nwliving
Member
After the feedback from this thread and some other good ones I have come up with a plan to hopefully prevent or reduce the chance of parasites and especially Ich into my main tank. Seems like non-copper treatment is not a foolproof option yet.
Two fish survived the original Ich outbreak, a Solar Fairy Wrasse and Flame Hawkfish. LFS said these two are less susceptible to Ich than most fish. They were left in the QT with copper treatment for 4-5 weeks or so while the main tank was left without any fish to hopefully starve any Ich parasites there. I have inverts in the main tank so copper treatment there was not an option there.
I then started started introducing fish back into the tank one at time after being in the QT for about 4 weeks. After careful observation of each fish for about 4 weeks I only treated with copper if they showed any signs of Ich or scratching on surfaces, etc. New fish are yellow headed jawfish, yellow tang, powder blue tang, potters angle and orange spot sleeper goby. The only fish that required copper treatment was the powder blue tang after observing scratching on surfaces. No surprise there since powder blues are quite susceptible to Ich. He also seemed undernourished and looked rather bony when I got him from the LFS so the QT also gave me a chance to fatten him up and reduce stress, etc. Last new fish went in about 3 weeks ago and so far no problems (fingers crossed). I prefer to try not to treat with copper unless absolutely necessary to give the fish the best chance of survival without the toxic effects of copper if possible. Only time will tell if this is wise.
When I transfer the fish from the QT to the main tank I do the normal acclimation. Drip water from main tank into the transfer bag, float bag in the MT to get temp the same, etc. The final step is to dump the fish into a net and then into the tank with no water from the QT to prevent any copper and hopefully any Ich or other parasites from getting into the main tank.
I'm sure most of the above has already been stated in other threads/blogs many times but just wanted to mention what steps seem to be working for me.
Two fish survived the original Ich outbreak, a Solar Fairy Wrasse and Flame Hawkfish. LFS said these two are less susceptible to Ich than most fish. They were left in the QT with copper treatment for 4-5 weeks or so while the main tank was left without any fish to hopefully starve any Ich parasites there. I have inverts in the main tank so copper treatment there was not an option there.
I then started started introducing fish back into the tank one at time after being in the QT for about 4 weeks. After careful observation of each fish for about 4 weeks I only treated with copper if they showed any signs of Ich or scratching on surfaces, etc. New fish are yellow headed jawfish, yellow tang, powder blue tang, potters angle and orange spot sleeper goby. The only fish that required copper treatment was the powder blue tang after observing scratching on surfaces. No surprise there since powder blues are quite susceptible to Ich. He also seemed undernourished and looked rather bony when I got him from the LFS so the QT also gave me a chance to fatten him up and reduce stress, etc. Last new fish went in about 3 weeks ago and so far no problems (fingers crossed). I prefer to try not to treat with copper unless absolutely necessary to give the fish the best chance of survival without the toxic effects of copper if possible. Only time will tell if this is wise.
When I transfer the fish from the QT to the main tank I do the normal acclimation. Drip water from main tank into the transfer bag, float bag in the MT to get temp the same, etc. The final step is to dump the fish into a net and then into the tank with no water from the QT to prevent any copper and hopefully any Ich or other parasites from getting into the main tank.
I'm sure most of the above has already been stated in other threads/blogs many times but just wanted to mention what steps seem to be working for me.
