Quarantine Treatment Length

[underthereef]

Hey,

I started quarantining my first fish (4 Banggai Cardinals) and observed them for the first few days. Now I am starting my Cupramine preventative treatment.

My question is how long do I need to run copper at therapeutic levels before the fish are clean for the display tank which is clean and new?

I keep reading conflicting information. I know a lot of people say to quarantine for 30 days to be safe and because the complete lifecycle of ich. But what I am reading and what logic tells me is that the fish is clean after 10-14 days of theraputic Copper. So if my display tank is clean, wouldn't I be safe to transfer the fish from QT to DT after running Copper for 14 days and PraziPro for 7 days in QT?

I've read people say that the fish is cured in the 14 days and you can transfer to a clean QT. But wouldn't I be doing essentially the same thing by moving into the clean DT?

Or am I missing something? I'd love to hear what everyone has to say regarding this. Thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey,

I started quarantining my first fish (4 Banggai Cardinals) and observed them for the first few days. Now I am starting my Cupramine preventative treatment.

My question is how long do I need to run copper at therapeutic levels before the fish are clean for the display tank which is clean and new?

I keep reading conflicting information. I know a lot of people say to quarantine for 30 days to be safe and because the complete lifecycle of ich. But what I am reading and what logic tells me is that the fish is clean after 10-14 days of theraputic Copper. So if my display tank is clean, wouldn't I be safe to transfer the fish from QT to DT after running Copper for 14 days and PraziPro for 7 days in QT?

Or am I missing something? I'd love to hear what everyone has to say regarding this. Thanks!

Take a look at our current quarantine protocol in the sticky section at the top of the fish disease section.
Copper doesn’t kill the ich tomont stage. 30 days is safer then, giving time for the tomonts to release theronts that the copper can kill.
Jay

 

[underthereef]

Take a look at our current quarantine protocol in the sticky section at the top of the fish disease section.
Copper doesn’t kill the ich tomont stage. 30 days is safer then, giving time for the tomonts to release theronts that the copper can kill.
Jay

Yes, I’ve read through that before. But that’s what I’m confused about is that it doesn’t matter that ich in the tomont stage is still alive in the QT tank; they are not on the fish. if the fish are no longer infected after 14 days with theronts then isn’t the fish itself okay to move? That’s what I’m looking for clarification on and yearning to learn more about the science behind why this would be incorrect?

I understand the “better safe than sorry” aspect to this but scientifically I’m just curious and trying to learn deeper why this would or would not be true.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes, I’ve read through that before. But that’s what I’m confused about is that it doesn’t matter that ich in the tomont stage is still alive in the QT tank; they are not on the fish. if the fish are no longer infected after 14 days with theronts then isn’t the fish itself okay to move? That’s what I’m looking for clarification on and yearning to learn more about the science behind why this would be incorrect?

I understand the “better safe than sorry” aspect to this but scientifically I’m just curious and trying to learn deeper why this would or would not be true.

The trouble is, you can't see any of this going on, so you don't know if there are still tomonts in the tank, or if any of the theronts managed to land on a fish and form a trophont. With the protocol I use, 30 days of copper plus 14 days or prazi, plus 14 days observation, you can be virtually certain that there are no viable tomonts in the tank.

My thought is - why rush it? The fish is in your care to enjoy in the QT anyway, so there shouldn't be any rush in getting it into your DT. The only time I advocate to speed things up is if the QT isn't stable (high ammonia, etc.) .

One extra trick - if you DO decide the speed things up, redose the copper for 24 to 36 hours before you move the fish out. Some public aquariums do that as an added safety measure, in that the second dose of copper will kill any theronts that might emerge, and any tomonts left in the tank won't matter.

Jay