Hospital tank for ich question

[xdestry]

Hi guys I am about to transfer my fish over to a hospital tank to treat for ich and I have a few questions.

First I have a 3 inch purple tang, yellow watchman goby, bengaii cardinal, and two clownfish. Will these be okay in a 18 gallon tank together?

Second is the only medication I will need Seachem cupramine?

Plan is to have the tank with a heater, hang on back filter, and change water every day to keep ammonia levels down. I will dose according to the instructions on the cupramine and make sure the water i change out also has the same concentration of cupramine in it. Is there anything else I am missing? Thanks!



Edit : whats a good test kit to measure the copper levels for cupramine?

[ARVERLY]

I'd say no because of the purple tang.. Check out Craigslist for larger, cheap tanks..

[pyithar]

seachem and salifert copper test kits will work. i think salifert kit is easier to read when measuring cupramine.
don't use carbon, live rocks, sands etc. rocks and sand will keep absorbing the copper so you'll need to check the level and keep dosing till .5 mg/L

[Pife]

I would not put them in that tank for twelve weeks.

[xdestry]

What size tank would you guys recommend at the very minimum

[tenbears]

30 long should sufficient

[tmz]

Add some pvc peices for hiding/resting places.

[inetmug]

if you are dosing cuprimine, the dosage duration is considered 14 days I think at .05. If you are going to do the 72 day gig on top of it, yeah a bigger tank.

I had both the salifert and seachem test. I actually found the seachem test better as it was easier to read granularity giving that sliding scale color chart.

The key is to really pay attention to the directions and test it daily until you get it dialed in.

[xdestry]

thanks guys i was able to get a 25 gallon tank for the guys, caught the clowns and ocellaris pretty easily but the purple tang is gonna be a pain in the ***.

couple more questions i have

should i raise the temp up a bit higher? i read this might help the ich leave the fish faster. if so how high?

14 days seems to be how long i need to keep up the copper for, after this i will be keeping the fish in the tank for 6 more weeks to leave my dt fallow for the rest of the ich to die off. how often should i be changing the water in the hospital tank?

thanks for your help guys!

[Shivsreef]

I change the water in my qt / hospital every week of 20 percent and it is just rumoured to work in fact for saltwater high temperature speeds up the ich in hatching they only burst in freshwater if you have a uv in the dt great as that will kill of all the free floating ich and 8 week leaving a dt is great as they usually die of in 4 but you should always double this procedure try using some nori or seaweed to catch the tang

[Shivsreef]

That should hopefully coax him to come out especially if it's something like ocean nutrition where it is enriched with garlic

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by xdestry

should i raise the temp up a bit higher? i read this might help the ich leave the fish faster. if so how high?

No. Lowering the temperature will increase dissolved oxygen in the water. Marine ich is temperature insensitive (within ranges we normally use)

14 days seems to be how long i need to keep up the copper for, after this i will be keeping the fish in the tank for 6 more weeks to leave my dt fallow for the rest of the ich to die off. how often should i be changing the water in the hospital tank?

treatment should be one month; and be careful to maintain the exact level of copper that is therapeutic. Your tank should remain fallow for 72 days for maximum safety

thanks for your help guys!

[xdestry]

thanks all for your replies, ill keep my temperature at 79 and do the copper treatment at .5 for 4 weeks then leave the tank fallow for another 6 weeks.

really wish i had not introduced ich, not sure exactly how it got in the tank but probably through chaeto or someone else's water. hopefully this will be the first and last time i will ever have to deal with it. will keep this thread updated with progress results and any questions i have in the future, thanks again!

[JMorris271]

I'm glad you said that about Cheato. I didnt know that

[shesacharmer]

Get an ammonia badge and change your water whenever it tells you to. Your life will be much easier by not guessing.

[Saltwater Hobo]

I agree with Cheato, and live rock when purchased at LFS has the possibility of being loaded with ick and in many cases that is how it is introduced in our DT.

[ca1ore]

Anything is possible, and any wet item could potentially introduce a cyst or two, but unless one can absolutely rule out a fish, that seems more likely.