How to quarantine Kole tang

[xeanliao]

amonia close/less than 0.25ppm
nitrite: o
nitrate: 5ppm
1.024 salinity
78f
i have reframeter.
other than faded color that looks like mold under my moonlight/2 blue led when room is dark, i cannot see anything like white spot.
i feed 3-5 time a day with pallets, flake and frozen food specific for tangs when she still eating. reducing to two times and less this week because she seems nit eating at all.

thanks for all the guideance. all very conviencing to me: i will to pay extra attention to reduce stress she is probably the shyest fish i ever seen. Too shy to even geting a picture.

DT has perfect parameters. 1 gallon from DT is easy that i can do that 3-5 times a day everyday.

Knowing its HLLE, definitely no med now. Thanks very much. Getting her to eat seems challenge the while week. I am going to hatch some brine shimpy now.

Any suggestions please share anytime

 

[beth]

View attachment 3226

Does this setup share filtration? Is the display the top pic. The kole is in the middle tank on the bottom? That tank looks like it has no room; mostly rock.

 

[xeanliao]

the kole tang was hiding in the tank on the top. the bottom one is the sump, that has three chamber. you probably can see the flame angle in the left chamber.

DT is not in that pic

 

[xeanliao]

so hard to get a good shot:

i think i saw ich, do u? or does it still looks like hlle?

 

[beth]

So there are still other fish in the large tank on top. I see a clown. It's been a month that you've had the kole. How long have other fish also been in that tank?

 

[xeanliao]

same time as the flame angle two weeks ago. they are junior less than 0.75 long, they hang out on the other side, never bother KT.

should i move them some where else?

 

[beth]

Just FYI. If you had not QTed fish together, then I would have likely suggested that the Kole go in to the display (in the absence of anything else other than HLLE). The flame and the Kole will not be able to ever live together. Do you have separate displays for them? Is your display a reef or a live rock system? Size and other fish?

For now keep them together. Any improvement on Ammonia?

 

[xeanliao]

The DT is a 3 years old 100-gallon system with softies and LPS. A velvet outbreak last summer killed most of my babies, only able to save an YT and two firefishes. (My BT was recovered from ich/velvet in the HT but died from HLLE while DT was still in fallow, that was very sad ).

The DT went thru 3 months fallow (got STN that wiped out all my SPS. I currently giving up SPS at this moment). I have been gradually restock patiently: a YT, a PBT, a BT, and two larger clown, and a randall goby one at a time. The Kole tank is the next one if she makes it.

You are right that my teen bought that flame angel is a mistake, it is not even compatible with my DT, that has a maxi clam. I am planning to build another tank to manage compatibility issues for some non-reef-safe fishes I love. The flame probably will just stay in this observation tank or be moving to the 29 biocube after I am sure he is free of ich and velvet.

The ammonia seem zero/near zero at this moment. Honestly, I am just so afraid to move any fish to DT now. Going fallow and restocking is just heart breaking and painful. I really wanted to make sure they are ich/velvet free and hoping the new member can make it thru all the stages that I have in place now. I was so strict in pre-treatment until this Kole tang after I read copper is really bad for this specific Kole tang species.

 

[beth]

Do you use a magnifying glass to observe your fish? If not, I'd recommend it, especially QT fish. This will ID any problems many times in advance of when you may normally become aware of them.

You didn't answer whether your 3 observation/QT tanks share filters/water?

 

[xeanliao]

yes and no.
The 20-gallon qt has its own 20-gallon sump on the bottom. The other 10-gallon med HT has two hob filters on its own.

The HT has a small damsel to help cycle this tank. I manually connect both tank with u-tube plus redirect the overflow for 30 mins every other day to mix the water with the other tank so i don’t kill my damsel.

After starting the med in HT, the damsel goes back to the other QT sump. Both tank stay totally seperate.

After done with HT, i clean it up/nuke it and store it away. The QT stays up and running..

probably another over doing.

 

[xeanliao]

got my magnifying glass yesterday that really help. the pic really looks like ich, BUT I read trophonts/white dots stay on fish 3-9 days until fallling off? could it be just dust because it only showed one day?

She seems much comfortable now. Since its not velvet, should i observe longer until next potential cycle?

 

[lmforbis]

Treat asap. All fish in the system need to be treated.

You will need to leave your system fishless for a minimum of 6 weeks although 72 days is recommended for ich.

 

[xeanliao]

Today is the 3rd day in copper treatment. She seems eating ok, but I do see her lost appetizer a little. The hospital tank (with cupramine at 0.5 -0.6 ) is a little dirty now and the ammonia is on the rise (0.25). I am going to do 10-20% water change. (NOT water top off)

Question for water change and replenish copper dosage: I think using the display tank water is better because the water will be dosage with the copper before adding to the HT, that should kill free swimming ich if any before adding the water to the HT any anyway, and it will make the fish easier transitioning/released into DT later, do you think so?

Or should I just make saltwater from clean RO/DI water for the intended purpose?

 

[lmforbis]

Use new water. If ammonia is going up do a large water change immediately. It is best to have water ready at all times in your situation wit copper already in it so when ammonia starts to be detectable you can act fast. Any ammonia will hurt the fish.
Loss of appetite is common with copper.

 

[beth]

Do you have a refractometer? Hyposalinity would be a better way to treat ich, especially since your tank is not cycled well enough and you are now getting ammonia. What is your pH in that tank?