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brandoncena

brandoncena

Member
my fish were all fine and now i looked at them and my blue tang and my corral beauty both have major ick and i dont want to flush them but i dont want my other fish to catch the ick and i dont have a qurintine tank so what should i do ????
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
copper is very easy to overdose and tangs don't generally do well with copper. if you dosed it according to the instructions, you probably overdosed. and like Ryan said, the whole tank needs to be treated. you have also very likely killed any live rock or inverts that you have because only fish can handle copper. sorry, but I think you probably overreacted. take a good slow breath, they aren't going to die from ich suddenly, just have a plan in place. hyposalinity, imo, is much preferable to copper.
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
I don't know how much live rock, etc you have, but since you've already used copper, you might as well just do hypo in the main tank which will save some time and trouble. if you don't know how to do hypo, go to the disease forum and look at Beth's stickied post. hypo is lowering the SG down to 1.009 over the course of 3 days and keeping it there for at least 3-4 weeks before raising the SG back up. you'll also need to monitor the PH and possibly add a PH buffer during that time. you may need to find Beth, because I don't know if hypo on top of copper is advisable. I'd definitely say that copper was not the best course of action.
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
Originally Posted by BrandonCena
i have a fish only tank and i did do it as the instructions told me so what should i do know

I donl;t know if you have any saltwater mixed and ready to go or not, but if the fish are responding badly to the copper, you may need to do some kind of water change to cut down on the copper levels in the tank. don't know if you have one, but you definitely need a copper test to find out exactly what the copper level is. also, don't separate the fish, because like Ryan said, all the fish need treatment.
now that I've thought about it, I don't think I would try hypo on top of copper because all that stress would probably be too much. just monitor the copper levels and try to lower some if the fish are acting badly. I have heard to dose less than the instructions call for because it's easy to overdose and tangs and angels don't do great with it.
 
brandoncena

brandoncena

Member
i dont have a copper test kit so how much % of water change u think i should do ? ??? and how should i treat the whole tank then
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
Originally Posted by BrandonCena
i dont have a copper test kit so how much % of water change u think i should do ? ??? and how should i treat the whole tank then
are the fish acting like death is imminent? if not, I would hold off until tomorrow morning when you can go get a copper test and start mixing some water in the meantime while monitoring their current state. if they look like they're dying NOW and you have some water mixed already, maybe change out 5% or somewhere in that range. it's hard to say without knowing the exact level. and even then, maybe not a tremendous decrease. just be absolutely sure you don't overdose and try to dose lower than the instructions call for.
EDIT: when did they first get ich? was it like today? if so, they are likely not going to die from ich tonight. they can be absolutely covered, and it can look bad, but it usually takes a few days to kill them. so when I say, "how do they look?", I don't mean the spots. I mean, how are the fish breathing, swimming, acting in general?
 
brandoncena

brandoncena

Member
thanks and no they dont look like there dying because they are acting the same and still eating so i will do that thank you
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
one more thing, is this in a 29 gallon? if so, that's entirely too small for a blue tang and yellow tang. after the treatment is over, you should consider trading them for something smaller. the stress of 2 tangs in such a small area is probably what triggered the ich to begin with. no flaming, just advising.
 
brandoncena

brandoncena

Member
Originally Posted by Pontius
are the fish acting like death is imminent? if not, I would hold off until tomorrow morning when you can go get a copper test and start mixing some water in the meantime while monitoring their current state. if they look like they're dying NOW and you have some water mixed already, maybe change out 5% or somewhere in that range. it's hard to say without knowing the exact level. and even then, maybe not a tremendous decrease. just be absolutely sure you don't overdose and try to dose lower than the instructions call for.
EDIT: when did they first get ich? was it like today? if so, they are likely not going to die from ich tonight. they can be absolutely covered, and it can look bad, but it usually takes a few days to kill them. so when I say, "how do they look?", I don't mean the spots. I mean, how are the fish breathing, swimming, acting in general?

they are acting the same and its not a major case of ick just each has like 6 dots on it and the blue tang had it for like 2 weeks and ive been trying to cure it with quick cure and that didnt work so i recently bught copper and that mad it worse and my corral beauty just got the ick today
 
brandoncena

brandoncena

Member
Originally Posted by Pontius
one more thing, is this in a 29 gallon? if so, that's entirely too small for a blue tang and yellow tang. after the treatment is over, you should consider trading them for something smaller. the stress of 2 tangs in such a small area is probably what triggered the ich to begin with. no flaming, just advising.

yea but im getting a 125 in like a month i have it halfway paid off
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
The 29 will make a good QT for the 125 when you get it. Because you allready used copper in it, use it for a Qt after the hypo!
 
brandoncena

brandoncena

Member
Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
The 29 will make a good QT for the 125 when you get it. Because you allready used copper in it, use it for a Qt after the hypo!


can i do hypo on top of copper and if so how do u do hypo?
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
Originally Posted by BrandonCena
can i do hypo on top of copper and if so how do u do hypo?
I don't think I would do it on top of copper due to the added stress, but hunt Beth down and ask her.
the detailed instructions for hypo is in the disease forum. but like I said above, it's a process of lowering the SG down to 1.009 over a 48 hour period by removing tank water and adding freshwater. you then have to keep the SG at 1.009 for at least 3-4 weeks for the ich to go through the whole lifecycle process and die (the ich don't die while on the fish, only after falling off the fish into the tank). you have to be carefull about the ph and make sure it doesn't fall. I've always used a ph buffer when doing hypo.
 
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