Quarantine questions...

[Ryan9212]

Hi everyone!

I just joined and have some questions about quarantining because I had a couple losses due to ich or possibly velvet so I want to get both eradicated from the tank. Here is my plan and please let me know what you think.

Its 92g and I really don't have the ability to use a separate tank for all the fish/leave the display fallow for 76 days so I already slowly removed the majority of live rock, sand, 1 cleaner shrimp and crabs which are already stuffed in a 20g- this will sit for 76 days. I have 5 gallons worth of bioballs in the 92g that have been in there since I set it up so I should be good as far as bacteria.

I plan to add more fish into the display a couple at a time and once everything is stable I am going to copper the tank (yup I know this isn't recommended but it is my only choice). I think I will do the 28 day treatment just to make sure and as long as everything takes the copper well/eats.

I have been feeding the shrimp/crabs in the 20g normally. During the last 4 weeks or so I plan to up the feeding of this tank a lot like I am feeding my display tank to get the bacteria levels as high as possible. 90% of the rock/sand is in this 20g. I'll just do more water changes to keep the parameters in check.

After all fish have been treated with copper for the full treatment time, I will remove the remaining sand and rock in the 92g for good since the copper will be embedded for a while and also remove all the copper. I think the bioballs should be enough to hold the bio load temporarily if I feed lightly. I will do big water changes even after the copper is out of the tank and be overly cautious. Then I will add the sand, rock and invertebrates back to the display slowly.

In the future if any live stock is added I will always quarantine :)

Here are my questions...
1. I already have cupramine and the sea chem test kit but have been reading mixed reviews on cupramine?

2. ***There is already ich in the tank and most likely velvet. Copper only kills the "free swimming" stage so to my understanding it is impossible to eradicate the ich in 28 days of copper since ich can be dormant for up to 76 days. Or am I reading something wrong??***

3. From what I've read, I can also treat with prazipro to wipe out any flukes- are there any other diseases/infectious agents I should treat for? I just don't want to use anymore chemicals than necessary but at the same time prevent me from having issues in the future.


Also, I do plan to have soft corals/LPS in the future which is why I want to eliminate as many parasites as possible so I don't have to remove anything again. I know treating the display tank is never recommended but I don't have any other choice... I've had corals on rock before which was previously treated with copper which took a long time to get out so I know I can either clean the entire display tank out after treatment or just wait long enough with the most effective removal methods. Of course, everything that can "leech" copper will be completely removed from the tank.

With not being able to keep the display tank fallow for 76 days do you think this plan will work? I just don't want to go through all this then get hit again.

Thanks a lot for the advice! Sorry for the lengthy post. I am really happy to have joined this forum and everyone on here seems a lot more helpful than another forum I was on :D

 

[mich2599]

Would be less hassle to buy a tub from homedepot that is big enough to house all of your fish during treatment. And there is the possibility of ich being dormant up to 76 days that’s why it is recommend to go fallow for at least 76 days.

 

[Old Fritz]

Ill atart with your questions on cupramine. Like many things in this hobby a lot of stuff is from a person's own experience. I've read that some people on here don't like cupramine because the find it less effective than other products. However you will find just as many people saying it works great (i am one of those people). I have qt'd fish on cupramine for years and never had a problem. As long as you stick to the theraputic dosage it should work.

Second question. Yes you can really only kill ich and velvet during the free floating period. However the difference is they can live without a host for 76 days. But if you treat the water with copper it kills anything that doesn't have a host meaning any ich or velvet in the free swimming period will probably die of the copper treatment which is faster than essentially starving them out. However again they can go dormant and all it takes is one little guy to multiply into a nightmare. Hence why treating in qt is so important. It kills any ich brought by a fish and if there is any in qt it shouldnt transfer because it isnt on the fish

3. Prazipro works well on flukes and a few other parasites. Its a good treatment, however don't use it at the same time as using copper. Thats bad. Other people use general cure which is a mix of metro and prazi as both of those cover a wide range of parasites that one or the other might miss.

 

[Big G]

I already have cupramine and the sea chem test kit but have been reading mixed reviews on cupramine?

Here's a chart listing chelated vs ionic (Cupramine) coppers and which fish do better with which copper or CP. Hope this helps a bit: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-and-treatment-guidelines-with-chart.283450/#post-3449648

 

[Ryan9212]

Thanks for all of the input. That makes much more sense now as far as using copper for 2-4 weeks since only the fish will be removed. Since I am not really battling ich currently although there is definitely a small amount in there, I can get a quarantine tub up and running using the bioballs that are currently running in my main tank?

I will add in the remaining fish into my display, make sure they are all eating for a while and figured I could do the prazi treatment in the display, then I will pull all the fish out and do the copper treatment in the separate tub when my rock/sand that has been sitting in the 20g gets closer to the end of the 76 day fallow period . During this time, I will clean/dry out the main tank completely, add all the sand/live rock back which should be ich free and then add the fish back after they are treated. I don't think I should have much if any cycle-as I plan to feed the display tank heavier as if there are fish in there prior to adding the fish just to make sure there are no ammonia spikes. This all would help minimize the time I have to leave the display tank fallow.

Can I use the display tank water in the quarantine to minimize any stress when transferring the fish into quarantine?

Even if I don't use the display tank water, I assume there is always a chance of transferring ich cysts into the quarantine tank when using bio media from the main tank. Is there a way to minimize the chance of transferring ich cysts into the display tank when acclimating the fish back to the display tank after the copper treatment like in the net or am I over thinking this?

Does this sound like a sound plan? Thanks again for the input!