Long Time Lurker Looking For Advice

[Humblefish]

He doesn't, could I keep the QT stocked with pods from the LFS?

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer here, but you'll never be able to dose enough pods to keep up with a dragonet's insatiable appetite (for 76 days) and CP/copper will kill live copepods almost as soon as they hit the water.

Whenever I QT a mandy I feed Nutramar Ova 6-7x per day, and they still are skinny as hell after 30 days in QT.

My advice would be to rehome him to a LFS, and get another after your fallow period is over.

 

[Josh Kraft]

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer here, but you'll never be able to dose enough pods to keep up with a dragonet's insatiable appetite (for 76 days) and CP/copper will kill live copepods almost as soon as they hit the water.

Whenever I QT a mandy I feed Nutramar Ova 6-7x per day, and they still are skinny as hell after 30 days in QT.

My advice would be to rehome him to a LFS, and get another after your fallow period is over.

Okay. Will they take a fish from a sick tank?

I thought that I was going to try to manage ich or velvet (I'm not sure which it is, but my puffer died in about 2-3 days after I saw spots, then a clown mysteriously disappeared from my tank), but honestly I think it may be easier to just go fallow for 76 days.

Did you say if I tried to maintain the mandarin in QT, I would have to medicate differently? I am going to ask the LFS if they will take him, but just in case, I don't wanna murder the poor guy.

I am going to follow the QT thread, what do I do with my DT that will have a CUC and some corals in it? Do I change the light schedule? Feed it like there are fish in there?

 

[Josh Kraft]

Well, this morning when I woke up, my goby was dead. The cleanup crew pretty much had him destroyed already. Tonight when I get home, I am going to to start with this, Option A is what I am going to go with.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

I suppose its good I learned this so early on.

Any advice for QTing that people often miss?

For quick cycling the QT tank, how long do I need to wait when using one of the products mentioned?

 

[Humblefish]

Okay. Will they take a fish from a sick tank?

Be upfront about why you need to rehome him, but most LFS won't care if a mandarin is coming from a sick tank. It's common knowledge that they almost never show signs of disease; but what isn't commonly known is that a mandarin can still be an asymptomatic carrier, capable of infecting other fish.

Did you say if I tried to maintain the mandarin in QT, I would have to medicate differently? I am going to ask the LFS if they will take him, but just in case, I don't wanna murder the poor guy.

You can't use copper on a mandarin... CP is the treatment of choice.

I am going to follow the QT thread, what do I do with my DT that will have a CUC and some corals in it? Do I change the light schedule? Feed it like there are fish in there?

Continue to target feed them, and/or drop a pinch of flake (or pellets) in every few days to maintain bacteria levels. Keep the same light schedule. Your CUC will probably need algae wafers or nori, if algae growth in the tank diminishes due to lack of nutrients.

For quick cycling the QT tank, how long do I need to wait when using one of the products mentioned?

I would seed whatever biomedia your QT filter uses for 4-5 days before adding copper or CP. It sounds like you need to begin treatment ASAP, so seed the biomedia in a bucket (use an airstone or small pump for circulation) before adding it back to your QT biofilter. The point of the bucket is so you can dose a "bacteria in a bottle" product, so the bacteria can get established without copper/CP being present in the water. The bacteria will be better protected from those chemicals once it becomes entrenched in a sponge or foam in sufficient numbers.

 

[Josh Kraft]

I didn't get a chance to read this before I started following the QT thread.

Right now I have 15 gallons running through a hob filter with sponge (I'll add 5 gallons more when I get home). I poured biospira on the sponge before inserting it. I have an extra heater, and ordered an ammonia badge (can these be reused if dried)? Tonight after I get the tank up to temperature and 20 gallons total, where should I start? Is it ready for the fish to be moved? Then as far as medicines, do I start Prazipro or right to the Copper (or CP, I think a local guy has some for me, I'm hoping to get this and try my luck with my Mandarin).

As far as my LFS, they wouldn't take the Mandarin, and said every tank has ich, you just need to manage it. He said he knows two people with ichless tanks only. They recommended seachem focus and metroplex.

Against their advice, I am going to setup a QT, go fallow in my DT for 80 days, and then observe / medicate every dang thing that gets put in my display tank. The normal QT method talks about it being a 30 day treatment, when I am past 30 days, do the fish get fresh saltwater? Or do I just keep up with water changes until my fallow period is over?

Thanks for your patience and answering every question I've had so far.

 

[Humblefish]

ordered an ammonia badge (can these be reused if dried)?

Yes, for up to 1 year.

Tonight after I get the tank up to temperature and 20 gallons total, where should I start? Is it ready for the fish to be moved? Then as far as medicines, do I start Prazipro or right to the Copper (or CP, I think a local guy has some for me, I'm hoping to get this and try my luck with my Mandarin).

Because of the mandarin, you sorta have to use CP. Copper will kill it. But the CP must be pharmaceutical grade 99% pure in order to be effective.

