Preventive QT procedure. Expert help needed please!

[Hoyhoy]

Dear fellow reefers,

After losing all of my beloved fish to velvet few months back, I have been doing extensive research about preventive quarantine for new fish. I would highly appreciate your advice regarding my proposed “preventive” QT procedure (I really don't want to fail my fish again) :

- Add new fish to a cycled QT tank and let them rest for 2-3 days.
- Add 1st round of Prazipro and observe the fish for 5-7 days
- Do a 25% water change and apply round 2 of Prazipro.
- After 5-7 days, do another 25% water change and slowly start adding Cupramine over 4-5 days. Observe fish and make sure they`re eating.
- Maintain 14 days of copper treatment (at therapeutic levels) and if fish don’t show any sign of ich or velvet, transfer the fish to DT (FALLOW for almost 4 months).



Now I have the following questions:

- Would 14 days of copper ensure that I don’t transfer any ich or velvet to the DT? (Sadly I don’t have the room to set up another QT tank for transfers). Or do I have to go for full 30 days? From what I read/understood, 14 days copper as preventive & 30 days are actually needed to cure a diseased fish. Please correct me if I am wrong.

- I don't need to add copper for my RODI top off water to maintain the required levels. Only for water changes (copper doesn’t evaporate)?

- Would Prazipro prevent brook (clownfish disease)? If not, what kind of medicine do I need to add to prevent it? (current medication in my arsenal: Cupramine, Prazipro, Paraguard & New Life Spectrum Powder (CP)).


Thank you all!

 

[Big G]

Welcome to R2R! Here's a good link on the discussion of copper: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/time-to-end-copper-now-what.298272/

-No need to add copper for RODI top off. The copper is still there in the tank.

-If you treat your fish prophylactically with General Cure, you will be treating both Prazi & Metro (cures Brook). I like it a lot and is my usual course of qt treatment. It's a powder and one packet treats 10 gallons. Dose once and wait 5-7 days. 25% water change and dose again. And wait 5-7 days. Then water change.

- Then observe for 2 weeks.

- Velvet is rampant in the industry these days. Consider treating first with copper. Be vigilant for the signs of disease. Here's another link just on Velvet: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/#post-2499399

Hope this helps! Merry Christmas!

 

[realreef7]

Dear fellow reefers,

After losing all of my beloved fish to velvet few months back, I have been doing extensive research about preventive quarantine for new fish. I would highly appreciate your advice regarding my proposed “preventive” QT procedure (I really don't want to fail my fish again) :

- Add new fish to a cycled QT tank and let them rest for 2-3 days.
- Add 1st round of Prazipro and observe the fish for 5-7 days
- Do a 25% water change and apply round 2 of Prazipro.
- After 5-7 days, do another 25% water change and slowly start adding Cupramine over 4-5 days. Observe fish and make sure they`re eating.
- Maintain 14 days of copper treatment (at therapeutic levels) and if fish don’t show any sign of ich or velvet, transfer the fish to DT (FALLOW for almost 4 months).



Now I have the following questions:

- Would 14 days of copper ensure that I don’t transfer any ich or velvet to the DT? (Sadly I don’t have the room to set up another QT tank for transfers). Or do I have to go for full 30 days? From what I read/understood, 14 days copper as preventive & 30 days are actually needed to cure a diseased fish. Please correct me if I am wrong.

- I don't need to add copper for my RODI top off water to maintain the required levels. Only for water changes (copper doesn’t evaporate)?

- Would Prazipro prevent brook (clownfish disease)? If not, what kind of medicine do I need to add to prevent it? (current medication in my arsenal: Cupramine, Prazipro, Paraguard & New Life Spectrum Powder (CP)).


Thank you all!

30 days of copper if you do not plan on transferring, 14 days if you plan on transferring to a CLEAN, STERILE tank. Also keep in mind if your level drops below therapeutic levels at any given time, the clock restarts. Personally I test everyday to every other day depending on the therapeutic level. Also personally I skip the prazi in the beginning unless I see flukes when I do a fw dip (first thing I do before fish enters the QT).

As for prazi and brook, it has no effect. However I've had good luck with formalin and brook.

