possible ich?

[louisthepuffer]

ok so i have a koran angel and have had him for about 2-3 weeks. as soon as i put him in the tank he was very lively and swimming everywhere. the past few days ive noticed hes been really mellow, not moving much and "sitting" in the corner of the tank. at first i thought he was just spooked or something and thought nothing of it. then i saw him swimming sporadically in circles and "scratching" one side of his body. He hasnt really eaten much in the past couple of days so im beginning to get worried. I have a 30 gallon with 2 emperor 125's and a powerhead going. I have 2, 4 stripped damsels, a maroon clown with an anemone, and a handful of crabs. These guys have been in the tank practically since the beginning (prolly 4 months now) and they never seem to be different in anyway. like i said i added the koran (about 2 inches now) about 2-3 weeks ago. i know this tank is way too small for him in the future, however i plan on getting a bigger tank in about 3-4 months (funds arent available right now). im not sure what to do. ive searched the boards and it seems everyone says to get him into a qt tank quickly...unfortunately i dont have the luxury of having one. is there anyway to treat this while he is in the tank now? i dont really see any spots on his body yet, although i think his color has faded some since ive gotten him. someone please help my awesome buddy!

Kevin

 

[louisthepuffer]

i just went to my lfs and he recommended using cupramine and go the copper route. anyone had success with this? and yes, ive taken out my inverts. lets hope this will work!

 

[gollus]

copper will stay in the tank, almost forever, I dont suggest putting it in your main tank.

 

[nas19320]

The problem with copper is that once you use it in the tank you will most likely never be able to have inverts in the tank again.

 

[louisthepuffer]

well crap, its too late now
water temp is 77-78, ph is about 8.2-.3, salinity is 1.021
the guy at my lfs, whom i really trust and have been doing business with for about 2 years now and whos never let me down, said this was the easiest way to go because i dont have access to a qt. he did say that once the copper treatment is complete, id need to replace all my carbon filters. i didnt ask him, but a friend raised an interesting point, should i take out my carbon filters now while the copper is added? he seemed to think that the filter would take out the copper before going back into the tank. is this right? thanks

 

[beth]

Does the guy at the local fish store know you have an anemone in the tank???
You will likely loose your anemone. What other inverts do you have?

 

[louisthepuffer]

ive taken him out and put him into my roomates tank. i had about 5 crabs too and they are in a bucket with a piece of coral and some air through an air stone

 

[beth]

Ok, I would suggest now that you do a large water change and begin carbon filtration on that tank.
What about live rock, do you have live rock?

 

[louisthepuffer]

why? i dont understand. so are you saying that i should put the carbon filters back in?

 

[louisthepuffer]

and no i dont have any live rock

 

[beth]

Trojan is right. You need to get that copper OUT of your tank. Large water change, and heavy duty carbon filtration.
How is the fish doing at your friend's house?

 

[louisthepuffer]

the fish is still in the tank, my anemone is in my friends tank. so im not sure that im understanding. i would much rather have the parasite thats plauging this fish die from the copper than not having an anemone for a while. not trying to sound rude, but im not sure why this idea was so bad? can someone explain?! does the copper prove uneffective against parasites because the lfs guy said the copper would kill it and then in a month or so after the copper has been filtered out i can get my tank back to normal. thanks for the help, im just tryin to figure out what needs to be done! if i take the copper out now then how do i help my fish who seems to have something. i dunno if this helps, but about a week ago i took a water sample in and my lfs guy said my ph was too low, so i have slowly buffered it up to about 8.2-8.3. im assuming a low ph lowered the angels ability to fight off anything and thats why he has succomb to something. would getting the water back to normal and improving his immune system be enough to fight off the parasite? thanks guys, i really appreciate all the help

 

[beth]

The copper will kill the parasite, if you maintain the correct dose of copper in the tank during the entire treatment. This means testing copper 2x a day using a test kit that is compatible with your brand of copper, and adjusting copper levels if it falls below therapeutic levels.
Copper will leech into the rockwork, the sand and the silicone which hold your tank together. Inverts can not tolerate cooper, thus, once the cooper is introduced into a reef tank, you run the very likely risk of copper leeching back into the water---even yrs down the line. Anemones being particularly sensitive to copper, trying to keep them would be highly inadvisable.
Anemones are not the only inverts effected. All inverts are highly sensitive to copper, and basically have little tolerance for it. Keep in mind that copper is a toxic substance. Fish have more tolerance for it. The idea with using copper to treat fish parasites is that the fish can tolerate the toxic substance more than the parasite can. And, thus copper is effective. That is not to say it is the best choice.
Hyposalinity is a better treatment choice for ich, and safer for sick fish and tank. Read the info on hyposalinity which is posted in the FAQ Thread.

 

[louisthepuffer]

ok, so now i see that my angel has a "fuzzy" spot on both of his sides about the size of a dime. its a grayish color that really looks like a fungus or something. anyone know what this is? (if it helps, his color is blue and black on the outside, but getting towards the middle of him its like the color has been sucked out of him. in the center of this is the fungus) thanks again guys, this board is the best. ill try and post a pic when i get home

 

[louisthepuffer]

one more question, the copper bottle that im using says at the bottom that i can take out the copper with carbon filters or another chemical that the company makes (im at work, otherwise i would tell you what the chemical is) has anyone had luck using this to rid their tank of copper?