Single copper level for all livestock following fallow

[JeffLED]

I am in the final stages of being able to add livestock back into my display aquarium after nearly 6 months and I just hit a minor roadblock I am hoping to overcome. I am so appreciative of everyone on this forum and the collective knowledge available, I am just hoping to get a confirmation.
I was just about to begin a copper regimen today and came across (yet another) piece of information regarding effects on stressed fish, and I am no longer confident in my planned course of action.
Background: I had a very understocked 165 display aquarium with a yellow watchman goby, a melanurus wrasse, and 2 ocellaris clowns.
In October, I purchased a banggai cardinal and a yellow tang and placed it into a 55 gal QT tank. I did not treat for anything and after 30 days, the livestock was looking healthy and eating well and I added it to my display tank. Within one week, both the yang and the yellow watchman goby looked like this:

I am sorry I do not have a better image, but I had my local "fish expert" come over and we both thought it looked like velvet or brook MORE than it resembled a typical "ich" outbreak. It had that distinctive "powder" look. I quickly lost the goby and banggai.
In November I removed the melanurus wrasse and 2 ocellaris clowns and placed them into my 55 gallon QT tank to begin a fallow on my display.
Fast forward 30 days ago, I purchased a sailfin tang and 6 banggai cardinals from liveaquaria. They have been in my 55gal QT tank for 30 days. Meanwhile, my wrasse started looking stressed in the 20 gal, I believe mainly because there was no sand. I added sand in a cup as best as possible.
I finally combined all of the fish (2 clowns and melanurus from before, sailfin and banggai that are now) together with the intention of treating proactively with copper (cupramine) for the recommended time at therpeutic levels (I have done the research there, I am not asking for that info). I was intending to take atleast 4 days to get up to the levels because of the wrasse. Finally today, I ran across a post discussing how it was not good for already stressed fish. Here is my wrasse. He was just added back to the tank with sand, which I believe is why he was stressed before without the sand.

My tank has finally completed a fallow and I am 100% going to assume the previous outbreak is active on these fish. Does this wrasse look like he could accept the same copper treatment as the rest of the livestock?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi, I don’t know if it is just the photo, but that wrasse looks severely emaciated to me. See how it is pinched at the top of its head, behind its skull? If that is the case, it needs to be addressed as starving fish have damaged livers and that will make a copper treatment problematical.
Jay

 

[JeffLED]

Hi Jay, and thank you tremendously for both your time on this post, but even more so all the time you have spent over the years contributing to this forum. I really was just hoping you would have an opportunity to respond to this. When I read other posts, if you offer an answer or comment, that is the advice I use and I stop reading after that. It cannot get any better!

Hi, I don’t know if it is just the photo, but that wrasse looks severely emaciated to me. See how it is pinched at the top of its head, behind its skull? If that is the case, it needs to be addressed as starving fish have damaged livers and that will make a copper treatment problematical.
Jay

Here is a picture from last night. The white spots appearing on the fish are actually artifacts that were on the aquarium glass and are do not appear as white spots on the fish. I thought he was more "stressed" than "emaciated", but appreciate the input of an expert and will happily acknowledge if I am wrong in this instance. The wrasse was in my DT for over 5 years with a population of bristle worms. He was removed from that system and placed into barebottom in November, at which point the bristle worm population has increased rapidly. I am suspecting this was a large portion of his diet which I did not realize.
Barebottom clearly added to his stresses as he was often attempting to bury himself in nonexistent sand. I added a cup of sand and he would use it, but it was not a replacement for a sand bed. I completely trust your experience and opinion. I was actually more concerned by the hazing of the corneal epithelium on his right eye but I thought this was likely caused from trying to bury in a barebottom tank.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi Jay, and thank you tremendously for both your time on this post, but even more so all the time you have spent over the years contributing to this forum. I really was just hoping you would have an opportunity to respond to this. When I read other posts, if you offer an answer or comment, that is the advice I use and I stop reading after that. It cannot get any better!

Here is a picture from last night. The white spots appearing on the fish are actually artifacts that were on the aquarium glass and are do not appear as white spots on the fish. I thought he was more "stressed" than "emaciated", but appreciate the input of an expert and will happily acknowledge if I am wrong in this instance. The wrasse was in my DT for over 5 years with a population of bristle worms. He was removed from that system and placed into barebottom in November, at which point the bristle worm population has increased rapidly. I am suspecting this was a large portion of his diet which I did not realize.
Barebottom clearly added to his stresses as he was often attempting to bury himself in nonexistent sand. I added a cup of sand and he would use it, but it was not a replacement for a sand bed. I completely trust your experience and opinion. I was actually more concerned by the hazing of the corneal epithelium on his right eye but I thought this was likely caused from trying to bury in a barebottom tank.

I noticed the eye, but didn’t know if it was an artifact of the photo or what. I’ve had wrasses that fed on bristleworms like that also, seems nasty, but I had a twin spot coris that really went after them.
you would be the best judge if the fish has gotten thin, but it sure looks like it to me. Can you get a head on shot?
Here is another possibility- this is a long term captive. Mycobacterium marinum - fish TB can sometimes affect them. The symptoms are very general, but can include emaciation and eye opacity.....
Jay

 

[JeffLED]

Here is another possibility- this is a long term captive. Mycobacterium marinum - fish TB can sometimes affect them.

My first bit of research just sounded like the worst (possible) news ever. There is some scary information out there, and I was trying to figure out how to confirm such a diagnosis.
Going back to the original question, what is the proper course of action to treat the fish in QT, which I am treating like new fish?
After some additional research, I think I found what your answer would be to my next question.
In this post you explained (paraphrasing): "Mycobacterium marinum...are more or less found in every aquarium environment - even in the food we feed out fish...fish can harbor chronic infections for years, but generally do not succumb to acute infections until they are old."
If I am interpreting this correctly (please confirm), the original course of action remains. Basically "ignore" the possible fish TB?!?
Then treat the QT with a copper regimen with a very slow built up to therapeutic over 4 days with careful monitoring. If the wrasse starts showing signs of stress, I have a second QT tank ready if necessary.

 

[JeffLED]

Can you get a head on shot?

He has been quite buried today so I was unable to get another head-on shot. I did have these other images from yesterday. I am not exactly sure what you are looking for so I am sending a few with some random angles. Excuse the apparent quality - some are cropped from larger images and most were when he wasn't cooperating for the camera.