Can a DT really be disease-free?

[4FordFamily]

So is 76 days long enough for the fallow period? If I hold cupramine at .4 for 30 days and observe the remaining 46, I will be ich free?! I really want my system to be ich free! All fish are in HT now and I really want this as my end result.

76 days will work 99% of the time, not sure what 100% would be.

Your fish need to be in cupramine at .45 IMO for 30 full days without it ever swinging lower, when I used cupramine I did .5 but I was paranoid. After that you can observe for a couple weeks.

 

[chefjpaul]

In all seriousness, great write up as always.

 

[Humblefish]

Would the same hold true for corals, assuming no frag plug?

Tomonts can encyst to any hard surface so SPS, LPS base or if a softy came on a rock. Snails/hermits come with hard shells and shrimps/crabs have a hard exoskeleton.

The test?

Powder blue tangs or Achilles tangs. (Don't really use a fish to test but if it's there they'll be coated in a week or two)

Or freshwater black molly slowly drip acclimated into SW.

 

[justinm]

So .35 isn't therapeutic? Dealing with more sensitive fish I felt staying on the lower end of the chart would be easier.

Also, does copper concentration go up as salinity increases due to evap?

Thanks for the help!

 

[chicago]

ok so any beniefti to doing cupormine and hypo at the same time.. sorry cant spell tonight

 

[leepink23]

For years I practiced ick management but after ab outbreak I now have all fish in quarantine. They went through 30 days of coppersafe and are at 45 days total. I never treated with prazipro but all fish look great, should I now treat them with praz?
I got a snowflake clown on Sunday and have him in a separate quarantine, I want to pair him with my Picasso but I assume he needs to go through quarantine before I add the picasso to his tank?

 

[JamesP]

So .35 isn't therapeutic? Dealing with more sensitive fish I felt staying on the lower end of the chart would be easier.

Also, does copper concentration go up as salinity increases due to evap?

Thanks for the help!

My mandarin went through 6 weeks at 0.5 and seemed fine the whole time. It wasnt until after I did it that I found out I probably shouldnt have. But cupramine is good stuff and can be removed via gac.

 

[4FordFamily]

ok so any beniefti to doing cupormine and hypo at the same time.. sorry cant spell tonight

Don't do this, it can and will kill some fish. Copper takes care of everything hypo does, so just do hypo

 

[4FordFamily]

For years I practiced ick management but after ab outbreak I now have all fish in quarantine. They went through 30 days of coppersafe and are at 45 days total. I never treated with prazipro but all fish look great, should I now treat them with praz?
I got a snowflake clown on Sunday and have him in a separate quarantine, I want to pair him with my Picasso but I assume he needs to go through quarantine before I add the picasso to his tank?

I don't think praziquantel is a bad idea, personally.

 

[4FordFamily]

So .35 isn't therapeutic? Dealing with more sensitive fish I felt staying on the lower end of the chart would be easier.

Also, does copper concentration go up as salinity increases due to evap?

Thanks for the help!

IME it is not. It's supposed to be and most people say that it is.

 

[Humblefish]

So .35 isn't therapeutic? Dealing with more sensitive fish I felt staying on the lower end of the chart would be easier.

IMO; 0.35 ppm skirts the line too closely. You really need to run it around 0.5 ppm so you have some wiggle room.

I got a snowflake clown on Sunday and have him in a separate quarantine, I want to pair him with my Picasso but I assume he needs to go through quarantine before I add the picasso to his tank?

I would, yes. Clownfish are very susceptible to Brooklynella and that's a disease you don't want in your DT.

 

[Jim C]

For a coral qt, I've read adding more coral does not reset the 72 day clock for the existing coral. I have also read the opposite. What is true?

 

[justinm]

Thank you! Will slowly get it up to .5ish. Cheers to a disease free tank!

 

[justinm]

For a coral qt, I've read adding more coral does not reset the 72 day clock for the existing coral. I have also read the opposite. What is true?

I would say it resets it. You have no idea when that cyst will explode with tons of little theronts.

 

[JamesP]

For a coral qt, I've read adding more coral does not reset the 72 day clock for the existing coral. I have also read the opposite. What is true?

After the cysts hatch they need a fish before they can encyst again. Ive never thought about that but now that i do i bet it wouldnt reset the clock. Lets see what the expert pannel has to say. There is a 48 hour period after they hatch though and can free swim. Maybe put the coral alone for 48 hours before introducing into dt as well.

 

[4FordFamily]

For a coral qt, I've read adding more coral does not reset the 72 day clock for the existing coral. I have also read the opposite. What is true?

For coral it does not restart the clock for the whole tank, just remember what coral you added when and make sure each piece remains 76 days.

 

[justinm]

Well this is good news then. So a free swimmer can not attach to a coral temporarily or even accidentally in the event you just finished qt for a coral and you added one the day before.

I know you can rinse them but I want a 100% ich free tank. Not trying to be a PITA, I am just determined to do this right!

 

[Jim C]

Well this is good news then. So a free swimmer can not attach to a coral temporarily or even accidentally in the event you just finished qt for a coral and you added one the day before.

I know you can rinse them but I want a 100% ich free tank. Not trying to be a PITA, I am just determined to do this right!

Not a PITA. I get where you're coming from. What's the point in doing it at all if we're not gonna do it right? Luckily the fish doctors are here.

 

[JamesP]

Well this is good news then. So a free swimmer can not attach to a coral temporarily or even accidentally in the event you just finished qt for a coral and you added one the day before.

I know you can rinse them but I want a 100% ich free tank. Not trying to be a PITA, I am just determined to do this right!

Free swimmers die in 48 hours so just stage it in a different tank for the last couple days. You can use a bucket with a heater even i bet because 2 days without a light is probably fine. Make sure it is 10 feet from anything else to avoid aresol transmission flinging more swimmers in or out though. So 76 days in qt and 2 in a bucket.

 

[Humblefish]

Once a coral/invert is placed in a fishless QT, the 76 day clock counts down the "death" of any (encysted) tomonts on that coral/invert.

However, if other corals/inverts are added after this, a free swimming theront from one of them may inadvertently "land" on the aforementioned coral/invert.

There are two ways of dealing with this threat:

1. Place in a bucket for 48 hours as @JamesP suggested to starve out any clingy theronts.
2. Rinse the coral/invert thoroughly with DT water (and into a bucket to be discarded) just before placing in the DT. Using a coral dip at this stage would also not be a bad idea, although there is no proof doing so will kill any free swimmers.

I would always do #2 no matter what; because while the "48 hour rule" applies to ich theronts, velvet dinospores (free swimmers) can remain active for up to 15 days before starving to death without a fish host to feed upon. You'll definitely want to "rinse away" any of those.