 

[Hoyhoy]

Thanks for the input guys! I will be replacing Prazi with General cure then.

 

[Big G]

Thanks for the input guys! I will be replacing Prazi with General cure then.

General Cure is a powder that does not dissolve very easily. Best to use a "brine shrimp" net to dispense the powder into the water. Place the net about halfway into the water. Dump in the GC powder. Use your fingers to "massage" the net thus helping the GC to dissolve and disperse into the water. You probably won't get all of it and at some point just invert the net. You will notice a few bits of undissolved powder on the bottom of your tank. That's ok. It will dissolve just a bit slower. Hope this helps. Merry Christmas!

 

[4FordFamily]

30 days of copper if you do not plan on transferring, 14 days if you plan on transferring to a CLEAN, STERILE tank. Also keep in mind if your level drops below therapeutic levels at any given time, the clock restarts. Personally I test everyday to every other day depending on the therapeutic level. Also personally I skip the prazi in the beginning unless I see flukes when I do a fw dip (first thing I do before fish enters the QT).

As for prazi and brook, it has no effect. However I've had good luck with formalin and brook.

This exactly.

I’d be cautious waiting to do copper, as many fish you have coming in will be afflicted with velvet and that’s way too much time for it to take hold. Most of these fish we receive have been in low levels of copper, keeping the parasite from taking over but leaving it very much alive.

 

[zed102]

Hoyhoy, I am currently using a very similar procedure to the one you described. However, I put all my fish through a one hour bath of formalin/malachite green and a second one hour bath through methylene blue to minimize parasites entering the qt tank and help with any ammonia damage. Regarding the copper, I almost never keep my fish in for longer than 14 days unless I accidentally let the levels drop. I have found that this significantly reduces the number of bacterial infections in my QT. When running copper for 30 days I almost always had to dose antibiotics. Since switching to 14 days with a transfer I have never had to use antibiotics.

 

[Hoyhoy]

General Cure is a powder that does not dissolve very easily. Best to use a "brine shrimp" net to dispense the powder into the water. Place the net about halfway into the water. Dump in the GC powder. Use your fingers to "massage" the net thus helping the GC to dissolve and disperse into the water. You probably won't get all of it and at some point just invert the net. You will notice a few bits of undissolved powder on the bottom of your tank. That's ok. It will dissolve just a bit slower. Hope this helps. Merry Christmas!

Thanks Big G. I was thinking of dissolving the GC powder into a cup of QT tank water.

This exactly.

I’d be cautious waiting to do copper, as many fish you have coming in will be afflicted with velvet and that’s way too much time for it to take hold. Most of these fish we receive have been in low levels of copper, keeping the parasite from taking over but leaving it very much alive.

Agreed! Thanks for your input!

Hoyhoy, I am currently using a very similar procedure to the one you described. However, I put all my fish through a one hour bath of formalin/malachite green and a second one hour bath through methylene blue to minimize parasites entering the qt tank and help with any ammonia damage. Regarding the copper, I almost never keep my fish in for longer than 14 days unless I accidentally let the levels drop. I have found that this significantly reduces the number of bacterial infections in my QT. When running copper for 30 days I almost always had to dose antibiotics. Since switching to 14 days with a transfer I have never had to use antibiotics.

Do you transfer the fish to your DT after the 14 days or to another tank? My biggest problem is that I don't have the room for another QT tank to transfer and observe the fish

 

[zed102]

I have been putting them into observation, however, after 15 successful transfers I will likely switch to putting them into the DT. This will allow me to get rid of the big observation tank. IMO, with strict adherence to qt protocols the benefits of keeping them in copper for a shorter period of time outweigh the risk. Fighting bacterial infections in a fish with a weakened immune system from copper was almost always a losing battle for me.

 

[Hoyhoy]

I have been putting them into observation, however, after 15 successful transfers I will likely switch to putting them into the DT. This will allow me to get rid of the big observation tank. IMO, with strict adherence to qt protocols the benefits of keeping them in copper for a shorter period of time outweigh the risk. Fighting bacterial infections in a fish with a weakened immune system from copper was almost always a losing battle for me.

15 successful transfers! You should be proud!!