QT problems/questions

[The new fish on the block]

Hi everyone,
About a month ago some of my fish came down with what I believe is Velvet ( Fish started showing signs of being reclusive, swimming into flow, and my clowns look like they are covered in dust) after noticing this I pulled all of the fish ( including a Yellow tang, a Kole tang, a yellow tailed damsel , 2 regal damsels, 2 clown gobies , and 2 clownfish) out of the DT and put them in QT. The QT happens to be my old tank and hadn’t been torn down yet ( still had rock and sand in it).
So after moving the fish over i started treating with coppersafe. I have been treating the tank for 3weeks and nothing seems to be getting better.

Thanks and happy reefing!!!

 

[JoshKReef]

The rock and sand could be absorbing the copper. Are you sure it's staying at levels required to treat for ich / velvet? Do you have the right test kit for the copper you are using?

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Rock and sand is taking up your meds.

 

[Denisk]

I have to agree with everyone above. It’s better to run a bare bottom quarantine with a sponge filter. Throw some PVC tubing in for the fish to hide/ swim around.

 

[Maritimer]

With Coppersafe, you'll want to keep the level of copper in the tank at between 1.5 and 2.0. API makes the most commonly available test kit that's appropriate to measure that.

What is the measured level of copper in your QT?

As mentioned by everyone above, sand - and especially rock - will absorb copper from the water, reducing the effectiveness of what you're doing. What can be even more worrying is that under some circumstances, it can leach back _in_ to the water down the line.

~Bruce

 

[Mr. Limpid]

How are your fish doing? Are they showing signs of getting better? Are you sure it is Velvet? Do your clowns look like the picture? Then it is brooklynella, which I have had good luck doing fresh water dips for 15 min. (every other day may take up to five to eight dips). Make sure of same temp. and PH and air rate.

 

[The new fish on the block]

The rock and sand could be absorbing the copper. Are you sure it's staying at levels required to treat for ich / velvet? Do you have the right test kit for the copper you are using?

Right now I'm using the API copper test kit

With Coppersafe, you'll want to keep the level of copper in the tank at between 1.5 and 2.0. API makes the most commonly available test kit that's appropriate to measure that.

What is the measured level of copper in your QT?

As mentioned by everyone above, sand - and especially rock - will absorb copper from the water, reducing the effectiveness of what you're doing. What can be even more worrying is that under some circumstances, it can leach back _in_ to the water down the line.

~Bruce

Right now the copper level is in between 1.0 and 2.0
Can I siphon most of the sand of with the fish still in the tank?

How are your fish doing? Are they showing signs of getting better? Are you sure it is Velvet? Do your clowns look like the picture? Then it is brooklynella, which I have had good luck doing fresh water dips for 15 min. (every other day may take up to five to eight dips). Make sure of same temp. and PH and air rate.

my clowns look like they have tiny specs of sand all over them

 

[Maritimer]

I should think that you could siphon sand (which absorbs a little copper), but have fresh saltwater mixed to replace what you take out, and add copper to it before putting it into the tank.

The liverock (which absorbs quite a bit of copper) should come out as well, but have another bio-filter in place before you pull it.

~Bruce

 

[JoshKReef]

How deep is the sand? I probably would drain some water into a 5 gallon bucket, pull all the fish into that bucket, then drain the rest of the water into additional buckets. Once you get as much water out as you can, scoop out the sand, clean the bottom with a vinegar rag, add the water from the buckets, top off with fresh saltwater with copper at the right level, then add your fish back.

This would cover all the bases just in case there are some bad things in that same bed.

 

[The new fish on the block]

How deep is the sand? I probably would drain some water into a 5 gallon bucket, pull all the fish into that bucket, then drain the rest of the water into additional buckets. Once you get as much water out as you can, scoop out the sand, clean the bottom with a vinegar rag, add the water from the buckets, top off with fresh saltwater with copper at the right level, then add your fish back.

This would cover all the bases just in case there are some bad things in that same bed.

Right now I have about 2-3 inches of sand in there right now, and right now I don’t have many buckets so I think my only option is to siphon.

 

[The new fish on the block]

@Maritimer right now my copper level is at .50.

It might also be helpful to mention that my Qt is a Biocube 29.
Thanks and happy reefing!

 

[Maritimer]

That's a lot of sand to try to siphon ... be sure to have plenty of replacement salt water mixed up . . .

If you can borrow some buckets (that have _never_ been used for cleaning products!), Josh's suggestion is probably a much better idea.

~Bruce

 

[The new fish on the block]

I wish I could give an update with better news...
Saturday morning my yellow tang started swimming eradically so I quickly moved everyone out of qt and back into the DT, after that my clown also started swimming weird and passed on Sunday. I came home from school yesterday the yellow tang had passed. And now my yellow clown goby is now swimming weird. So I don’t have high hopes for it. On the other hand my other fish seem to be doing good. But only time will tell. Thank you for you help everyone.