I have been reading thru this thread with great interest because I am dealing with a similar challenge. I thought I could get away with not quarantining in a new 65 gallon reef tank—my first! The DT had been running fine with my first two fish, an ocellaris and percula clowns. A month after the clowns I added a snowy lawnmower blenny, melanurus wrasse, and sailfin tang.
The blenny did great for two weeks, then one morning I noticed he was breathing very heavily. There were no other obvious symptoms. That evening I found him lying on his side. His color was bleached and the back half of his body towards his tail was a grayish color and his tail fin was disintegrating. He died within a couple of hours. None of the other fish displayed any symptoms including abnormal behavior. In retrospect—that should have been a warning signal.
Thinking the blenny was just an outlier—I added a royal gramma a couple of weeks later. After about a week I noticed white mucus patches starting to form on its body and its eyes began to get cloudy. The sailfin tang now displayed classic Ich white spots on its pectoral fins and body but otherwise behaved normally. It’s a great eater—too good. At this point I knew I needed to take action and set up a 20 gallon QT/hospital tank and began cycling. The two clowns also started to show signs of white mucus patches and their eyes began to cloud over. They along with the gramma lost much of their color. The gramma died before I could begin to treat it. I managed to catch the two clowns in the DT and performed fresh water baths. (They were nearly blind.) The ocellaris was too far gone and only lasted a few more hours. The percula appeared to make a miraculous recovery. The next morning it was nearly its old self again…even started eating. During this time all the spots disappeared on the sailfin tang. It never slowed down. There were times when I thought its breathing was just slightly above normal.
About five days later all the previous symptoms returned to the percula. I gave it another FW bath as I transferred it and the remaining melanurus wrasse, and sailfin tang to the QT. The next morning the clown looked great again. Not knowing for sure what I was dealing with (never saw any flukes during the FW dips but could easily have missed them in the clear container I used)—over the next four days I reduced specific gravity from 1.025 to 1.015 (to deal with potential flukes as well as improve oxygen), temperature from 78 deg to 73 deg. I was still waiting on medications.
In preparation for treating I read thru many of Humble Fish’s threads on disease diagnosis and treatment. I have ordered and received most of the “med cabinet” recommendations (except CP). I have Coppersafe, Cupramine and Cuprion as well as Seachem, Salifert and API Cu test kits. I wasn’t sure which might be best if I went the copper route with the melanurus wrasse. I am pretty convinced I have an Ich problem to deal with. Although, currently the Ich does not appear to be an immediate emergency. The clowns and gramma could have had flukes and they also may have Brook. I have thought long and hard about hypo salinity but am concerned about its effectiveness for all strains of Ich. So I have delayed starting a copper treatment just yet. All three fish appear normal, are eating and behaving reasonably normal considering they have been up routed from their home.
Yesterday, thinking I should deal with Brook if the clown has it, I performed a 90 minute acriflavine bath on all three fish using Ruby Reef Rally (Acriflavine-MS I ordered has not yet arrived). The fish have been in QT for 6 days now and showing no adverse symptoms of any kind. The percula is doing its bobble watching me as I type.
So, after the long winded diatribe above—what course of action should I perform next? Another acriflavine bath at the 3-4 day point. I have PraziPro available too but that treatment does not appear to be the highest priority right now. Given the fact the 20 gal QT is cycling reasonably well (I am performing daily ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests—also have an ammonia alert badge and performing daily 12% water changes) I am reluctant to invest in another tank to perform the TTM. (I will do this for all future fish, however.)
Should I begin a copper treatment, if so, which one? I am concerned about the wrasse but leaning towards using the Cupramine since it appears to be a mainstay. I would slowly ramp it up to a therapeutic level of 0.5 ppm over 5-6 days, obviously observing the fish. Alternatively, given the risk to the wrasse—should I use the Coppersafe and accept the risk it may not be as effective? Once these little guys go back in the DT—I don’t want to have to remove the rocks again to fish them out should Ich return.
The QT has two HOB filters with foam only installed, an air powered internal foam filter and a small powerhead pointed towards the surface. There are no rocks, I have various PVC fittings, but I currently have a glass dish with sand for the wrasse to sleep in. He was less than enthusiastic the first couple nights without it. Should this come out if and when I begin a copper treatment?
