How Long Should i keep my tang in copper safe?

fedukeford

Active Member
Originally Posted by unleashed
good thing you used the coppersafe it also cure velvet keep in at least 30 day.velvet is a paresite that is more difficult to treat than normal ich.
fedukeford it is never good to leave fish in copper, i would take it out right now, and try a less stressful way to cure it :
there is no other way to kill velvet its like the ######### of fish paresites. as for stressful there is no other less stressful effective treatment effective against these paresites than coppersafe its one dose and is effective for a full 30 days and is not effected by use of normal filter media(carbons) unlike any other treatment available. i have treated my agressive tank with this product 2 times and that tank not only has a puffer fish but also eels do you know how lethal a normal copper treatment is to eels? my eels any my spiney boxfish puffer(which was cured of ich) and my eels were and are still fine.
ok sorry i didnt know it was the only way to kill velvet
 

madswife

Member
Originally Posted by Beth
This fish does not have velvet, or it would be dead already. Is it ich? The pictures you provide are blury and I just can't tell. If it is ich, then go with hyposalinity. You could go with hyposalinity anyway at this point, even if it is not ich. Just to reduce stress. Do you have a refractometer?
Try to scale down those pictures, otherwise, its kinda hard to read the posts having to go back and forth.
Do you have a digital camera? To get clear pictures? Or, give some very specific details about those spots. Use a magnifying glass to look at the fish to get details.
I'd do a water change at this point, to dilute the coppersafe out. If you start hyposalinity, then that will do for the water change. How are your water readings in that tank? Get as much circulation going in the tank that you can that would still be comfortable for the fish.
Are the spots spreading? Or are they the same ones?
OK thank you Beth. No i do not have a refractometer but i have two hydrometers and i know how much each one is off by so when i test if i dont get the same numbers then i know theres bubbles or something on one of them. I will also try to get some better pictures, yes it is a digi cam but it keeps focusing on the back wall but ill try to fix that with a back ground on the back of the tank. All the readings are at 0 and i have 2 power filters on the back for ciculation, one i think around 100gph and the other more but i have not idea how much but i do know its rated up to 55 gallons. In the smaller one i have a carbon pack thing and in the bigger one i just have that cotton floss stuff. Also in the tank i have a peice of my "Dead Coral" decoration that had lots of algea growing on it. I put it in there because he still refuses to eat the flake food and the algea sheets that i put in there. Also to help to get him to eat i should use fresh garlic instead of the extreme correct?
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
You need to set the dig for macro...in case you didn't know. Turn off the light flash.
Are those hydrometers glass? If not, and they are the plastic swingarms, then throw them away and get a glass hydrometer. I would also recommend that while you can start to bring down you salinity with the glass hydrometer, you should go ahead and order the refract. It is well worth the money, and not just for hypo. Of course with hypo, you need to watch pH.
What about the spots? Spread? Gotten bigger? The same? Irregular shape? Smooth?
 

madswife

Member
Ok i got some better pics this time...seems to me that the spots have multiplied since yesterday but since i didnt get anygood pics yesterday i cant really comapre them. The new pics are at the beginning http://photobucket.com/albums/j117/Madmansfish/ while im at the fs today ill see if i can get a floating glass hydrometer and then order a refractometer online sometime here.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Well, that does not look like ich either. Perhaps a burrowing parasite. If this fish is stressed, it would not hurt to do the hyposalinity anyway. How is he doing in the QT?
 

madswife

Member
He was hiding alot earlier but he sems to be out more now but he stays in one area mostly and doesnt seem to swim to the other side of the tank much. Also how fast should i lower the salinity in the tank? Also should i keep the copper in there or will the hypo take care of it do you think? Also should i get the seachem cupramean because i think im going up there later today. Thanks Agian!!!
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
The copper will dilute as you bring the tank into hypo. Gradually lower the tank over 2 days, in small, but frequent incrememts. Be sure to test pH as you go. Is he eating at all?
How do you have your QT set up? Be sure to keep a grounding probed installed in the QT...espeically while the tank is in there.
 

madswife

Member
No i dont have a grounding probe. Can i make one or do i have to buy it? And yes he is eating the algea off of the dead peice of coral.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Are you feeding him? How about algae sheets? Are you feeding?
Grounding probe is only around $12 and is good to have where all tangs and angels are present. In fact, for safety sake, one should be installed in all tanks.
 

