Paraguard and Rally vs. Copper.

[Dierker0000]

Hi, so recently I decided I’m going to start to Qt all new fish I get. I have 2 clownfish that I already own so I put them in the Qt first. My plan was to go buy some cupramine and a test kit and treat all new fish with that for 14 days etc.... but I live in Canada and many fish medications are not available at the moment making our choices very limited (There is no copper). So I went to the store looking for cupramine and they did not have it so after chatting with the guy a bit I ended up picking up some Rally. This treats velvet, flukes etc... but not ich. Was this a good choice? Anyways a few weeks before I picked up some paraguard (you cannot get this anymore either but I have the whole bottle still) now my plan is to put the fish in the paraguard first, the bottle has no recommend dosing of days only saying as needed daily or until fish show signs of stress. Now if I’m using this for Qt how many days would I use it for unless the fish show stress. Then after I finish with paraguard do a 100%? Water change or what size? And start treatment with rally. This says minimum of 3 days so what would my max be for Qting fish? Then after that I’m planning just to watch the fish for about 14 days to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Now since neither of these products have copper can I add prime to the water to help with amonia, nitrite etc? Also I am leaving my Dt fallow to kill of the parasites that are in there, how long do I leave it empty? Not sure if it was velvet or ich that killed my fish. Now my clownfish are in the paraguard and I woke up with them seeming pretty stressed but I’m only on the 2nd day of paraguard. They were both at the top where they sleep usually but one seemed to be gasping at the surface. I have a filter that makes decent water movement but I turned on the air stone just in case. I also have a ammonia alert badge and ammonia looks fine. And I tested nitrite not long ago and it’s Aok. After a little bit they did go down to the bottom and started swimming more but didn’t have a huge appetite. Why would this be and can I keep dosing? Btw theses clownfish are pretty young with the large one being maybe 1.5 munch and the other 1inch. Thanks!

my Qt. Since this picture I’ve added the clowns, a alert badge, temp is 80, and took out the live rock and added a extra pvc.

 

[bluprntguy]

Not sure what you are trying to treat with the clowns. I assume that they don't have Brooklynella or Velvet as I think you would have seen those diseases by now. They may have flukes and/or ich without visible symptoms.

I know both companies say that Reef Rally and Paraguard treat flukes. Paraguard is recommended dosed for 21 days to treat flukes. That seems excessive. Reef Rally doesn't appear to have dosing instructions specifically for flukes and I'm not clear what the mechanism is as to how it even eradicates them.

I'd recommend a freshwater dip to check for flukes and TTM for possible ich.

Is it possible to get prazipro or general cure in Canada? It seems like TTM with prazipro added for flukes, would be a simple way to quarantine the clowns and least toxic to the fish. Prazipro is the only medication that I sometimes use prophylacticly. I've had enough run-ins with flukes that I didn't see with frewshwater dip, that it seems treating all fish is advisable these days.

 

[Dierker0000]

The clownfish has little white spots that were ich. I’ve dosed paraguard 4 days and the spots have disappeared off them. I do t think I can get general cure but prazi pro I might be able to. Would it be a good idea to freshwater dip all new fish before I add them to the Qt? I only have 1 Qt so can’t do the TTM. With both medications (paraguard and rally saying they treat flukes it should be able to get rid of them if the fish has them after I dose both over a long time.

 

[EmdeReef]

Ich is very difficult to spot on a clownfish. Due to their thick mucus unless there’s a very severe infection it’s unlikely you’ll be able to see ich.

Paraguard, based on the manufacturer, should be dosed 14 days for ich, I would extend this to at least 30 days if you aren’t able to make a transfer at 14 days. I have no experience with how effective it is. Malachite green is effective against some parasites.

https://www.seachem.com/paraguard.php

 

[Dierker0000]

Ich is very difficult to spot on a clownfish. Due to their thick mucus unless there’s a very severe infection it’s unlikely you’ll be able to see ich.

Paraguard, based on the manufacturer, should be dosed 14 days for ich, I would extend this to at least 30 days if you aren’t able to make a transfer at 14 days. I have no experience with how effective it is. Malachite green is effective against some parasites.

https://www.seachem.com/paraguard.php

They definitely had ich surprisingly though it wasn’t to hard to spot in the Qt. Ok so I’ll do 30 days of paraguard as long as they aren’t too stressed. how long Would you recommend to treat with rally for Qt?

I am leaving for this weekend so have someone coming to look after the clowns. Should I put a little baggies of paraguard for them to dose or should I just let the tank go with no medicine for the couple days. Paraguard is supposed to be dosed daily.

 

[bluprntguy]

They definitely had ich surprisingly though it wasn’t to hard to spot in the Qt. Ok so I’ll do 30 days of paraguard as long as they aren’t too stressed. how long Would you recommend to treat with rally for Qt?

I am leaving for this weekend so have someone coming to look after the clowns. Should I put a little baggies of paraguard for them to dose or should I just let the tank go with no medicine for the couple days. Paraguard is supposed to be dosed daily.

I've used Paraguard in the past in a bath to treat Brooklynella. It treats freshwater ich, but not marine ich. Even on Seachem's website they state that it "sometimes" treats marine ich, but that cupramine is preferred.

Since you don't have access to copper or cupramine to treat ich where you are, I'd highly recommend using the tank transfer method instead, That's a surefire way to rid a fish of marine ich and it requires no medication. I'd just stop dosing paraguard until you can treat with something more effective for marine ich.

I don't know how sure you are that the quarantine tank is able to process ammonia effectively. I'd be concerned about an ammonia spike while I was away.

 

[Dierker0000]

I've used Paraguard in the past in a bath to treat Brooklynella. It treats freshwater ich, but not marine ich. Even on Seachem's website they state that it "sometimes" treats marine ich, but that cupramine is preferred.

Since you don't have access to copper or cupramine to treat ich where you are, I'd highly recommend using the tank transfer method instead, That's a surefire way to rid a fish of marine ich and it requires no medication. I'd just stop dosing paraguard until you can treat with something more effective for marine ich.

I don't know how sure you are that the quarantine tank is able to process ammonia effectively. I'd be concerned about an ammonia spike while I was away.

The qt has been set up for about two weeks and I added bio media from my other tank. I have a alert badge and it hasn’t Risen at all. It’s only two little clownfish. I think I’m going to stick with the para guard then the rally. My clowns visibly had a decent amount of ich then