Against their advice, I am going to setup a QT, go fallow in my DT for 80 days, and then observe / medicate every dang thing that gets put in my display tank. The normal QT method talks about it being a 30 day treatment, when I am past 30 days, do the fish get fresh saltwater? Or do I just keep up with water changes until my fallow period is over?

After 30 days, I would remove CP (run carbon) and begin Prazipro treatment. You dose once, do a 20-25% water change and then repeat dosage. The reason for the second dose is to eradicate the “next generation” of worms before they can lay eggs of their own. Because while Prazi does kill worms, it doesn’t eliminate any eggs they might leave behind.

After that, you are just in observation mode to ensure you knocked any & all disease problems out until the fallow period is up in the DT.

 

[Josh Kraft]

Yes, for up to 1 year.



Because of the mandarin, you sorta have to use CP. Copper will kill it. But the CP must be pharmaceutical grade 99% pure in order to be effective.



After 30 days, I would remove CP (run carbon) and begin Prazipro treatment. You dose once, do a 20-25% water change and then repeat dosage. The reason for the second dose is to eradicate the “next generation” of worms before they can lay eggs of their own. Because while Prazi does kill worms, it doesn’t eliminate any eggs they might leave behind.

After that, you are just in observation mode to ensure you knocked any & all disease problems out until the fallow period is up in the DT.

Thanks for all your help. Last night I got the flame angel, clown, and mandarin into the QT. I messed with the angel about an hour before I had to move all my rock to catch him. I am going to give them a bit in QT before I medicate, since they look fine currently, but I am still going to hit them with prazo and CP sometime during the fallow period. The good news is, I just saw my mandarin eat a piece of frozen mysis! I am pretty excited, and hoping that everyone pulls through, any advice you can offer during my fallow / QT time?

I was able to get my friend who is a vet to write me a script, and she now thinks I am crazy for wanting medication for fish.

Since I am going fallow for 76 days, can I spread out my medications? Here is what I am thinking, to maybe minimize the stress on the fish, this is all assuming that they are as fine as they are right now, and do not show signs of infection before scheduled dosing.

76 days is about 11 weeks.

Weeks 1-2 (Days 1-14) - watch water parameters (water change as needed), feed regularly, keep eye on fish.
Week 3 (days 15-21) - dose prazipro
Week 4 (days 22-28) - water change / dose prazo again
week 5 (days 29-35) - water change / run activated carbon
week 6 (days 36-42) - watch water parameters (water change as needed), feed regularly, keep eye on fish.
week 7 (days 43-49) - water change / dose CP
week 8 (days 50-56) - watch water parameters (water change as needed / redose CP based on amount of water changed), feed regularly, keep eye on fish.
week 9 (days 57-63) - watch water parameters (water change as needed / redose CP based on amount of water changed), feed regularly, keep eye on fish.
week 10 (days 64-70) - watch water parameters (water change as needed / redose CP based on amount of water changed), feed regularly, keep eye on fish.
week 11 (days 73-77) - watch water parameters (water change as needed / redose CP based on amount of water changed), feed regularly, keep eye on fish. On day 73, do 25% water change and run carbon. If all looks good, on day 77, reintroduce fish into DT from smallest to largest, leaving time in between

Once this is done, is my QT safe to use for new fish, or do I need to break it down and rebuild it?

 

[Humblefish]

@Josh Kraft I would dose CP first & foremost, because it appears ich or velvet is the most pertinent issue which needs to be addressed here.

 

[Josh Kraft]

So an update,

10/7, got all fish into QT.
10/10, 5 gallon water change
10/11, dosed 1g of CP (50mg/gal)

This may be a dumb question, but should my fish be acting differently when being dosed with CP? From what I've been reading, it seems like I should have been observing loss of appetite and other things, but my fish are still feasting and acting normal.

I'm feeding about a half cube of mysis a day, and some pebbles. Quarter cube twice a day for a flame angel, clown, and dragonet. Any mysis that settles on the bottom is gone within the hour (dragonet eats it all).

I'm probably going to do another water change within the next couple of days, and I'll dose that water with 50mg/gallon before adding it.

In my DT, I've noticed my snails are climbing the glass all the time, usually they were only doing it when lights off. What should I be feeding over in the DT? How much and how often? In the DT is

78 draw ceriths, 18 nassarius, 23 Florida ceriths, 16 nerites, 25 hermits, and two cleaner shrimp. Also a few corals and a BTA.

Thanks again for all the advice.

 

[Humblefish]

This may be a dumb question, but should my fish be acting differently when being dosed with CP? From what I've been reading, it seems like I should have been observing loss of appetite and other things, but my fish are still feasting and acting normal.

One of the nice things about CP is side effects do not always occur, at least not right away.

In my DT, I've noticed my snails are climbing the glass all the time, usually they were only doing it when lights off. What should I be feeding over in the DT? How much and how often? In the DT is

78 draw ceriths, 18 nassarius, 23 Florida ceriths, 16 nerites, 25 hermits, and two cleaner shrimp. Also a few corals and a BTA.

Nori, algae wafers and mysis shrimp (and other meats) for the carnivores.