Honestly what would you do with this copperband?

mrpontiac80 · Aug 3, 2023

So here’s the deal. I recently got a copperband from Tankstop and was more than pleased. My quarantine is Humblefish’s HTTM method and I’ve never had an issue doing it. But kinda unexpectedly I messed up on my earlier batch of fish. Short story is I missed a medication dose and had to extend the qt. Problem is the copperband arrived on time which was supposed to be a fish to qt after the others.

So now I had to buy another tank in order to properly ensure sterilization between transfers. But I’ve discovered that with work I can not do two separate quarantines at once and feel good about the quality. I’ve also been struggling to ensure the copperband is eating. It’s a very healthy looking fish. I feel it would do best in the big tank because there are plenty of natural things it could eat if it chooses. I’m halfway through the httm process which uses peroxide baths, general cure and anything else deemed necessary along to way with of course tank transfers, but by all rights should restart it to ensure it’s correctly done. I’m about ready to call an audible and use the safety stop bath and place the copperband in the acclimation box of the display.

This thought is because I feel it may have better chance at eating and thriving, and I just can not do two qt systems at quality with what I have at the moment.

EDIT:: I should add that my display fish have all been qt in this method but corals are only dipped and inverts have not been in qt.. so the tank is likely not 100% anyway although I rarely if ever see anything on a fish that is not gone a day or two later.

What would you do

Shooter6 · Aug 4, 2023

How many more days do you have to complete the qt? Personally I'd keep at the qt even if it requires waking up early to complete the second qt systems work. That or stagger the qt work to releave some of the pressure. God for bid you introduce a parasite to your system and have to deal with the repercussions of that. It will be way more work then the little extra you have to deal with now.

Gtinnel · Aug 4, 2023

If you have quarantined all your other fish before going in the display I probably wouldn’t change that now.
I didn’t qt my fish when I first started my tank but I still won’t put a new fish into my tank anymore without it going through a qt or at least an extended observational period in a separate tank. Potentially risking all of the fish for one isn’t worth it IMO.

Jason_MrFrags · Aug 4, 2023

Add the CBB to the mix and start Day 1 again.
Hold CBB in seperate tank until you are done with QT of other fish then put that one through.

mrpontiac80 · Aug 4, 2023

Honestly I figured that the popular answer would be a restart of the quarantine. And I know that’s the best move. It just is much harder with this guy than I anticipated. Trying different foods in a transfer method is fouling up the water and I feel I’m doing a transfer every 2 days. I’m probably going to just have to keep doing it’s transfers with no meds and as needed until the other guys finish up in about 14 days

mrpontiac80 · Aug 4, 2023

Shooter6 said:
How many more days do you have to complete the qt? Personally I'd keep at the qt even if it requires waking up early to complete the second qt systems work. That or stagger the qt work to releave some of the pressure. God for bid you introduce a parasite to your system and have to deal with the repercussions of that. It will be way more work then the little extra you have to deal with now.

My others will finish in 14 days. My biggest problem is that with this method of qt, every 3 days a transfer happens and the tank, heater , pvc and all the stuff I use has to be sterilized and air dried. With 2 different systems running, I am not confident in the complete sterilization.

littlefoxx · Aug 4, 2023

Thats up to you, I qt some fish, I dont with others. I use metroplex and focus any time I see a spot or something on my fish. If it gets worse not better then I pull that fish and treat and watch my other fish like a hawk. Its a risk but if you feel he will do better in the DT then go for it

bblumberg · Aug 4, 2023

My experience with copperbands is that they have not done well in quarantine. The LFS that I bought some new ones from a couple of years ago said never to quarantine copperbands, just acclimate them and put into your display tank. This seemed quite risky to me but I went ahead and gave it a try. I have been successful with 3/6 using this method and about 0/8 quarantining them. I believe that @Paul B has a similar suggestion.

i cant think · Aug 4, 2023

mrpontiac80 said:
So here’s the deal. I recently got a copperband from Tankstop and was more than pleased. My quarantine is Humblefish’s HTTM method and I’ve never had an issue doing it. But kinda unexpectedly I messed up on my earlier batch of fish. Short story is I missed a medication dose and had to extend the qt. Problem is the copperband arrived on time which was supposed to be a fish to qt after the others.

So now I had to buy another tank in order to properly ensure sterilization between transfers. But I’ve discovered that with work I can not do two separate quarantines at once and feel good about the quality. I’ve also been struggling to ensure the copperband is eating. It’s a very healthy looking fish. I feel it would do best in the big tank because there are plenty of natural things it could eat if it chooses. I’m halfway through the httm process which uses peroxide baths, general cure and anything else deemed necessary along to way with of course tank transfers, but by all rights should restart it to ensure it’s correctly done. I’m about ready to call an audible and use the safety stop bath and place the copperband in the acclimation box of the display.

