need advice on finishing up 30 day copper treatment

airedwin

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hello i've been treating a QT with coppersafe for ich and it's almost 30 days, i don't have a 2nd QT to move my fish into. any suggestions on what i can do? can i move them into a bucket for 24 hours and dry out the QT? should i just continue the copper treatment to 72-76 days?

2 small clownfish
1 small damsel
 

threebuoys

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First, do water changes to drop coppersafe or copper power levels to below 1.0 ppm,
Second, treat tank with praziquantel (prazipro) wait 7 days, change 25% of water, treat with prazi a second time. (To combat potential for flukes). Add extra aeration with airstone when you use prazi.
Third, wait another 7 days of observation,
Move fish into DT.

No need to do anything extra with the QT if you intend to purchase more fish in the near future, or if you want to keep it handy. Otherwise, you can break it down and store for the future.
 
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airedwin

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First, do water changes to drop coppersafe or copper power levels to below 1.0 ppm,
Second, treat tank with praziquantel (prazipro) wait 7 days, change 25% of water, treat with prazi a second time. (To combat potential for flukes). Add extra aeration with airstone when you use prazi.
Third, wait another 7 days of observation,
Move fish into DT.

No need to do anything extra with the QT if you intend to purchase more fish in the near future, or if you want to keep it handy. Otherwise, you can break it down and store for the future.
Oh, I can't move to DT because it hasn't finished the fallow period yet.
 

threebuoys

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Oh, I can't move to DT because it hasn't finished the fallow period yet.
OK, so you can keep the fish in the QT until then. The copper remaining there after the prazi treatment will not be a problem.
 

threebuoys

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Hmm, is there potential for ich to come back because it could be dormant?
No, if you had copper in QT for the full 30 days and maintained the concentration, the parasite has been eliminated, otherwise, you would not be able to move the fish into the DT ever. If you go shorter than 30 days, some life stages of the parasite can survive copper, At 30 days, the parasites should have gone thru at least 2 free swimming stages (assuming any cysts didn't hatch until the middle of the 30 days) which is when the copper is effective.
 
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airedwin

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No, if you had copper in QT for the full 30 days and maintained the concentration, the parasite has been eliminated, otherwise, you would not be able to move the fish into the DT ever. If you go shorter than 30 days, some life stages of the parasite can survive copper, At 30 days, the parasites should have gone thru at least 2 free swimming stages (assuming any cysts didn't hatch until the middle of the 30 days) which is when the copper is effective.
Hmm, what is the 72-76 day fallow period thing then? Maybe I am misunderstanding something.
 

threebuoys

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Hmm, what is the 72-76 day fallow period thing then? Maybe I am misunderstanding something.
If you had crypto(ich) in your display tank and you could not treat with copper due to invertebrates and corals, then the only proven way to eliminate the crypto is to allow the tank to go fallow (no fish) until the crypto completely dies a natural death. Without a host(fish), the crypto will not survive indefinitely in a heated saltwater aquarium.

The fallow period we currently suggest is in the 42-45 day range assuming the temperature is approximately 80 degrees or above. Some stages of the parasite can go "dormant" and live longer in colder water. The 72-76 day fallow is based on a limited study that has since been considered more conservative than necessary in the hobby environments we maintain.

The recommended QT approach adds copper to the mix in order to kill the parasite when it moves through its life cycle to the stage where it is free swimming and can attach to the host (fish). In the fallow DT, the free swimming stage dies because it has no host to attach to.

Several stickies in this forum (see top of forum) provided much more detailed discussion if you are interested.
 
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airedwin

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I see, thanks for the detailed explanation. So sometimes in a DT ich can complete a lifecycle without fish host since there is no copper. I will start removing the copper soon then.
 

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I see, thanks for the detailed explanation. So sometimes in a DT ich can complete a lifecycle without fish host since there is no copper. I will start removing the copper soon then.
Well, more accurately the parasite will not complete the life cycle in the DT without a host but you may have parasites at different stages of life, and some may take longer than others to progress to the free swimming stage where death will occur if a host is not present. Hence, 6 weeks allows enough time to insure all of the parasites progress to the free swimming stage.

Good luck.
 
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airedwin

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Well, more accurately the parasite will not complete the life cycle in the DT without a host but you may have parasites at different stages of life, and some may take longer than others to progress to the free swimming stage where death will occur if a host is not present. Hence, 6 weeks allows enough time to insure all of the parasites progress to the free swimming stage.

Good luck.
Oh I see. Did not think about that.
 
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