srfisher17
Active Member
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/2910865
A QT without treatment guarantees you nothing. You just hope whatever cooties they are carrying will be noted in that close obervation period. This period in their life is also very stressfull... a perfect time for some infestations to show their ugly face.
A QT without treatment does not guard against introducing ich into your tank no matter how lengthy the QT period.
If you use copper (or hypo) in QT; I'll bet its 99.99% effective. I don't belong to the school that believes ich appears out of thin air. It has a definite life-cycle and life-span and if you break the cycle, you've eliminated the living organism. I see absolutely no reason NOT to use copper in QT, most of the time. Not with inverts of the few fish that are very copper-sensitive (ie Flame Angels). I know many folks are scared to death of copper, but a good brand (I like SeaChem Cupramine) and careful monitoring of copper levels (use a SeaChem test kit) makes it very safe. The range between effective and dangerous levels of Cupramine is significant. I sound like a broken record, but I don't understand why using copper in QT isn't common practice with most hobbiests. I know it is used by most online dealers,collectors, shippers,wholesalers, many LFS, and many hobbiests. Unfortunately, the fish aren't exposed to copper long enough at any of these stops to assure results. Again, I've done this for years and have never suspected any fish loss due to using copper in QT.
Edit: I missed the "without treatment" part of the post, sorry.
http:///forum/post/2910865
A QT without treatment guarantees you nothing. You just hope whatever cooties they are carrying will be noted in that close obervation period. This period in their life is also very stressfull... a perfect time for some infestations to show their ugly face.
A QT without treatment does not guard against introducing ich into your tank no matter how lengthy the QT period.
If you use copper (or hypo) in QT; I'll bet its 99.99% effective. I don't belong to the school that believes ich appears out of thin air. It has a definite life-cycle and life-span and if you break the cycle, you've eliminated the living organism. I see absolutely no reason NOT to use copper in QT, most of the time. Not with inverts of the few fish that are very copper-sensitive (ie Flame Angels). I know many folks are scared to death of copper, but a good brand (I like SeaChem Cupramine) and careful monitoring of copper levels (use a SeaChem test kit) makes it very safe. The range between effective and dangerous levels of Cupramine is significant. I sound like a broken record, but I don't understand why using copper in QT isn't common practice with most hobbiests. I know it is used by most online dealers,collectors, shippers,wholesalers, many LFS, and many hobbiests. Unfortunately, the fish aren't exposed to copper long enough at any of these stops to assure results. Again, I've done this for years and have never suspected any fish loss due to using copper in QT.
Edit: I missed the "without treatment" part of the post, sorry.
