Revisiting My QT

[mjreefs]

So, just recently I had a wipeout of my QT after dosing Prazi, I ruled out lack of dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as factors, which led me to possibly conclude that there is probably velvet in my QT system. Since my QT is currently fallow, I intend to nuke the QT with copper and then lower it to a less-than-therapeutic level so I can put fish in. I intend to put the QT in 1.75-2.0ppm of copper power during this period, and when fish arrive, I hope to have it only by 1.0ppm. I also plan to use GC instead of Prazipro, but I heard there might be problems dissolving GC in water, so intend to mix it in a drop or two of vodka, then stir in some of the tank water, and, hopefully, it will dissolve.

Any thoughts on this setup?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

OK, lots to break down here. You're correct in that a missed diagnosis could be responsible for the losses after using prazi, but *if* the fish died 24 to 48 hours after the dose and *if* the water got cloudy, then without a DO meter, you should still keep that open as a cause. Do NOT use alcohol to disperse prazi - the solvent serves as a food source for the bacteria, which then strips oxygen from the water. I disperse prazi powder through a brine shrimp net.

Trying to clear a tank of a disease organism with a high dose of copper isn't recommended....since that is really never done, there is no confirmed dose to use for that. You can use bleach or freshwater/air drying but of course, then you'll have to reestablish the biofilter.

One bit of advice - for some reason, people have begun treating their new fish with prazi or GC first, then copper. It needs to be the other way around, copper takes care of more of the acute-death issues, while prazi helps with the more chronic issues like flukes. I keep hearing about people who lose fish due to Cryptocaryon or Amyloodinium because they haven't added copper yet. Also, the idea of adding copper slowly has gotten out of hand - people are ramping it up so slowly, that the protozoans have a chance to get started up. All of these heavily chelated coppers are better at preventing acute outbreaks than they are stopping them. I never take more than 48 hours to reach full copper levels, and that was back when I used ionic copper. For Coppersafe, I just dose it all at once. Think about wholesalers and dealers who get new fish that go immediately into full copper, right after acclimation....

Jay

 

[mjreefs]

OK, lots to break down here. You're correct in that a missed diagnosis could be responsible for the losses after using prazi, but *if* the fish died 24 to 48 hours after the dose and *if* the water got cloudy, then without a DO meter, you should still keep that open as a cause. Do NOT use alcohol to disperse prazi - the solvent serves as a food source for the bacteria, which then strips oxygen from the water. I disperse prazi powder through a brine shrimp net.

Trying to clear a tank of a disease organism with a high dose of copper isn't recommended....since that is really never done, there is no confirmed dose to use for that. You can use bleach or freshwater/air drying but of course, then you'll have to reestablish the biofilter.

One bit of advice - for some reason, people have begun treating their new fish with prazi or GC first, then copper. It needs to be the other way around, copper takes care of more of the acute-death issues, while prazi helps with the more chronic issues like flukes. I keep hearing about people who lose fish due to Cryptocaryon or Amyloodinium because they haven't added copper yet. Also, the idea of adding copper slowly has gotten out of hand - people are ramping it up so slowly, that the protozoans have a chance to get started up. All of these heavily chelated coppers are better at preventing acute outbreaks than they are stopping them. I never take more than 48 hours to reach full copper levels, and that was back when I used ionic copper. For Coppersafe, I just dose it all at once. Think about wholesalers and dealers who get new fish that go immediately into full copper, right after acclimation....

Jay

Hi, apologize for the very late response, was very busy during the past week.

Prior to adding these fish, I usually dose copper first then prazi (sometimes, even dosing prazi while still in copper). And the fish go out of quarantine with no issues.

This time around I tried the other way, with prazi first then copper, and I lost all the fish I did with this order of medication.

I'm quite confident that DO isn't really an issue as I've used prazi before with no issues. I just got quite confused as I've read that prazi is on the stronger side (at 2.5mg/L) while General Cure is at the "just right" at 2.0mg/L and the lack of knowledge with which to treat first (Amlyoodinium/Crpytocaryon vs. Flukes)

Thanks for the advice!