Thanks in advance for any guidance, observations.
The blenny did great for two weeks, then one morning I noticed he was breathing very heavily. There were no other obvious symptoms. That evening I found him lying on his side. His color was bleached and the back half of his body towards his tail was a grayish color and his tail fin was disintegrating. He died within a couple of hours. None of the other fish displayed any symptoms including abnormal behavior. In retrospect—that should have been a warning signal.
Thinking the blenny was just an outlier—I added a royal gramma a couple of weeks later. After about a week I noticed white mucus patches starting to form on its body and its eyes began to get cloudy. The sailfin tang now displayed classic Ich white spots on its pectoral fins and body but otherwise behaved normally. It’s a great eater—too good. At this point I knew I needed to take action and set up a 20 gallon QT/hospital tank and began cycling. The two clowns also started to show signs of white mucus patches and their eyes began to cloud over. They along with the gramma lost much of their color. The gramma died before I could begin to treat it. I managed to catch the two clowns in the DT and performed fresh water baths. (They were nearly blind.) The ocellaris was too far gone and only lasted a few more hours. The percula appeared to make a miraculous recovery. The next morning it was nearly its old self again…even started eating. During this time all the spots disappeared on the sailfin tang. It never slowed down. There were times when I thought its breathing was just slightly above normal.
About five days later all the previous symptoms returned to the percula. I gave it another FW bath as I transferred it and the remaining melanurus wrasse, and sailfin tang to the QT. The next morning the clown looked great again. Not knowing for sure what I was dealing with (never saw any flukes during the FW dips but could easily have missed them in the clear container I used)—over the next four days I reduced specific gravity from 1.025 to 1.015 (to deal with potential flukes as well as improve oxygen), temperature from 78 deg to 73 deg. I was still waiting on medications.
In preparation for treating I read thru many of Humble Fish’s threads on disease diagnosis and treatment. I have ordered and received most of the “med cabinet” recommendations (except CP). I have Coppersafe, Cupramine and Cuprion as well as Seachem, Salifert and API Cu test kits. I wasn’t sure which might be best if I went the copper route with the melanurus wrasse. I am pretty convinced I have an Ich problem to deal with. Although, currently the Ich does not appear to be an immediate emergency. The clowns and gramma could have had flukes and they also may have Brook. I have thought long and hard about hypo salinity but am concerned about its effectiveness for all strains of Ich. So I have delayed starting a copper treatment just yet. All three fish appear normal, are eating and behaving reasonably normal considering they have been up routed from their home.
Yesterday, thinking I should deal with Brook if the clown has it, I performed a 90 minute acriflavine bath on all three fish using Ruby Reef Rally (Acriflavine-MS I ordered has not yet arrived). The fish have been in QT for 6 days now and showing no adverse symptoms of any kind. The percula is doing its bobble watching me as I type.
So, after the long winded diatribe above—what course of action should I perform next? Another acriflavine bath at the 3-4 day point. I have PraziPro available too but that treatment does not appear to be the highest priority right now. Given the fact the 20 gal QT is cycling reasonably well (I am performing daily ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests—also have an ammonia alert badge and performing daily 12% water changes) I am reluctant to invest in another tank to perform the TTM. (I will do this for all future fish, however.)
Should I begin a copper treatment, if so, which one? I am concerned about the wrasse but leaning towards using the Cupramine since it appears to be a mainstay. I would slowly ramp it up to a therapeutic level of 0.5 ppm over 5-6 days, obviously observing the fish. Alternatively, given the risk to the wrasse—should I use the Coppersafe and accept the risk it may not be as effective? Once these little guys go back in the DT—I don’t want to have to remove the rocks again to fish them out should Ich return.
The QT has two HOB filters with foam only installed, an air powered internal foam filter and a small powerhead pointed towards the surface. There are no rocks, I have various PVC fittings, but I currently have a glass dish with sand for the wrasse to sleep in. He was less than enthusiastic the first couple nights without it. Should this come out if and when I begin a copper treatment?
Thanks in advance for any guidance, observations.
