URGENT: Lost 6 fish in 40 hours. I'm desperate.
- Thread starter johnbr
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When fish are afflicted by one ailment its not uncommon will get another secondary or a symptom from the initial affliction needs treatment first.
If a symptom is going take a fish, sometimes its worth treating that symptom before the disease.
Ie hard breathing, might do a freshwater dip and methylene blue for a day before starting the treatment for the actual disease. Sorry i am not always the clearest at explaining.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Sorry, had to step away for a bit.
You can find instructions on Ruby Reef Rally here. It is a bath that takes under 90 minutes. Would be best to give the fish the bath prior after you catch them but before they go into a QT. If you haven't already done the FW dip and will have this soon, you can skip it and go straight to the bath.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/acriflavine.282887/
If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading this thread and all of the comments. Shouldn't take too long.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/
As far as other things to pick up, I always keep a copper product (Coppersafe, Copper Power or Cupramine), Prazipro, Metroplex, Kanaplex, and Focus. This covers 90% of what you are likely to encounter.
Keep in mind that these threads for help tend to move fast and can become disjointed. Only you can actually see what is going on with your fish. I recommend against trying to go down every path. You have lots of opinions, some are likely right, some are likely wrong. Do a little research and see what you think makes the most sense. Follow that path. I know its stressful. All you can do is your best.
Amen to that!
Sometimes just slowing down - even in the face of "fast moving" killer diseases - can help to save fish. Mistakes are made when things move too fast.
@Brew12
“As far as other things to pick up, I always keep a copper product (Coppersafe, Copper Power or Cupramine), Prazipro, Metroplex, Kanaplex, and Focus. This covers 90% of what you are likely to encounter.“
I have prazipro and ruby reef. Anything else from this list?
So the ruby reef aka formalin is just for a 90 min bath? And I can continue with prazipro for 30 days?
Also after these 30 days can I put the fish in the tank? Because people say go fallow for 72 days.
“As far as other things to pick up, I always keep a copper product (Coppersafe, Copper Power or Cupramine), Prazipro, Metroplex, Kanaplex, and Focus. This covers 90% of what you are likely to encounter.“
I have prazipro and ruby reef. Anything else from this list?
So the ruby reef aka formalin is just for a 90 min bath? And I can continue with prazipro for 30 days?
Also after these 30 days can I put the fish in the tank? Because people say go fallow for 72 days.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
I would also get a copper product and Metroplex. They can both come in handy in this situation.
Fallow for 72 days is a worst case assuming Ich is in the tank. If this is Brook then you should go fallow for 6 weeks (42 days). I would suggest monitoring the fish after each is given the RRR bath to look for any other symptoms.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
If you did, you would need to transfer them to a second tank after the bath while you cleaned out the tank. I would use a bucket or container with around 1 gallon of water and air stone and heater for the bath. Catch a fish, maybe 2 and do the bath. Move them to the clean QT when done then catch one or two more.
Ok,
I’m setting up everything. Got a 55 gallon and a 10 gallon, 2 HOB, more filter socks for my DT, Ruby Rally, Cupramine, metroplex kana flex and a trap catch the fish also 2 ammonia badges.
I’m gonna fill it up the 10 gallon and use as the bath tank. Gonna separate the fish by species in 5 gallon buckets and bath them accordingly. I’m the meantime I’m gonna setup the 55 gallon for the upcoming weeks to do copper. Can I run the salinity at 1.020 some people say it slows it down.
For the upcoming weeks I’m gonna keep my eyes in the badges and fishes and do the weekly water changes. Is that ok if I use water from my DT to replace the water in the QT?
Brew12
Electrical Gru
I like your plan!
You can use water from the DT for the water in the bath but I wouldn't use it for your final QT system. Since we are relying on the bath to kill Brook you don't want any potentially contaminated water in the clean QT. You should only use old tank water in tanks you will be performing the treatment in. If this was ich or velvet you could use it for everything since the copper would kill it. Copper won't kill Brook, so we need to keep the Brook out of the final QT.
Salinity at 1.020 is just fine. Fish can handle a drop in salinity fairly quickly. It is important to raise salinity slow when you do start bringing it back up. I have some fish in QT right now at 1.018 and will be raising it to 1.026 over the next week.
Weedy Sea Dragon
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I've had my share of losses and it sucks so I sympathize with you. I wish I had some advice to give but this is beyond my scope so I just wanted to offer some words of encouragement.
