Porcupine puffer ich

[Benny Gyger]

At .5 now. Been there for about 5 days

 

[Humblefish]

@Benny Gyger Stay the course

 

[Benny Gyger]

Since I am setting up my new 180 g. With all new live sand and live rock (I got 120lbs sand/ 100lbs rock for $80 on Craigslist). I am basically using my 60 g right now as a QT/ hospital tank. Should I add a few fish to QT in there because I'll want more in my 180 anyway. Would it be ok since I'm using copper at .5? Or is QT a new fish just normal water to watch for signs of disease?

 

[Humblefish]

Whether to prophylactically treat or just observe is a matter of personal preference. But if you choose to treat, I wouldn't just drop the fish in 0.5 copper. It is better to slowly ramp it up.

 

[Benny Gyger]

He's looking a lot better. Not completely gone yet but almost. ! Still holding at .5. Did a big water change yesterday and managed to nail .5 cu again immediately.

 

[Humblefish]

Puffers are tough as nails

 

[Benny Gyger]

My son approves of the new tank. But he wants to know where the fish are!! Soon buddy.. soon. And gizmo will love it.

 

[Benny Gyger]

Ugh. He has spots again. Well they haven't totally disappeared yet. But didn't expect them to come back strong.

 

[melypr1985]

Ugh. He has spots again. Well they haven't totally disappeared yet. But didn't expect them to come back strong.

Is he still in copper?

 

[Benny Gyger]

Yes. Still at .5 Cu Since march 2nd.

 

[Benny Gyger]

Maybe it takes up too 8 weeks? I just thought his spots would be gone by now

 

[Humblefish]

Are you testing daily to ensure the copper level is staying 0.5 ppm? It is probably fluctuating due to the rock & sand.

 

[melypr1985]

Are you testing daily to ensure the copper level is staying 0.5 ppm? It is probably fluctuating due to the rock & sand.

That's what I was thinking. If it drops even for a little while, it can allow the parasites to keep the life cycle going.

 

[Benny Gyger]

I test it everyday. I'm actually almost on my 2nd copper test.

 

[paperdesk]

I've had very good luck with Cupramine. However, quite the opposite when using it with rock in the tank. If you can't remove the sand/rock maybe you can buy or even borrow a bare tank? I hear that there are 'dollar a gallon" sales going on some places right now.

 

[Benny Gyger]

I can take the rock out. I'll try that

 

[Benny Gyger]

Just the live rock or even dead old lava rock from a freshwater tank years ago?

 

[Benny Gyger]

I'm running the skimmer also. But my LFS said to because of my heavy bioload with my puffers

 

[melypr1985]

Just the live rock or even dead old lava rock from a freshwater tank years ago?

I wouldn't put lava rock in a saltwater tank anyway... but yes, you would want to remove all the rock and sand for the best effect.

I'm running the skimmer also. But my LFS said to because of my heavy bioload with my puffers

You can run a skimmer with copper, no problem.

 

[Jofiel]

He's looking a lot better. Not completely gone yet but almost. ! Still holding at .5. Did a big water change yesterday and managed to nail .5 cu again immediately.

Just to verify, you are adding the copper to the clean water and testing before adding it to the tank correct?

This statement sounds a bit like you are adding water then bringing the copper up in the tank, which does not work.