Hi Reef2Reef, I've been in a bit of a knotty situation ... I've had a young springer's damselfish in the quarantine for almost 70 days now, but I'm not sure if I should transfer this fish to my display.
At first I had this damselfish and two neon gobies together, all juvenile. The two neon gobies died in the quarantine. I'm not sure if the damsel now carries whatever had killed the neon gobies, though he looks perfectly healthy to me and is eating well.
I've already treated them for marine ich, velvet and flukes, though this doesn't completely rule out the presence of these parasites. Both neon gobies used to eat well but one day they would stop eating out of the blue to be found dead the next day. The larger goby wasn't thin. The smaller goby was extremely thin and had white stringy poop a little before dying, which I attempted to treat with MetroPlex. The larger goby had a white spot (1-2mm) on the belly and the smaller had the same thing inside its mouth when they died. I dipped the smaller goby in freshwater and it didn't reveal flukes.
Here's what happened so far:
Day 1-5 I made sure they were eating well.
Day 6 Began Cupramine treatment. Raised the level by 0.05mg/L per day.
Day 9 Reached the therapeutic level for velvet (0.20mg/L).
Day 12 Reached the therapeutic level for marine ich (0.35mg/L).
Day 13 Reached the target concentration (0.40mg/L).
Day 25 Moved only the fish to the new nonmedicated quarantine. Didn't lower the copper level in the old quarantine before doing so.
Day 33 PraziPro first round.
Day 40 PraziPro second round, but before I dosed the med I found the larger neon goby dead on the bottom.
Day 46 Started MetroPlex food because I saw stringy poop on the smaller neon goby.
Day 47 PraziPro third round.
Day 54 I found the smaller neon goby dead.
I tested copper levels using Seachem kit so I think the concentration was accurate enough.
I began to see white worms on the edge of the quarantine and under PVC pipes after I started MetroPlex food. I've removed at least 40 worms from the tank but I'd always find at least one the next day. I'm still feeding MetroPlex food to the damselfish.
Also, in an article linked from this forum I found velvet has better copper detoxification methods than some other parasites, a strain requiring a dose of 1.2 ppm. Is it possible I came across such copper resistant strains of velvet, or perhaps ... did I raise copper level so slowly that the parasites happened to have enough time to adjust?
My damselfish shows no symptoms at all, but I'm not surprised if he carries velvet. I've seen many springer's damselfish (not this individual) thrive for months in a store infested with velvet ... tough species.
What should I do? It can be devastating if I add him to the display while he harbors velvet, but am I worrying too much? If I have to retry medication I've got Cupramine and CP, but for CP I only have Ick Shield and can't seem to get pharmaceutical grade CP (unhelpful vets and companies ;Sour). Or should I somehow add another fish to the quarantine to confirm the damsel is velvet-free, or just move the damsel to the display and hope for the best?
Thanks!
At first I had this damselfish and two neon gobies together, all juvenile. The two neon gobies died in the quarantine. I'm not sure if the damsel now carries whatever had killed the neon gobies, though he looks perfectly healthy to me and is eating well.
I've already treated them for marine ich, velvet and flukes, though this doesn't completely rule out the presence of these parasites. Both neon gobies used to eat well but one day they would stop eating out of the blue to be found dead the next day. The larger goby wasn't thin. The smaller goby was extremely thin and had white stringy poop a little before dying, which I attempted to treat with MetroPlex. The larger goby had a white spot (1-2mm) on the belly and the smaller had the same thing inside its mouth when they died. I dipped the smaller goby in freshwater and it didn't reveal flukes.
Here's what happened so far:
Day 1-5 I made sure they were eating well.
Day 6 Began Cupramine treatment. Raised the level by 0.05mg/L per day.
Day 9 Reached the therapeutic level for velvet (0.20mg/L).
Day 12 Reached the therapeutic level for marine ich (0.35mg/L).
Day 13 Reached the target concentration (0.40mg/L).
Day 25 Moved only the fish to the new nonmedicated quarantine. Didn't lower the copper level in the old quarantine before doing so.
Day 33 PraziPro first round.
Day 40 PraziPro second round, but before I dosed the med I found the larger neon goby dead on the bottom.
Day 46 Started MetroPlex food because I saw stringy poop on the smaller neon goby.
Day 47 PraziPro third round.
Day 54 I found the smaller neon goby dead.
I tested copper levels using Seachem kit so I think the concentration was accurate enough.
I began to see white worms on the edge of the quarantine and under PVC pipes after I started MetroPlex food. I've removed at least 40 worms from the tank but I'd always find at least one the next day. I'm still feeding MetroPlex food to the damselfish.
Also, in an article linked from this forum I found velvet has better copper detoxification methods than some other parasites, a strain requiring a dose of 1.2 ppm. Is it possible I came across such copper resistant strains of velvet, or perhaps ... did I raise copper level so slowly that the parasites happened to have enough time to adjust?
My damselfish shows no symptoms at all, but I'm not surprised if he carries velvet. I've seen many springer's damselfish (not this individual) thrive for months in a store infested with velvet ... tough species.
What should I do? It can be devastating if I add him to the display while he harbors velvet, but am I worrying too much? If I have to retry medication I've got Cupramine and CP, but for CP I only have Ick Shield and can't seem to get pharmaceutical grade CP (unhelpful vets and companies ;Sour). Or should I somehow add another fish to the quarantine to confirm the damsel is velvet-free, or just move the damsel to the display and hope for the best?
Thanks!