Treating Ick - Day Two
- Thread starter nickfish
- Start date
moraym
Active Member
If you took all your LR out of the tank for this treatment, be sure to check our your tank levels regularly for a week. You may have stirred up a lot of waste and whatnot when moving the rocks, and you dont want the fish further stressed by water quality issues.
Also, did you treat these fish w/ a copper-based medication in your main tank? I know you said you took the eel and LR out, but copper stays in tanks for a while, and it can stay in CC/LS and be released later. It can also now be on the LR you added back to the tank. There may, and probably are, still significant traces of copper in the main tank (again, if the treatment was copper-based).
One day seems too fast to clear the tank of ich, as it falls off the fish it is still active for some time. Fish can still carry it. Improvement is not always a sign of 100% eradication of the parasite. May have been too early to move everything back, but provide more details and keep observing.
Also, did you treat these fish w/ a copper-based medication in your main tank? I know you said you took the eel and LR out, but copper stays in tanks for a while, and it can stay in CC/LS and be released later. It can also now be on the LR you added back to the tank. There may, and probably are, still significant traces of copper in the main tank (again, if the treatment was copper-based).
One day seems too fast to clear the tank of ich, as it falls off the fish it is still active for some time. Fish can still carry it. Improvement is not always a sign of 100% eradication of the parasite. May have been too early to move everything back, but provide more details and keep observing.
lion_crazz
Active Member
Well, I didn't think there way anyway that claim could be true, so I did a little researching of the product and I have found that according to many sources, including Bob Fenner, Organicure is definitely not safe for corals, inverts, and live rock and the claim is wrong. There is no way it can be safe due to it containing 1.25% copper.
I hope the copper does not seep into your live rock! I would get a copper test kit and test for copper though, and definitely try to get as much out as possible.
I hope the copper does not seep into your live rock! I would get a copper test kit and test for copper though, and definitely try to get as much out as possible.
pufferman
Member
Copper (usually in the form of CuSO4) is inorganic. It wouldn't seep into live rocks. Most of it will stay in the solution (although some might end up in the substrate). But they will go through other chemical interactions as well. Anyway the point is I wouldn't use any medication for an invertebrates-containing tank.
moraym
Active Member
It really depends on what form of copper and the amount contained in the medication, especially when dealing with a scaleless invert or SFE. Either way, what's done is done, and now I think you need to focus on how to proceed.
If you believe there's a chance copper will harm your SFE, and i think it may, there is a solution that will help. You can purchase a Kent Regenerable Toxic Metal Sponge (about $18 at LFS). It removes copper, lead, mercury and other metals from your tank. You put the beads (bottle contains tons of small "beads") in a filter sock or polyester bag and place it in an area of high water flow.
Back in my younger days, I overdosed a marine tank with a copper-based medication. When I found out the next day this was harmful, I pulled the eel out and ran the Kent Sponge for a while, then added the eel back in, and continued to run a PH through the sponge for months. Never found trace of copper in my tank, and never noticed harmful results (pods, worms, inverts, SFE - all seemed healthy and unaffected).
If you believe there's a chance copper will harm your SFE, and i think it may, there is a solution that will help. You can purchase a Kent Regenerable Toxic Metal Sponge (about $18 at LFS). It removes copper, lead, mercury and other metals from your tank. You put the beads (bottle contains tons of small "beads") in a filter sock or polyester bag and place it in an area of high water flow.
Back in my younger days, I overdosed a marine tank with a copper-based medication. When I found out the next day this was harmful, I pulled the eel out and ran the Kent Sponge for a while, then added the eel back in, and continued to run a PH through the sponge for months. Never found trace of copper in my tank, and never noticed harmful results (pods, worms, inverts, SFE - all seemed healthy and unaffected).
moraym
Active Member
Originally posted by pufferman
you cannot eradicate ick no matter how effective the medication is....just make sure to provide your tank inhabitants with a near stress-free enviroment.
That is true in freshwater environments, where ich is actually produced by the fish. However in marine environments ich is an introduced parasite, regardless of stress levels, which is why QTing a new fish is so important. It can be eradicated by removing the parasite from your system, and QTing future new fish.
There's actually an excellent thread on this topic right now in the Disease forum for all who are interested: https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...hreadid=148284
lion_crazz
Active Member
Thanks for the link, Moray! That was an interesting thread.