Any truth to that @Humblefish? Also, when do the parasites fall off in the copper?I also read that lowering salinity to 1.012 in your Qt tank will eliminate ich, velvet and most parasites without the use of chemicals.
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Any truth to that @Humblefish? Also, when do the parasites fall off in the copper?I also read that lowering salinity to 1.012 in your Qt tank will eliminate ich, velvet and most parasites without the use of chemicals.
Any truth to that @Humblefish? Also, when do the parasites fall off in the copper?
I didn't see this asked already but do you run a UV sterlizer? I lost about 80% of my fish population a few years ago when I bought fish from a store out here that was not very good, IMO. Installed UV sterilizer and never looked back.
Hyposalinity only treats ich and must be maintained for 30 days in order to be effective. Also, the SG must be lowered all the way down to 1.009 for hypo treatment. Another thing I should mention is that hypo resistant strains of ich have been proven to exist (Yambot study 2003); so it is not always effective.
Copper treats both ich & velvet, but also takes up to 30 days in order to be effective.
Now more to your point about when do the parasites fall off the fish. For ich it's anywhere from 3-7 days; for velvet it's as little as 12 hours or as long as 4 days. Dependent upon the strain you are dealing with. But one thing that needs to be understood is that no in-tank treatment (CP, copper, hyposalinity) has any impact on the parasites on the fish. A FW dip/formalin bath will usually dislodge trophonts (i.e. parasites on the fish) for velvet & brook; but for ich the benefits are less clear because ich trophonts burrow deeper into the skin.
So why treat with CP, copper, hypo? When the parasites drop off the fish, they will encyst as tomonts and eventually release theronts (i.e. free swimmers) which actively seek out fish to infect. If these theronts successfully find a fish host, they become trophonts and the cycle begins all over again. However, these theronts are vulnerable to CP, copper, hypo. In fact, they are the only stage of the parasite that is. So what you are doing by treating with CP, copper, hypo is putting up a "shield" and waiting for the parasite to enter it's theront stage so the chemicals/hypo conditions in the water can zap them. This interrupts the parasite's life cycle by killing off all the theronts and effectively ends it's presence in your QT. This is also why it can take up to 30 days, because you are waiting for the parasite to reach it's theront stage.
Do you copper your qt tank?
Hmm....my approach would most likely be garlic to maintain appetite, UV and increased temp to fight infection, and possibly medication. I despise Velvet for how hard it is to defeat. Ich is much easier. Someone told me cleaner shrimp are key....not sure how viable that actually is though.
I know not everybody agrees, but honestly I would do the temp UV thing on my main display that's where I've always treated mine I never even use my QT tank anymore