Potter's Angelfish Concerns

[mjreefs]

Hi everyone,

I got a pair of Potter's Angelfish and they're doing relatively fine in QT. Not voracious eaters but would eat a thing or two. I've got a few questions:

1. The larger one seems to like decapsulated brine shrimp. He would start grazing once they fall on the aquarium floor, it would not graze until every last drop, but it would spend a good amount of time grazing off the floor. The smaller one seems to like nori, it would take a few bites (3-4 bites) of nori then would stop. It would then eat a few more small bites throughout the day, but would rarely do so. I have some copper in the system (~0.4ppm of Copper Power) so was wondering maybe the copper gave the nori a bad taste as the day went on. How would you make both angels eat everything offered? Would they learn from each other?

2. I noticed the smaller Potter's scratching itself against the floor. I'm concerned it might be flukes, however, I'm traumatized of dosing Prazi ahead of copper as my trio of bellus angels died due to it. (I highly suspect there was velvet as they died few days after Prazi treatment; unlikely to be low dissolved oxygen as the tank has plenty of wavemakers and airstones) Should I ramp up copper this week and then dose prazi a week after while in copper? I don't have the luxury of space to have a sterile QT tank for that.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

You're correct that Centropyge angels tend to go off feed during copper treatments, but you aren't yet at full dose, so I wonder if that is the problem. I also agree that you should treat copper first, then prazi as flukes always take much longer to kill than do the common protozoan diseases.

Is your nori dried or roasted? Dried is better nutritionally. Do you have access to LRS fish eggs? That would be similar, but better nutrition to the decap Artemia. Have you tried diced mysis? What about a fresh mussel on the half shell?

To be honest, I've never kept two potter's in the same QT - were these paired before you go them?

Jay

 

[K7BMG]

You're correct that Centropyge angels tend to go off feed during copper treatments, but you aren't yet at full dose, so I wonder if that is the problem. I also agree that you should treat copper first, then prazi as flukes always take much longer to kill than do the common protozoan diseases.

Is your nori dried or roasted? Dried is better nutritionally. Do you have access to LRS fish eggs? That would be similar, but better nutrition to the decap Artemia. Have you tried diced mysis? What about a fresh mussel on the half shell?

To be honest, I've never kept two potter's in the same QT - were these paired before you go them?

Jay

100% Agree with treatment advice given here.
But want to add.
Copper slowly over a week to a therapeutic level of 2.0 for a minimum of 14 days at 2.0.
Then remove copper and treat with Prazi as directed.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

100% Agree with treatment advice given here.
But want to add.
Copper slowly over a week to a therapeutic level of 2.0 for a minimum of 14 days at 2.0.
Then remove copper and treat with Prazi as directed.

One would of caution though - ramping up copper too slowly can allow protozoans to get the upper hand. I never take longer than 72 hours to reach full dose, and if I see signs of any protozoal issue, I'll dose 100% right away. Remember, wholesalers and LFS often put new fish into full copper in their systems as a matter of course. Most of the "add copper slowly" advice stems from the old ionic copper/citric acid meds like SeaCure. For those, I would always take 72 hours for Centropyge angels.

I also suggest a full 30 days of copper if any hint of a protozoan infection was seen.

Jay

 

[K7BMG]

See learn something new every day.
Thx

 

[mjreefs]

You're correct that Centropyge angels tend to go off feed during copper treatments, but you aren't yet at full dose, so I wonder if that is the problem. I also agree that you should treat copper first, then prazi as flukes always take much longer to kill than do the common protozoan diseases.

Is your nori dried or roasted? Dried is better nutritionally. Do you have access to LRS fish eggs? That would be similar, but better nutrition to the decap Artemia. Have you tried diced mysis? What about a fresh mussel on the half shell?

To be honest, I've never kept two potter's in the same QT - were these paired before you go them?

Jay

100% Agree with treatment advice given here.
But want to add.
Copper slowly over a week to a therapeutic level of 2.0 for a minimum of 14 days at 2.0.
Then remove copper and treat with Prazi as directed.

One would of caution though - ramping up copper too slowly can allow protozoans to get the upper hand. I never take longer than 72 hours to reach full dose, and if I see signs of any protozoal issue, I'll dose 100% right away. Remember, wholesalers and LFS often put new fish into full copper in their systems as a matter of course. Most of the "add copper slowly" advice stems from the old ionic copper/citric acid meds like SeaCure. For those, I would always take 72 hours for Centropyge angels.

I also suggest a full 30 days of copper if any hint of a protozoan infection was seen.

Jay

@Jay Hemdal they're not paired, I paired them myself and they're going along just fine. I think it's roasted seaweed, the one I usually find in Korean/Japanese stores. I don't have access to LRS fish eggs so only decapped Artemia is my go-to. I have mysis on hand, I'll just try to dice them up. As for the mussels, I have frozen clams, and I've tried feeding it to them, but they seem to have no interest. I'm starting to suspect velvet. Does it mean that I can go immediately to 2.0ppm with Chelated Copper?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes - if the fish do have velvet, slowly ramping up the copper would be a mistake, as this disease can kill within 36 to 48 hours, and it takes a day or so for the copper to even begin to work. That said, velvet would cause increased breathing rate and many fine spots on the fish. Ramping up copper immediately on a potters that doesn't have velvet would be an unnecessary stressor...and I would take two days.

Jay