Quarantine help

[forsytme]

My fish have been in copper quarantine protocol for the past 19 days at a ppm of 2.03-2.1. I moved them to quarantine due to ich outbreak in the DT. When I moved them over the only one showing symptoms was my blue hippo tang. A day after starting treatment all signs of ich were gone. On day 19 my blue hippo tang started showing signs of ich again, one of the groups has now turned brown. I’m not sure what to do? There’s no possible way of contamination from the DT I have been diligent in keeping supplies seperate. Any suggestions? I’m using copper power

 

[forsytme]

My fish have been in copper quarantine protocol for the past 19 days at a ppm of 2.03-2.1. I moved them to quarantine due to ich outbreak in the DT. When I moved them over the only one showing symptoms was my blue hippo tang. A day after starting treatment all signs of ich were gone. On day 19 my blue hippo tang started showing signs of ich again, one of the groups has now turned brown. I’m not sure what to do? There’s no possible way of contamination from the DT I have been diligent in keeping supplies seperate. Any suggestions? I’m using copper power

 

[forsytme]

Also to add, no other fish have shown any symptoms since before treatment started. The white/brown spot was all brown to now brown/white from one day to the next?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Also to add, no other fish have shown any symptoms since before treatment started. The white/brown spot was all brown to now brown/white from one day to the next?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

The brown spots aren’t ich. I do see some larger white spots, but those are mucus plugs, and not ich either.
You should continue the copper treatment for the full 30 days, and consider treating the fish with prazipro for flukes.

Jay

 

[forsytme]

Thanks for the response, she tucked herself into one of the pipes and won’t come out. Not sure she’s going to make it. Just don’t understand what happened but I guess we will see.

 

[tgrick]

Yeah. It's looking like the tang had issues in copper. If possible, I would I would put the tang in a sterile tank alone. No meds of any kind and see if the skin eruptions resolve. I've had great success in moving fish that were infected with ick or velvet out of copper after 15 days. My fish are now years old, fat and always hungry!

Make sure the tank is sterile. Heck, if you wanted too you could use a bucket with an air stone. I prefer a 10 gallon tank with a HOB filter and a plastic clear acrylic cover to slow down evaporation. Again, no meds so we can see if this all goes away. I have seen this before...all fish came out fine when moved to a non medicated environment.

 

[forsytme]

Yeah. It's looking like the tang had issues in copper. If possible, I would I would put the tang in a sterile tank alone. No meds of any kind and see if the skin eruptions resolve. I've had great success in moving fish that were infected with ick or velvet out of copper after 15 days. My fish are now years old, fat and always hungry!

Make sure the tank is sterile. Heck, if you wanted too you could use a bucket with an air stone. I prefer a 10 gallon tank with a HOB filter and a plastic clear acrylic cover to slow down evaporation. Again, no meds so we can see if this all goes away. I have seen this before...all fish came out fine when moved to a non medicated environment.

If I move tang to seperate tank after my 30 days are up and I remove the copper from QT tank can I put the tang back in with the others? Or should I keep her seperate for longer?

 

[tgrick]

Let's back up. If the outbreak took place in the DT, then the tank needs to be fallow for a while. If ICK, then 6 weeks. So, no fish in DT for 42 days.

If you move the tang to a sterile environment, and all spots vanish quickly I think you are safe to return him to the rest of the crew. I have seen a flame angel and purple tank develop skin eruptions that were not ick or velvet, but just sensitivities. I hope this is one of those cases. Let's see what happens when you move him ionto a sterile space.

 

[forsytme]

Okay yeah the outbreak initially was in the DT, I moved them all to the QT tank and they are on day 21 of copper, and that’s when the tang started having issues so after 30 days of copper I was planning to just remove the copper and then keep them in the QT tank until my DT is done with it’s fallow period. So I didn’t know if I move the tang over and it gets better if then I can move it back into the QT tank with the others after I remove the copper and then move them all back into the DT when it’s ready.

 

[tgrick]

Let's focus on what you know.

1) DT needs to be fallow for a while.
2) 21 days of copper is not enough to kill ICK or Velvet, some may still remain just not on the fish. So, it's critical to move fish to a sterile environment after 15 days or more if they have stress or are showing issues, like your tang In reality, after 12 days the fish should be good but it's adding 1% risk and copper MUST BE above 2.0 AT ALL TIMES DURING those 12 plus days.

Here is my take. A tank used for treatment for anything less than 30 days at full copper should be considered still infected! It's the reason why I say move to a sterile tank using NOTHING from the DT and NOTHING from the quarantine/hospital tank. This part is really critical...

 

[forsytme]

Let's focus on what you know.

1) DT needs to be fallow for a while.
2) 21 days of copper is not enough to kill ICK or Velvet, some may still remain just not on the fish. So, it's critical to move fish to a sterile environment after 15 days or more if they have stress or are showing issues, like your tang In reality, after 12 days the fish should be good but it's adding 1% risk and copper MUST BE above 2.0 AT ALL TIMES DURING those 12 plus days.

Here is my take. A tank used for treatment for anything less than 30 days at full copper should be considered still infected! It's the reason why I say move to a sterile tank using NOTHING from the DT and NOTHING from the quarantine/hospital tank. This part is really critical...

Okay, thanks so much. Setting up another sterile tank now so hopefully the tang makes it!

 

[tgrick]

It does not take long if copper or meds are the issue. You will know very quickly. Also, I REALLY suggest you buy large PVC pipe tubes and elbows. Fish seem to do better when they can hide.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the response, she tucked herself into one of the pipes and won’t come out. Not sure she’s going to make it. Just don’t understand what happened but I guess we will see.

Is the tang still coming out for food?
Can you get video and better pictures of the brown patches?

It is NOT the copper that is doing this. Centropyge angels are many times more sensitive to copper than tangs are. I’ve dosed thousands of tangs with copper and never had an adverse reaction. Taking the tang out of an active treatment is a grave mistake if there is an active protozoan disease.

Jay