Ich in my QT?

honu808

honu808

Member
I went through a whole battle of ich with all my fish. Went fishless in display for 7 weeks and treated all fish in qt with cupramine.
I recently purchased a yellow mimic tang and a medium size coral beauty from a lfs. They had the two fish for a whole month before I bought them.
I learned my lesson before so I put new fish in qt on sunday. Today at about 1pm I looked in on them and I saw little white spots on angels head. I tried to get a pic but cannot see spots in pic. Both fish eat like pigs and act normal. No scraping or flashing. Only thing in tank beside hob filter and heater is a small piece of pvc pipe and a veggie clip, NO substrate.
Since I still see spots Im wondering if its actually ich or not since don't they normally drop off fish in the a.m.? I cant see how ich would be in the qt since I did run cupramine in it. I did a total water replacement so there are no readable levels of cupramine left.
Should I do hypo anyway since I cant treat with cupramine?
 
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honu808

honu808

Member
Yes I have a refractometer. I think its the safest way to go just to be sure. I think Beth has said before, once I slowly reach 1.009 and then wait 2 weeks after I see the last spots on the fish, then slowly bring salinity back up.
 
silverado61

silverado61

Well-Known Member
I would think it depends on the size of the qt. The smaller the tank, the quicker the salinity rises. In my 36g qt, the actual water level drops slower than my 10g hatchery. I think it has to do with the total volume.
 
honu808

honu808

Member
Im almost to 1.009 now. I wish Beth would chime in.
I was told on another site to use cupramine; although i have always been told that angels cant take cupramine/ copper.
 
trigger40

trigger40

Well-Known Member
silverado61 said:
I replace about 2qts a day in my 36g but I guess it depends on the environment the tank is in.
Click to expand...
2qts!!! i gess im lucky its humid wher i live. a top off is something i do every other day. and its maybe only a cup or two of water on all my tanks.

honu808, i am doing hypo in my qt as well. i find it very helpfull to keep the salinity just below 1.009 just so that you have a little room for error. good choice going with hypo. copper destroys fishes insides, especialy tangs and angels.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I've read through the topic and the process so far seems appropriate. Hypo is indeed the safest and healthiest treatment for ich and equally effective as copper. You want to watch salinity (ppt) and specific gravity (at 1.009) daily as well as pH which should stay no lower than 8.0. Fish will likely be more hungry due to the changes in their metabolism caused by the lower salinity. The countdown for hypo begins once you are certain that all spots have dropped from all fish. Min 3 wks not 2 wks. I like to use a magnifying glass to check the fish out to ensure that spots are indeed gone. Treatment with copper and hypo will not effect the parasite until the parasites drop off the fish, so you may well see more spots on the fish before they start to clear. If you replace water in small increments you can remove around 5-8 gals daily and then replace slowly over the course of the day. As long as your fish are not showing signs of stress, then proceed with that. If they are stressed just add the water in smaller increments.

How is the water conditions in the QT?
 
honu808

honu808

Member
Thank you Again Beth. I will adhere to your instructions. Im glad you chimed in and clarified 3 NOT 2 weeks after drop off of parasite.
Right now trates, trites and amm are zero. I will recheck ph later.
 
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