This thought is because I feel it may have better chance at eating and thriving, and I just can not do two qt systems at quality with what I have at the moment.

EDIT:: I should add that my display fish have all been qt in this method but corals are only dipped and inverts have not been in qt.. so the tank is likely not 100% anyway although I rarely if ever see anything on a fish that is not gone a day or two later.

What would you do

I’ve never once QTed fish, and some of those fish were imports. I also have a CBB and that guys been with me for 3-4 years now. If you want it to live, I’d say throw it into the DT. I have 20+ fish and not one of them has been at risk. A CBB is also rarely sensitive to external parasites like ich due to a thicker slimecoat, they’re only sensitive to internal parasites and feeding. I’ve also found being in a tank with many more fish that they will absolutely get a newbie eating as it’s almost like copy the leader.

The only issue I’d say may occur is if you have a Zebrasoma tang, they hold grudges on CBBs even outside of an acclimation box. If you can, I’d personally add several fish in together. I have had a Scopas outright kill a CBB even after going through the precautions of a mirror, several at once and moving territories I still found it dead the next morning.

mrpontiac80 · Aug 6, 2023

Ok, so I ended up placing the copperband through safety stop and placed it into an acclimation box in the display.
It looks very good and I do believe it is eating more now than it was.

Surprisingly to me, NONE of the fish in the display seem to care at all about him. This evening will be 2 full days. The two tangs, foxface, blenny and etc act as if it’s not even there.
So how long should I keep him locked up?

Daddio64 · Aug 6, 2023

I say cut him loose. He's very well acclimated and the longer he stays couped up the more stress, that's just an opinion.

Nemo&Friends · Aug 6, 2023

Is it easier to feed him in the box than in the tank? if he eats well in the box, you could release it. Or you could wait until all of new fish go in. With several fish going in at once, your Copper band would bland in easily and would have less chance to be targeted by anyone.

mrpontiac80 · Aug 6, 2023

Nemo&Friends said:
Is it easier to feed him in the box than in the tank? if he eats well in the box, you could release it. Or you could wait until all of new fish go in. With several fish going in at once, your Copper band would bland in easily and would have less chance to be targeted by anyone.

He is the only addition to this tank.

mrpontiac80 · Aug 6, 2023

Maybe I’ll feed really well here at feeding time soon and after the current residents get their fill, I can try releasing the Cbb

Gtinnel · Aug 6, 2023

mrpontiac80 said:
Maybe I’ll feed really well here at feeding time soon and after the current residents get their fill, I can try releasing the Cbb

I recommend keeping a mirror that you can put against the tank handy just in case you end up needing it.

mrpontiac80 · Aug 12, 2023

Just a little update. Not a soul payed any attention to the copperband while in the acclimation box for a few days. But as soon as it was released the purple tang was chasing it pretty heavy. I threw a mirror up on one end of the tank and that kept every fish ticked off at themselves for some time! Even the clowns, cardinals and copperband!

But little by little the aggression decreased. I finally saw it today poking around the rocks.. which is great because it has been up around the power heads and such.
It took just a couple days, but it also joined right in at feeding time, so that’s great too.

LaloJ · Aug 12, 2023

mrpontiac80 said:
Just a little update. Not a soul payed any attention to the copperband while in the acclimation box for a few days. But as soon as it was released the purple tang was chasing it pretty heavy. I threw a mirror up on one end of the tank and that kept every fish ticked off at themselves for some time! Even the clowns, cardinals and copperband!
But little by little the aggression decreased. I finally saw it today poking around the rocks.. which is great because it has been up around the power heads and such.
It took just a couple days, but it also joined right in at feeding time, so that’s great too.

It seems that your CBB received the committee welcome to the tank, it's normal that this can happen IMO, the acclimatization box helps but sometimes it is enough to release the fish for them to pay attention to it, purple tangs are not known to be kind to the new additions, it's good that yours left her alone.

mrpontiac80 · Aug 12, 2023

LaloJ said:
It seems that your CBB received the committee welcome to the tank, it's normal that this can happen IMO, the acclimatization box helps but sometimes it is enough to release the fish for them to pay attention to it, purple tangs are not known to be kind to the new additions, it's good that yours left her alone.

It took a few days before the purple would not take chase upon sight.

amutti · Aug 20, 2023

I’ve got a perfect CB in QT right now. Eating like a pig, including masstick and I’ve got to add it to the DT soon… a purple tang and powder blue… a bit nervous. Glad yours went well

mrpontiac80 · Aug 21, 2023

amutti said:
I’ve got a perfect CB in QT right now. Eating like a pig, including masstick and I’ve got to add it to the DT soon… a purple tang and powder blue… a bit nervous. Glad yours went well

The purple tang will still chase the copperband away now and then but it is a quick chase with no contact. Little by little the copperband is able to poke around the rocks more and more. Good luck!