Your dedication to your tank is admirable and I hope your efforts pay off. And although this is a challenge right now it may turn out to be a valuable learning experience that will ultimately make you a better reefer in the long run. And kudos to everyone who is helping with suggestions and ideas. I'm sure your help is much appreciated.
Your dedication to your tank is admirable and I hope your efforts pay off. And although this is a challenge right now it may turn out to be a valuable learning experience that will ultimately make you a better reefer in the long run. And kudos to everyone who is helping with suggestions and ideas. I'm sure your help is much appreciated.
What test kit do you have for the copper levels?
You'll want to make sure you ramp up the copper levels slowly. It's hard to keep the rise slow when you see fish struggling, but a rapid rise can harm them as much as anything. If they seem overly stressed (beyond the normal stress of moving and such, that is), then you can always give them another bath to buy you some more time to get the levels where they need to be for treatment.
I'm sorry for bothering you again @Brew12. After the DIP with "Formalin" for 90 minutes can I start kick ich or seachem cupramine for the next 4 weeks? Or should I keep dosing daily the formalin also? I have here something else from Seachem called Paraguard. Could I use that to an give an extra layer of protection? If yes can I use paraguard with kick ick or prazipro? Or should just do the Cupramine?
Thanks and I'm sorry for so many questions.
Thanks a lot for the kind words brother.
I got a Hanna Checker just to be on the safe side.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Never apologize for asking questions and it isn't a bother. Just so you know, I won't be available much longer today. I have a pretty full schedule tonight. Fortunately, you have some very knowledgeable people who have already commented and there are others I know who are following along. Just because I may not be able to help, keep asking away, help is available.
I would not dose the formalin. I would keep it, and if you think you still see signs of the Brook you can use it again as another bath in a few days. You can pull them out of the copper to do that bath without issue.
My preference would be to just do the Cupramine for now. It is important to know which fish you have that are remaining. Some fish do not tolerate copper well. Hopefully that won't be an issue.
As this states, raise your copper levels very slowly. That Hanna checker is a game changer for accurately measuring and controlling copper. There is also a lot of great info on using copper here.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/copper-treatment.193343/
Hey Guys,
Have being working all night non-stop finishing everything.
I would to provide a quick feedback regarding the leak of current in the tank. I got a multimeter and tested for both AC and DC (LOL) and the number where 0 or 0.1.
Both QT tanks were setup (heaters, pvc pipes, pumps). One for daily baths as necessary and another one for the fish recover.
So far I have just 5 fish in there (super hard to get these guys). Today I'm gonna try to catch the rest of them. I didn't do a water change since I still have in the system therefore would be a waste of water I guess. If not, please let me know if I should do a water change regardless of still having fish in the DT.
The salinity on those 2 tanks are 1.020. During the first bath I could definitely see stuff coming out of the fish.
I've been reading and someone said that I should a media brick (those to hold bacteria) in my QT if I had one in my DT just to help with ammonia. Is that true? Because as far as I know copper and other medications kill bacteria. They said that was not necessarily true.
Thanks,
Have being working all night non-stop finishing everything.
I would to provide a quick feedback regarding the leak of current in the tank. I got a multimeter and tested for both AC and DC (LOL) and the number where 0 or 0.1.
Both QT tanks were setup (heaters, pvc pipes, pumps). One for daily baths as necessary and another one for the fish recover.
So far I have just 5 fish in there (super hard to get these guys). Today I'm gonna try to catch the rest of them. I didn't do a water change since I still have in the system therefore would be a waste of water I guess. If not, please let me know if I should do a water change regardless of still having fish in the DT.
The salinity on those 2 tanks are 1.020. During the first bath I could definitely see stuff coming out of the fish.
I've been reading and someone said that I should a media brick (those to hold bacteria) in my QT if I had one in my DT just to help with ammonia. Is that true? Because as far as I know copper and other medications kill bacteria. They said that was not necessarily true.
Thanks,
Retro Reefer
Slow and steady wins the race!
I wouldn’t worry about water changes in your DT since your removing fish.. I’m currently nursing some sick fish in QT without biological filtration and I just change about 20% of the water and readjust meds every few days.
Retro Reefer
Slow and steady wins the race!
Ammonia will be a issue in your QT but frequent water changes should keep it in check.. you can use a ammonia badge in the tank to monitor levels and you can also use prime to help keep ammonia levels down if needed between water changes.
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