, should give you a solid foundation for the process.

 

[Saaqib_Ansari]

If you can't get chelated copper then just roll with what you have. Using cupramine you're looking for 0.5ppm therapeutic dose. I would HIGHLY recommend a Hanna copper checker for this. You can start at 0.25 and ramp up to 0.5 over a 24hr period. Once at 0.5, maintain for 30 days and when doing water changes, pre-treat new water to 0.5ppm copper prior to adding it in.

Also, I would read THIS, should give you a solid foundation for the process.

Quick question I know the tanks are in close proximity but if my QT has theurapetic level of copper. Then the proximity of the tanks shouldn’t affect the ich transmitting by aerosol movement? As if it was to land in the QT then it would die because of the copper?

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Quick question I know the tanks are in close proximity but if my QT has theurapetic level of copper. Then the proximity of the tanks shouldn’t affect the ich transmitting by aerosol movement? As if it was to land in the QT then it would die because of the copper?

Take a look here, @Humblefish explains it better than I ever could.

 

[Dburr1014]

I have separated my blue tang to another tank as that’s the fish with the most problems will try treat it seperatley. The other fish I will use copper for AGAIN but I’m getting a hanna checker this time . What I don’t understand is how do I calculate how much more to add. Because cupramine just says x amount of drops for y amount of litres. what the heck does that mean if my tank is 0.4 and I need it to go up by 0.1

Your test kit should tell you that. The directions are just an approximate dose. The test kit will tell you if your high, low, or in the sweet spot.

 

[Dburr1014]

Quick question I know the tanks are in close proximity but if my QT has theurapetic level of copper. Then the proximity of the tanks shouldn’t affect the ich transmitting by aerosol movement? As if it was to land in the QT then it would die because of the copper?

Any chance you can build a simple wall between if you can't move the tank? It may help some. Cardboard, plastic... Just to help with cross contaminates.

 

[Saaqib_Ansari]

Any chance you can build a simple wall between if you can't move the tank? It may help some. Cardboard, plastic... Just to help with cross contaminates.

What if I add a clothe like a curtain between the tanks as I have a shelf above the tanks so can hang it off there?