My Current QT Process

[HotRocks]

Thanks for the reply. Just wanted confirmation of my suspicion. Really enjoy your posts and often speak with good insight and practical experience. If I am correct I think you live in Indiana as do I. Seems like Indiana is building a nice contingent of marine aquarists!

Thanks for the kind words. Yes Indiana native here. What part of the state are you in?

 

[Feet4Fish]

I love out east in Randolph county. Travel for work through Inpls and Ft Wayne area weekly.

 

[puffy127]

@Rython Two proactive methods for treating ich + velvet + brook + uronema are as follows:

1. Chloroquine phosphate
2. Combining copper + metronidazole

If using API General Cure with copper, just substitute your first & last metro treatment for GC. (Since GC already contains metro, you want to avoid overdosing by only using Metroplex or straight metronidazole powder 48 hrs before or after GC.) Treatment regimen would go like this:

Day 1 - Dose General Cure
Day 3 - Dose metro
Day 5 - Dose metro
Day 7 - Dose General Cure
Day 9 - Dose metro (probably optional at this point)

^^ That will deworm a fish + effectively treat for brook & uronema. Add copper to the above, and you're also prophylactically treating for ich + velvet.

How long is metro effective in the water column? Could I combine this with TTM instead of copper? What about a 36-hour TTM?

If I wanted to do method 2 above (using copper and a biofilter), would it be 1.0 ppm on Day 1 and ramp up over 3 days as per the 1st post? Are water changes necessary?

Do I need to feed metro soaked food if I don't suspect internal pathogens? Will feeding metro soaked food at the same time as dosing metro into the water result in overdosing?

 

[Humblefish]

How long is metro effective in the water column? Could I combine this with TTM instead of copper? What about a 36-hour TTM?

If I wanted to do method 2 above (using copper and a biofilter), would it be 1.0 ppm on Day 1 and ramp up over 3 days as per the 1st post? Are water changes necessary?

Do I need to feed metro soaked food if I don't suspect internal pathogens? Will feeding metro soaked food at the same time as dosing metro into the water result in overdosing?

Metro will last longer in a sterile QT vs. one with a biofilter. But either way, you can generally dose it every 48 hours without doing a WC.

You can offer metro soaked food at the same time as dosing the medication into the water; there's minimal risk using metro as a prophylaxis.

 

[puffy127]

Metro will last longer in a sterile QT vs. one with a biofilter. But either way, you can generally dose it every 48 hours without doing a WC.

You can offer metro soaked food at the same time as dosing the medication into the water; there's minimal risk using metro as a prophylaxis.

Thanks Humble. So is the re-dosing metro at 48 hours assuming it has lost it's effectiveness by then? So transferring every 48 hours into another newly dosed tank would not lessen treatment? What about transferring every 36 hours? Can I transfer every 36 hours into a newly dosed tank so long as I maintain the same overall length of treatment?

 

[Humblefish]

Thanks Humble. So is the re-dosing metro at 48 hours assuming it has lost it's effectiveness by then? So transferring every 48 hours into another newly dosed tank would not lessen treatment? What about transferring every 36 hours? Can I transfer every 36 hours into a newly dosed tank so long as I maintain the same overall length of treatment?

Yes, metro lasting 48 hrs in the water is "best case" scenario. In most cases, it dissipates in ~ 24 hours.

You can safely dose metro whilst doing TTM every 36 hours. It is actually probably better that way, because the fish won't have as long a lapse in treatment.

 

[Aaron-A2]

@HotRocks Quick question. Using your method and starting with GC + Focus, what do you do if within a day or two you start seeing signs of ich? Do you continue the 14 day GC+Focus treatment, do you stop the GC+Focus and begin to bring copper up to 1.75ppm, or run both at the same time?

Thanks!

 

[HotRocks]

@HotRocks Quick question. Using your method and starting with GC + Focus, what do you do if within a day or two you start seeing signs of ich? Do you continue the 14 day GC+Focus treatment, do you stop the GC+Focus and begin to bring copper up to 1.75ppm, or run both at the same time?

Thanks!

I run both at the same time. I always feed metro or GC and treat with copper prophylactically.

 

[Aaron-A2]

I run both at the same time. I always feed metro or GC and treat with copper prophylactically.

Understood. Do you always treat both at the same time? If so, does your regime look something like this?

- Day 1, tank is already at 1ppm copper, float + dump/drip depending on source (LFS/Ship), feed GC+Focus
- Day 4, tank is now up to 1.75ppm copper, continue GC+Focus for 14 days
- Day 14, tank transfer to second QT, observe

 

[Rython]

The point of this method is to get the fish through treatment as fast as possible, while also giving them the treatments they need to survive fast killing diseases concurrently. So yes, he feeds GC food while treating copper. He is also often dosing ABX at the same time as well.

