Copper or hypo??

[mariahcolleen]

Ok so I have three fish with ich, a royal gramma, a fire goby, and an ocellaris clown. I have them in a 20 gal hospital tank. I am unsure whether to use hypo or copper. The main problem with hypo is that I do not have a refractometer and can't get one sooner than several days because I live in a rural area an would have to buy online. Anybody had any success withusing copper on these kinds of fish?

[godsdoc]

I have had good success treating clownfish with cupramine by sea chem. It is supposed to be easier on the fish than the traditional copper treatments. Also it doesn't dissipate so you don't have to keep adding more to keep the levels up like with copper.
I have found that I have fewer issues with illness if I quarantine my fish before putting them into the display. The last few times I have quarantined fish I have started using lifeguard by instant ocean which is supposed to help remedy several things and is a tablet that you add to the aquarium daily for five days and then do a 25% water change on day 7. I think it seems to work pretty good so far.
Good Luck

[iceman14555]

I've heard that a quick freshwater bath will work for most cases too, to dislodge the parasites and pop any cysts, haven't done it but have seen it done. Just setup 1-3 gallons of treated freshwater or RO/DI with some sort of additive in it. Make sure to get the PH of the freshwater as close to your tank as possible +/- 0.5 by using a buffer or even baking soda. remove all infected fish and give them a 1 - 2 minute freshwater bath. Then it's good to move your fish to a treatment tank for observation, dosing with copper can be bad for your main tank, i've heard. NEVER put the freshwater from the bath into your saltwater or you'll just be putting the parasites back in the water and they can come back to life if returned to saltwater. Hope this helps a little and hope it gives you a baseline for some research. Good luck!

[TheAquatect]

Consider the tank transfer method. A FW dip won't cure them. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...90&postcount=1

[MrTuskfish]

Originally Posted by iceman14555

I've heard that a quick freshwater bath will work for most cases too, to dislodge the parasites and pop any cysts, haven't done it but have seen it done. Just setup 1-3 gallons of treated freshwater or RO/DI with some sort of additive in it. Make sure to get the PH of the freshwater as close to your tank as possible +/- 0.5 by using a buffer or even baking soda. remove all infected fish and give them a 1 - 2 minute freshwater bath. Then it's good to move your fish to a treatment tank for observation, dosing with copper can be bad for your main tank, i've heard. NEVER put the freshwater from the bath into your saltwater or you'll just be putting the parasites back in the water and they can come back to life if returned to saltwater. Hope this helps a little and hope it gives you a baseline for some research. Good luck!

Please read the ich stickies in the disease section. Knowing the ich life-cycle will make sense of the rest of this post.

Dips do nothing for ich. There are no cysts on the fish that pop. The white spots are just tissue left from the parasite entering the fish. The parasite itself is well under the skin. FW dips can give some temporary relief from velvet; not ich. This is one of several myths about ich.

[MrTuskfish]

Originally Posted by TheAquatect

Consider the tank transfer method. A FW dip won't cure them. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...90&postcount=1

+1 TT is an easy, fool-proow way to cure ick.

To the OP: I'd re-post this in the disease section.

[gone fishin]

+1 on the tank transfer method. Hypo can be very difficult to pull off. If you fail then you have to start all over with treatment. FW dips do nothing whatsoever for ich. As stated above read the ich sticky. I had one case of ich about 3 years ago when starting out. This was before I new about QT. Never had another case of ich or illness in my DT since. Just my 2 cents

[sleepydoc]

Originally Posted by MrTuskfish

+1 TT is an easy, fool-proow way to cure ick.

Idunno - some of us are pretty foolish!

[mariahcolleen]

Thanks guys! I will read up on the tank transfer method. I like the idea of not adding chemicals to fix the problem.

[EllieSuz]

You haven't said whether these three infected fish are the only ones in the display tank. If they came out of your display tank and other fish were left behind, the remaining fish will be infected also. Your display tank has to be left fallow (fishless) for ten weeks. If the three infected fish are the only ones in the display, it still has to be left fallow, so even when they have finished their treatment, whatever you choose to do, plan on keeping them in the hospital tank for the duration.

[mariahcolleen]

Originally Posted by EllieSuz

You haven't said whether these three infected fish are the only ones in the display tank. If they came out of your display tank and other fish were left behind, the remaining fish will be infected also. Your display tank has to be left fallow (fishless) for ten weeks. If the three infected fish are the only ones in the display, it still has to be left fallow, so even when they have finished their treatment, whatever you choose to do, plan on keeping them in the hospital tank for the duration.

I am aware of that. The three fish are the only fish I have. The clown shows no symptoms but I removed him from the dt for that reason. The dt will be fallow for 10 weeks.

[EllieSuz]

I see I was preaching to the choir, mariahcolleen. Glad to hear you're a step ahead of me.