Copper treatment in QT

Mielo · Aug 2, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
If that contains tetracycline, then no - that is deactivated by high calcium in seawater. Minocycline is a better choice for seawater.
Jay

Thank you Jay. The only other decent antibiotic available in Australia would probably be the the Blue Planet Tri Sulfa tablets.

Lasse · Aug 2, 2021

No nifurpirinol based aquarium products available in Australia ?

Sincerely Lasse

Jay Hemdal · Aug 2, 2021

Mielo said:
Thank you Jay. The only other decent antibiotic available in Australia would probably be the the Blue Planet Tri Sulfa tablets.

I think that would be a better choice than tetracycline....but really, choosing an antibiotic is mostly a guess, since we don't know the sensitivity of the organism involved.

Jay

Lasse · Aug 2, 2021

Nifurpirinol is an antibiotic developed for fish in the beginning. Just for the books.

Sincerely Lasse

Mielo · Aug 4, 2021

Hi Jay. My tang appears to be responding well to the Blue Planet Tri Sula tablet medication. See pics attached. My question how long do I keep him in the anti biotic medication?

He has been in the medication for 48hrs and the wounds on his side appears to be healing. Do I keep him in the medication until the wound completely heals? The bottle specifies to repeat treatment after 3 days if necessary.

Jay Hemdal · Aug 4, 2021

Mielo said:
Hi Jay. My tang appears to be responding well to the Blue Planet Tri Sula tablet medication. See pics attached. My question how long do I keep him in the anti biotic medication?

He has been in the medication for 48hrs and the wounds on his side appears to be healing. Do I keep him in the medication until the wound completely heals? The bottle specifies to repeat treatment after 3 days if necessary.

I don't know the specific antibiotics or doses for this product. I would follow the label instructions and retreat after 3 days. You don't want the infection to backslide (why human physicians always tell you to finish antibiotics, even if you are feeling better).

Jay

Mielo · Aug 11, 2021

Hi @Jay Hemdal

I left the Blue Tang and the Yellow Tang in the 20g for 6 days and they looked really well and then decided to return them to the 65g qt which has more swimming space. They were eating and not displaying any discomfort for the last 3 days they were in the 20g tank.

Within 24hrs of being in the 60g, the blue and the yellow tang is flicking like crazy and the blue appears to have small white spots on his body again and not happy at all. They are both still eating well though.

I have been doing constant water changes on the 60g qt and the copper reading is 0.05ppm according to Hanna tester. This was the reading before I placed them in the 60g. Could it be the residual copper thats left in the tank or maybe flukes?

What is baffling me that I have 2 foxfaces, 3 pajama cardinals and a coral beauty in the qt and they all appear to be happy with no issues. If it is flukes or copper, why has it not affected these fish as well?

Your expertise is greatly appreciated!

Jay Hemdal · Aug 11, 2021

Mielo said:
Hi @Jay Hemdal

I left the Blue Tang and the Yellow Tang in the 20g for 6 days and they looked really well and then decided to return them to the 65g qt which has more swimming space. They were eating and not displaying any discomfort for the last 3 days they were in the 20g tank.

Within 24hrs of being in the 60g, the blue and the yellow tang is flicking like crazy and the blue appears to have small white spots on his body again and not happy at all. They are both still eating well though.

I have been doing constant water changes on the 60g qt and the copper reading is 0.05ppm according to Hanna tester. This was the reading before I placed them in the 60g. Could it be the residual copper thats left in the tank or maybe flukes?

What is baffling me that I have 2 foxfaces, 3 pajama cardinals and a coral beauty in the qt and they all appear to be happy with no issues. If it is flukes or copper, why has it not affected these fish as well?

Your expertise is greatly appreciated!

Well, I think the copper may be the issue. I'm not familiar with your product - I had looked online, and it seemed to be a copper sulfate/citric acid product. If so, that needs to be dosed at 0.20 ppm. Is your Hanna tester the low range one? If so, then your copper is too low and the fish likely got reinfected with ich when they moved back. That said, I can't explain why the other fish haven't gotten ich yet, especially the coral beauty.

One thing you can try is to take some fresh seawater, perahaps five gallons, and give it a full dose of copper as per the label instructions and then test it with the Hanna - that should tell you where your QT should be tested at.

Moving the tangs back to the smaller tank where they were improving is also an option.

Jay

Mielo · Aug 12, 2021

Hi Jay

I am in the process of removing the copper for the 65g tank as they all endured a 26 day copper treatment with the therapeutic copper level at .25ppm as recommended on the bottle.

I just returned the Blue and Yellow tang now to the 65g after treating their secondary bacterial infection in the 20g. The copper level is now .05ppm on the HR Hanna test kit in the 65g.

I have set up the 20g tank again just in case I need to move the tangs again. The issue though is that my 300g DT is still fallow till mid September and I ideally do not want to keep them in a 20g for so long.

I guess I will move the tangs back to the 20g and then continue with the daily water changes and get the copper to zero in the 65g and then move the tangs back and see how they go.

Mielo · Aug 12, 2021

See pic attached of blue tang after being 24hrs in the 65g. Can it be white spot again after they all had a 25 day copper treatment and no other fish is displaying this?

Jay Hemdal · Aug 12, 2021

Mielo said:
See pic attached of blue tang after being 24hrs in the 65g. Can it be white spot again after they all had a 25 day copper treatment and no other fish is displaying this?

Tough to say if that is a relapse of ich or not, there is still the residual skin issue that makes it tough to see. While relapses do happen if treatments are cut short, they also don't happen overnight, usually a couple of days before you start seeing spots.

Jay

Mielo · Aug 12, 2021

Could it possibly be the residual copper in the water causing the skin issue. When he was in the 20g tank being treated for the bacterial infection, it completely disappeared for most of the 6 days.

It reappeared within 24hrs of being returned to the 65g qt tank. As mentioned, I will remove him and return him to the 20g and see what happens.

Jay Hemdal · Aug 13, 2021

Mielo said:
Could it possibly be the residual copper in the water causing the skin issue. When he was in the 20g tank being treated for the bacterial infection, it completely disappeared for most of the 6 days.

It reappeared within 24hrs of being returned to the 65g qt tank. As mentioned, I will remove him and return him to the 20g and see what happens.

Try moving it again, but I have never seen copper cause this at full dose, much less at partial dose. There could very well be something about the tank that is causing this, I’ve just never seen copper do that.
Jay

Mielo · Aug 13, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
Try moving it again, but I have never seen copper cause this at full dose, much less at partial dose. There could very well be something about the tank that is causing this, I’ve just never seen copper do that.
Jay

Hi Jay. Really baffled…. I placed him in the 20g last night and see pics below is what he looks this morning. No skin irritation, no rapid breathing whatsoever and looks very relaxed.

All the other fish are not displaying any issues whatsoever. I have been monitoring the yellow tang and she appears to not be flicking as anymore after I did 2x 30% water changes in one day and 10% every other day.

Could it possibly be the foxfaces? He does chase them when they get to close to him and the 65g is close quarters.