WRASSE ICH OR VELVET PROBLEM

[EASTERN INDIGO]

I have what i think is a Bodianus diana and what I think is a Thalassoma duperreyi. They are in a newly started 300 gallon community tank. All the fish are new. Today is the third day for the tank. I have been slowly adding Copper Power, up to possibly .5 so far. Since the tank is new I decided to just fill it with the available fish that appealed to me at the LFSs, and came up with a nice group. Now I am using it to quarantine all the fish together. Then after six weeks I will do a 75% water change, begin running activated carbon and do two more 50% water changes two days apart.
My specific problem is that both wrasses are flashing the substrate. What do I do now? I cannot stop the copper because I have another ten fish in the tank that need the quarantine, and I do not relish chasing fast wrasses with a net in a 300 gallon tank with bracing going across the tank in two places.

Any suggestions, short of jumping in with a snorkel?

Thanks,
Ira

 

[Milkman420]

It would of been cheaper and easier to just get a couple buck a gallon tanks for qt. Dosing that big of a tank with copper has got to be expensive. Doing a 2 150 gallon wc in 2 days is going to be hard as well and if something happens in between you may not have 300 gallons on hand not to mention the water bill. I would of gone the qt tank route personally. Also If the tank has only been filled for 3 days it’s a little early to be adding fish. Some wrasses are also very sensitive to copper which goes back to the qt tanks. If you had two 20 gallons you could of done different treatments in both for your more sensitive fish also a lot easier on water changes. If I was you I probably would recommend starting from scratch and get 20 gallon tanks and put the fish thru qt in there then clean the dt. If your planning on adding inverts or corals it’s a no go with copper

 

[EASTERN INDIGO]

The money or water volume in storage is not my issue. I was tired of constantly quarantining in 20s and 55s, so when I started this new tank I didn't see the difference between 20, 55 or 300. They all needed to be quarantined, and I just decided to do them all at once. Just enough rocks for the hiders to hide, minimal sand, then remove the copper and rocks in six weeks. So the help I need is not what I SHOULD have done, but what I need to do now, and setting up a bunch of individual tanks is not the solution for me. I wanted these wrasses, well aware that they can be difficult. I would NEVER, EVER, NEVER again put a fish in a display tank without a long and thorough chemical quarantine, but I had been advised by several LFSs and hobbyists, as well as some online sites, that the form of copper in Copper Power was safe for wrasses and puffers. Then yesterday I came up with a post, which I cannot find again (as with many others that I can never find a second time) that SPECIFICALLY warned against Copper Power. That's why I reached out.

So I am now committed to the CP, and I'm building up slowly. In the Salt water hobby anybody who gets half of his new fish through quarantine alive is doing very well, but it hurts every time one dies. But that's an entirely different discussion.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Milkman420]

I understand. I just wanted to make sure you have a backup plan for when your tank Parameters are all out of whack and you may not have 150 gallons on hand cuz you just did a 150 gallon change and you don’t have enough water to straighten things out. As far as what’s done is done there’s still an issue with choosing to dose the whole tank. You have a few fish that are very sensitive to that method. While Cp is good at what it does it just doesn’t work well with some fishies. I mean no I’ll will or condescending tone I just was giving other options that would be much easier to control. Where you would only be dropping in a couple drops compared to half a bottle lol. I know that is not the real amount. i just have no clue how much you would actually need to keep your copper concentration levels at the right point for that much volume. Also I would replace or thoroughly wash the sand when done as well. I just worry about inverts and corals if your plan is to go that route in the future