The second tank is where he also does this:

Last step is two rounds of Praziquantel using either GC or Prazipro. I prefer GC as it contains metronidazole as well and covers a few other diseases like Brook and uronema. This treatment is dosed into the water column to treat externally, as I have covered internal issues during copper with the food soaked meds.

14 Days of observation post medications prior to transfer to DT in order to make sure the fish are healthy and disease free.

 

[CaptainOver]

Last step is two rounds of Praziquantel using either GC or Prazipro. I prefer GC as it contains metronidazole as well and covers a few other diseases like Brook and uronema. This treatment is dosed into the water column to treat externally, as I have covered internal issues during copper with the food soaked meds.

Just curious, why not do the GC/Prazipro external treatment in the first 14 days - in tank #1 - also (while doing the internal GC treatment)? Too stressful?

 

[HotRocks]

Just curious, why not do the GC/Prazipro external treatment in the first 14 days - in tank #1 - also (while doing the internal GC treatment)? Too stressful?

It can be done. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. It's an immense amount of meds to put on the fish at one time. Need an abundance of oxygenation in the water column and extra observation to make sure all fish are tolerating all of the combined meds at once. Generally flukes don't present enough of a problem that they need to be addressed during copper IMO. Copper can also supress them as well.

 

[Feet4Fish]

Share the same mindset ! After two days of solid eating once they arrive then I dose CP or Copper. Then after two days of eating once medicated start GC + Focus + LRS for 14 days. CP/ copper for 30 days.

 

[Aaron-A2]

QT Update

Fish:

• Orange-Back Fairy Wrassse
• Longfin Fairy Wrasse
• Bellus Anglefish (Male)

Acclimated both wrasses on Friday, picked up angle on Saturday, and began feeding GC+Focus this morning (Sunday).

@HotRocks I'm looking for confirmation if the method I'm using is correct. I dethawed/strained (4) cubes of frozen mysis which is about half a tablespoon. I then added half a scoop of focus and GC using the scoop from the focus bottle. I mixed it up, and fed what the fish could eat in one sitting. I'll be storing the rest in the fridge for the next few days.

On Monday, I will begin bringing copper up to therapeutic 1.75ppm. The tank is already @ 1ppm, so by Wednesday I should reach 1.75ppm.

 

[HotRocks]

QT Update

Fish:

• Orange-Back Fairy Wrassse
• Longfin Fairy Wrasse
• Bellus Anglefish (Male)

Acclimated both wrasses on Friday, picked up angle on Saturday, and began feeding GC+Focus this morning (Sunday).

@HotRocks I'm looking for confirmation if the method I'm using is correct. I dethawed/strained (4) cubes of frozen mysis which is about half a tablespoon. I then added half a scoop of focus and GC using the scoop from the focus bottle. I mixed it up, and fed what the fish could eat in one sitting. I'll be storing the rest in the fridge for the next few days.

On Monday, I will begin bringing copper up to therapeutic 1.75ppm. The tank is already @ 1ppm, so by Wednesday I should reach 1.75ppm.

Sounds like you are doing exactly as I would! Keep me posted on how they do!

 

[CaptainOver]

I have a bit of cloudiness in the QT and a bit of smell I'd love to get rid of while I can. Any problem using carbon as long as I'm not dosing meds for external parasites/infection? I have copper running and am lacing food with GC/focus, but no other treatments yet. Ammonia badge is reading 0, and I'm heavily aerating with airstone and couple powerheads pointing at the surface, so oxygen exchange shouldn't be an issue.

 

[rkpetersen]

I'll be storing the rest in the fridge for the next few days.

Be careful that the food doesn't go bad, which it can do even if kept refrigerated. Making a new batch every day would probably be safer in terms of avoiding bacterial growth and ensuring the medication's effectiveness.

 

[Billldg]

@HotRocks, is GC easier on wrasses than Prazi? Was curious, as I am about to move 3 wrasses from copper to the next stage and didn't want to loose any wrasses after all this time. Also, would you just use GC/Prazi, or would you also add Kanaplex? @4FordFamily, same question as I also know you QT the same and have the same views.

 

[rkpetersen]

I have a bit of cloudiness in the QT and a bit of smell I'd love to get rid of while I can. Any problem using carbon as long as I'm not dosing meds for external parasites/infection? I have copper running and am lacing food with GC/focus, but no other treatments yet. Ammonia badge is reading 0, and I'm heavily aerating with airstone and couple powerheads pointing at the surface, so oxygen exchange shouldn't be an issue.

I think it would be ok. Carbon isn't very effective at removing copper, although you still might see your copper level drop some.

 

[CaptainOver]

I think it would be ok. Carbon isn't very effective at removing copper, although you still might see your copper level drop some.

Yep. That's what I was thinking, too. I'm ramping copper right now anyway, so am testing frequently with the Hanna meter and can adjust as needed.
Thanks!