Standard treatment for ich

[B Lo]

So I have a filefish with two little white dots on a fin. They've been there a while and haven't changed. I don't know that it's ich. Long story short, I posted about the issue on this forum and I decided to take every fish out of my display system and put them in quarantine. I have two quarantine tanks I am splitting the fish amongst. I have access to plenty of chloroquine and copper (both Copper Power and Cupramine). I want to treat all fish to be safe. I have clowns, filefish, dwarf angels, and wrasses I will need to treat. The display system will remain fallow for at least 76 days and it's about 35 feet from the quarantine aquariums. The quarantine tanks have HOB filters with minimal media in them. They each have a couple of hiding spots for the fish, heaters and air pumps releasing 21% O2 right under the surface.

I have plenty of copper test kits.

I want to be absolutely sure that if there is ich that it will be gone. I do NOT want to do the TTM as my schedule makes it an impossibility to keep up with and I have concerns about it stressing out the fish just as much as medicating them.

I don't mind ramping up slowly. What's a good approach for medicating with this mixture of fish. I'd like to medicate both tanks (same volume) identically and not treat them unequally. That will add to the possibility of my screwing something up - which I don't want to do.

Yes, I'm probably paranoid and don't need to do this but I want the peace of mine of not having to worry about ich. I've got all the time and drugs in the world!

Background is that all fish were previously treated with a minimum of several days of Seachem ParaGuard and fed food medicated with Seachem Focus, Metroplex, and Kanaplex. I have no reason to suspect there is a bacterial issue. So the treatment is for external parasites only; that's my only worry at this juncture.

Thanks in advance for all good tips!

 

[Big G]

Copper Power is the preferred option. Easier on fish than Cupramine. And as CP is a no go for wrasses.
Ramping up to therapeutic level over 4-5 days is very gentle on fish. Especially if you break down the dosing into equal amounts and even better if you can do some in the AM and PM.

Use a Hanna HL Copper Checker to monitor the copper level. Fantastic tool. Those color matching test kits are horribly inaccurate and can easily under or over dose the copper.

Add a powerhead aimed up at the surface so it's actively rippling the water's surface to greatly increase O2.
And add a bubble filter with the foam filter treated with overnight with BioSpira. Pour the liquid when done soaking into the QT.
And add a mesh bag of ceramic media like Seachem Matrix or Fluval Biomax that has also been soaked in BioSpira.
** alternative to BioSpira is to soak the pads and media in your sump for 30 days or so, if the sump is connected to a parasite free display tank.**

Keep a Seachem Ammonia Alert badge in the QT to monitor ammonia levels.

 

[B Lo]

Thanks, Big G! I have the foam filters for the airline tubing coming. I also have a Hanna Colorimeter coming. I have a brand new bottle of Dr. Tim's which I'll use instead of BioSpira as I don't want to wait 30 days. Question, though, even if I were to soak in a sump which had Ich, would it matter given that the fish may already have it and I'm medicating against it? The reason I ask is because I moved a ton of display tank water into the quarantine systems so that I wouldn't have to reacclimate the fish to different water. This is purely hypothetical, as I don't want to wait the 30 days regardless.

How essential is it to have a powerhead over and above the canister filters and bubblers? I know I have spares but they may be a bit too powerful for the quarantine tanks...

I have the Ammonia Alerts already good to go. Are they okay if they were used a few days, rinsed, and left to dry? I have new ones but if the "old" (not so old) one is fine, I'd rather use it.

Copper Power is the preferred option. Easier on fish than Cupramine. And as CP is a no go for wrasses.
Ramping up to therapeutic level over 4-5 days is very gentle on fish. Especially if you break down the dosing into equal amounts and even better if you can do some in the AM and PM.

Use a Hanna HL Copper Checker to monitor the copper level. Fantastic tool. Those color matching test kits are horribly inaccurate and can easily under or over dose the copper.

Add a powerhead aimed up at the surface so it's actively rippling the water's surface to greatly increase O2.
And add a bubble filter with the foam filter treated with overnight with BioSpira. Pour the liquid when done soaking into the QT.
And add a mesh bag of ceramic media like Seachem Matrix or Fluval Biomax that has also been soaked in BioSpira.
** alternative to BioSpira is to soak the pads and media in your sump for 30 days or so, if the sump is connected to a parasite free display tank.**

Keep a Seachem Ammonia Alert badge in the QT to monitor ammonia levels.

 

[Big G]

Wouldn't use pads or media coming from an "infected" system. Too big of a chance of an encysted parasite within the nooks and cranies of the media.

A small powerhead aimed up to where the flow is actively rippling the water surface provided the highest amount of O2 exchange. The only time I don't use them is if the current created is too much for a sick fish.

Usually the old alert badges are OK as long as you don't see aging (yellowing, discoloration) and have not been left in direct or bright sunlight as they seem to degrade. But I usually toss them if they have been used more than a couple of months.