Ick?

[Robert59]

So I had ick my fish have been in a hospital tank for over a month with copper treatment I have since then started a new 155 tank they came from my 44 gallon tank is still sitting fallow can I start adding those fish to my 155 need some experts advice ?

 

[Diesel]

Let's ask some experts here, @Humblefish , @melypr1985 , [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

 

[melypr1985]

Hi there! I dont know the whole situation, but assuming you kept the copper at therapeutic levels for the full 30 days with no more signs of parasites AND assuming the rock and sand in the new tank didn't come from the 44 gallon tank, then yes you could start slowly adding the fish to the new tank if it's done with it's cycle.

 

[Robert59]

This is a completely new set up the 44 is still sitting fallow

 

[melypr1985]

This is a completely new set up the 44 is still sitting fallow

OK. Then assuming the other things about QT methods and that the fish appear healthy now, then yeah you could start adding them to the new tank once it's cycles.

 

[Robert59]

My blue hippo tang had ick all those little white spots but there was other fish in the tank so to be safe every body to the hospital tank did copper treatment just a bit more than a month the blue hippo tang looks great so I'm a beginner and asking the experts and I appreciate the tremendously

 

[Humblefish]

Let's cover all the bases... First question: What brand of copper did you use and did you test often to ensure it was within therapeutic range for the full 30 days?

 

[MikeyAl]

Let's cover all the bases... First question: What brand of copper did you use and did you test often to ensure it was within therapeutic range for the full 30 days?

What brand do you recommend? Seachem?

 

[Humblefish]

What brand do you recommend? Seachem?

I don't always use copper. But when I do, I prefer Coppersafe with an API copper test kit.

 

[Robert59]

The hospital tank is 30 gallons the copper was api the test kit was api I checked it once a week kept it under0.2 did water changes once a week cause of alge and they all look good I want to add slowly to my 155

 

[Humblefish]

The hospital tank is 30 gallons the copper was api the test kit was api I checked it once a week kept it under0.2 did water changes once a week cause of alge and they all look good I want to add slowly to my 155

There's all sorts of things I don't understand. For one, API only makes a copper test kit, not an actual copper product. Did you treat them with Seachem Cupramine? That product has a therapeutic range of 0.35 - 0.5 ppm. 0.2 would only (maybe) be strong enough if using straight copper sulfate pentahydrate. Nobody really uses that anymore (too harsh, sometimes ineffective) except for wholesalers.

 

[Robert59]

Sorry wasn't sure it's copper sulfate the copper test kit is seachem

 

[Robert59]

It's called copper power

 

[Robert59]

I'm very new at this

 

[Humblefish]

It's called copper power

Copper Power is chelated copper and requires a therapeutic dosage of 2.5 ppm. You would need an API copper test kit to measure this. And leave the fish at 2.5 ppm for 4 weeks.

I'm very new at this

That's OK. We are here to help you figure this all out.

 

[Robert59]

The fish have been in h/t with the copper since May 1

 

[4FordFamily]

The fish have been in h/t with the copper since May 1

It needs to be at full therapeutic levels (2.5 ppm) for a minimum of 30 days. At .2 that may have been enough to keep them looking clean but the parasite is sitting dormant waiting for copper to go away and it will be back.

 

[Humblefish]

It needs to be at full therapeutic levels (2.5 ppm) for a minimum of 30 days. At .2 that may have been enough to keep them looking clean but the parasite is sitting dormant waiting for copper to go away and it will be back.

^^This. It's not enough to just have your fish in copper. You need to know what the therapeutic range is for the copper product you are using and maintain it within those levels for 30 continuous days. It's the details that count when using copper.