madswife

Member
Ok ill look around for a grounding probe. I tried algea sheets and he doesnt seem interested in them so i take them out. so no im not feeding him he just grazes whenever he wants to and yes i have seen him eating. Bad news though my copperband has ich. And yes i can gaurantee that it is ich and not whatever the tang has so ill be treating him too.
 

madswife

Member
Would it be better to try and take care of the ich by fresh water dips instead of putting him in qt and possibly giving the tang ich also?
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
At best, FW dips will only kill of "some" ich attached, but definitely not all. Did not know that all your fish had been exposed to ich.
That is a horse of different color? Has this tang been exposed, or was he in the QT before going to display?
Are you saying that you are not feeding this tang? Food is a very important component to health, and tangs have specialized dietary needs that you need to address.
 

madman33

Member
Originally Posted by Beth
At best, FW dips will only kill of "some" ich attached, but definitely not all. Did not know that all your fish had been exposed to ich.
That is a horse of different color? Has this tang been exposed, or was he in the QT before going to display?
Are you saying that you are not feeding this tang? Food is a very important component to health, and tangs have specialized dietary needs that you need to address.
Ok first off sorry its me i was kicked for and unknown reason. I dont think i did anything and if i did im sorry. Ok but yes once again he is grazing on algea and is taking the occasion flake that floats by. Also i have not put the copperband in yet (he is acclimating) so should i? What do you mean by that is a horse of different color? also the tang has not been exposed to ich yet. Again sorry for anything i did to get kicked this time.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
You are a previously banned member, this is why you were banned. If you want to make a new start, you might try not identifying yourself as a previously banned member.

Anyway, you need to work on improving that diet. No flakes. Get some good quality food. Add variety to the diet to include high quality proteins [meaty foods] as well as algae. Start target feeding that fish 3x a day, At least 1 feeding a day with fresh garlic, or all feedings if you fish will go for the garlic. If they will actually eat the minced garlic, feed it to them. It MUST be fresh. Take a look at the garlic info-post in the FAQ Thread at the top of this forum. In fact, do this for all your fish right now.
All fish exposed to ich should be treated. How to go about it, is another story. How many fish do you have that have been exposed to ich?
What is the size of your QT? Do you have LR in your display?
 

madman33

Member
Yes i have lr and inverts in my display. Fish that have been exposed are the copper band, gsm and a fuzzy dwarf lion. The QT is only 10 so im not sure if it would wok with all of them in there. I may be able to set up a 29 but it is currently being used for fw and i would have to take it down. Also thats like doing a giant water change even if i do put some fresh uncycled saltwater in with the display water. Ill see if the tang will eat garlic. Also right now for meaty foods i have frozen mysis and frozen krill. I have not started the hypo yet i was going to start tonight when acclimating the butterfly but if you recomend something else i dont have to do the hypo. Either way is fine with me. Thanks Again for all fo your help!!! Im greatly endebted(sp?) to you :)
 

madman33

Member
Ok i brought it dwon to 1.016 tonight and i will do the rest tomarrow and possibly the next day if need be. Also the copper is in there now and the kole tang seemed to like the mysis shrimp that im feeding the copperband so thats good. I also gave garlic to them(I soaked the mysis but then just put some minced garlic in) and the tang tried a small peice, ate it, then tried a bigger one and spit it out. I didnt notice the butterfly eating any of the garlic.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I don't know what to tell you about dealing with all the ich. You could move all your LR and inverts to a large rubbermaid with some PHs for circulation and treat all fish in the display. This will be major water changes to bring the display into hyposalinity conditions.
This is why a QT is so important before adding fish to tank.
 

madman33

Member
Originally Posted by Beth
This is why a QT is so important before adding fish to tank.
Thr thing is though this is a new out break. Non of these fish were very recently added. All were in qt for 2 or 3 weeks with no signs of anything and the tang was neveradded to the display so im not sure where it came from. Right now i just plan to treat the copperband and the kole with hypo and then watch for signs on anyone else in the tank.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Weren't the other fish exposed to ich via the tang? Go with the heavy fresh garlic feedings. I don't hold out much luck with this, though.
How is the tang doing in hypo? You are checking your pH, right?
 

madman33

Member
Yep checking ph. Still trying to get him to eat off and algea sheet. I think you miss understood. The tang was never in the display, so im not sure who was the carrier of the ich. Tang seems to be doing great, real active but his spots are still there. Also what dont you hold much luck out on? The fishies making it or the garlic preventing the other fish from getting it?
 
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