Update- down 4 fish

[donnieb07]

So far have lost a Threadfin butterfly (this was before I pulled them into qt), foxface, and 2 gobies. Only have a royal gramma and two clownfish left :/. Anything I could be doing wrong or is this just the process? Temp. 80, salinity 1.022, cupramine dosed at .5 as per Hannah copper test kit, water levels are now stable (had one swing, water change fixed this), everyone eats and swims and acts fine then I wake up and one’s just dead. TIA for everyone’s help leading up to this point/any future help it means a lot.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So far have lost a Threadfin butterfly (this was before I pulled them into qt), foxface, and 2 gobies. Only have a royal gramma and two clownfish left :/. Anything I could be doing wrong or is this just the process? Temp. 80, salinity 1.022, cupramine dosed at .5 as per Hannah copper test kit, water levels are now stable (had one swing, water change fixed this), everyone eats and swims and acts fine then I wake up and one’s just dead. TIA for everyone’s help leading up to this point/any future help it means a lot.

Salinity quite low - You want 1.024-1.025 and how old is this tank?
Cupramine is quite potent and best is coppersafe or Copper power.
Are you treating in display tank or quarantine tank?

 

[Dburr1014]

So far have lost a Threadfin butterfly (this was before I pulled them into qt), foxface, and 2 gobies. Only have a royal gramma and two clownfish left :/. Anything I could be doing wrong or is this just the process? Temp. 80, salinity 1.022, cupramine dosed at .5 as per Hannah copper test kit, water levels are now stable (had one swing, water change fixed this), everyone eats and swims and acts fine then I wake up and one’s just dead. TIA for everyone’s help leading up to this point/any future help it means a lot.

Maybe some more context.
I see you had a thread started with ammonia problems. It's this from that thread or a new problem?

This is not "just the process" but it does sound like a learning curve for you.

Where are the fish coming from?
If a local store, do you know how they keep there water? IE; some keep salanity low, some with copper and some both at the same time.
Do they go to straight QT?
What is the QT process for you?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So far have lost a Threadfin butterfly (this was before I pulled them into qt), foxface, and 2 gobies. Only have a royal gramma and two clownfish left :/. Anything I could be doing wrong or is this just the process? Temp. 80, salinity 1.022, cupramine dosed at .5 as per Hannah copper test kit, water levels are now stable (had one swing, water change fixed this), everyone eats and swims and acts fine then I wake up and one’s just dead. TIA for everyone’s help leading up to this point/any future help it means a lot.

That salinity is fine for fish, just low for invertebrates.

How long have the fish been at full strength Cupramine? Copper does take some time to work.

Not sure how much a video will help, but posting one may help us rule out some issues; a whole tank shot, plus closeups of the fish.

 

[donnieb07]

Salinity quite low - You want 1.024-1.025 and how old is this tank?
Cupramine is quite potent and best is coppersafe or Copper power.
Are you treating in display tank or quarantine tank?

I’m treating qt tank, and tank is only 5 days old.

 

[donnieb07]

Maybe some more context.
I see you had a thread started with ammonia problems. It's this from that thread or a new problem?

This is not "just the process" but it does sound like a learning curve for you.

Where are the fish coming from?
If a local store, do you know how they keep there water? IE; some keep salanity low, some with copper and some both at the same time.
Do they go to straight QT?
What is the QT process for you?

so qt tank has been up for 5 days on day 3 I woke up and foxface was dead, had ammonia at .5ppm which wasn’t there the previous days I tested. Did a water change and ammonia has been gone since.

Fish came from LFS they don’t keep with copper and they keep salinity at 1.020.

The fish have been in my display tank for approx. 2 months at 1.022 and have been fine, brought in a fish that had ich and in turn all of them got it so I pulled them out to a qt and started dosing with cupramine.

The qt process so far was just me pulling them out of dt and putting them in the qt Thursday. Friday put first dose of cupramine in at .25mg tested by Hannah copper test kit. Saturday morning woke up my foxface was dead and I noticed the ammonia problem(changed water fixed that redosed at .25mg). Sunday night I dosed up to .5mg and now today the goby is dead.
Edit: Threadfin died before I could get it into the qt tank

 

[donnieb07]

That salinity is fine for fish, just low for invertebrates.

How long have the fish been at full strength Cupramine? Copper does take some time to work.

Not sure how much a video will help, but posting one may help us rule out some issues; a whole tank shot, plus closeups of the fish.

Approx. 20 hours. Will get a video tonight, I have to upload to YouTube first correct? but as of right now I don’t see any spots on fish, no heavy breathing, no weird behavior, everyone’s eating well. I do have a pic of the tank setup

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Approx. 20 hours. Will get a video tonight, I have to upload to YouTube first correct? but as of right now I don’t see any spots on fish, no heavy breathing, no weird behavior, everyone’s eating well. I do have a pic of the tank setup

Yes - YouTube hosting seems to work best for videos.

Copper does take about three days to start controlling ich or velvet - it only kills the free swimming stages, not the parasitic stage on the fish itself or the testing stage in the substrate.

 

[vetteguy53081]

so qt tank has been up for 5 days on day 3 I woke up and foxface was dead, had ammonia at .5ppm which wasn’t there the previous days I tested. Did a water change and ammonia has been gone since.

Fish came from LFS they don’t keep with copper and they keep salinity at 1.020.

The fish have been in my display tank for approx. 2 months at 1.022 and have been fine, brought in a fish that had ich and in turn all of them got it so I pulled them out to a qt and started dosing with cupramine.

The qt process so far was just me pulling them out of dt and putting them in the qt Thursday. Friday put first dose of cupramine in at .25mg tested by Hannah copper test kit. Saturday morning woke up my foxface was dead and I noticed the ammonia problem(changed water fixed that redosed at .25mg). Sunday night I dosed up to .5mg and now today the goby is dead.
Edit: Threadfin died before I could get it into the qt tank

The copper level dosed is too low for cupramine and allowed a given disease to take hold of the fish. You want .5 for cupramine and is coppersafe 2.5 and get right to treatment level within 24 hours.
Ammonia you wanted at .025 or below and was quite high - How are you testing for ammonia?

 

[JayM]

If you aren’t already, I would strongly advise pre-mixing your copper in a batch of fresh saltwater for water changes vs. trying to dose copper directly to the QT tank. That way you will avoid under/over dosing.

 

[donnieb07]

Yes - YouTube hosting seems to work best for videos.

Copper does take about three days to start controlling ich or velvet - it only kills the free swimming stages, not the parasitic stage on the fish itself or the testing stage in the substrate.

Okay sounds good. So I get it’s a learning curve and it’s definitely not 100% perfect, but is there anything major I’m doing wrong that could be taking out the fish?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Okay sounds good. So I get it’s a learning curve and it’s definitely not 100% perfect, but is there anything major I’m doing wrong that could be taking out the fish?

Tough to say without seeing videos of the fish prior to death, just not enough symptoms to go on. Flukes will cause fish loss with fewer symptoms up front, but the fish loss is usually spaced out over weeks.

Jay

 

[MnFish1]

So - just to be sure - in a 5 day old tank you placed:

So far have lost a Threadfin butterfly (this was before I pulled them into qt), foxface, and 2 gobies. Only have a royal gramma and two clownfish left :/.

Or - were the fish you're talking about dying in a QT tank that was 5 days ole.