hypo vs copper

[thirty6]

i have another thread going on my ich situation::Up_to_som

i am considering another tank setup just for the fish, treating with copper and going fallow in main tank for the 8 weeks period or whatever it actually is (think 8)

seeing as taking all the fish out creates a challange and i dont have a hospital tank that realistically should house the amount of fish i have would it be a better idea to remove the corals i have and place them in a sep. tank and try hypo treatment for the ich in the main tank?

appreciate all feedback and thoughts

 

[marrone]

It's not just the corals that need to be moved by any inverts, including worms, sponges and anything living on the LR, as a majority of them will also die. That being said, if you have a place to move the corals to then this would be a better way of going they moving out all the fish and leaving the tank fallow for 8 weeks.

 

[Imbarrie]

Do you plan on have a QT tank for all coral going forward?
Planning on hypo for fish and fallow for corals will be undone the minute you put in a coral that has not been "fallowed" for 8 weeks.

How bad is ich? Have you tried other attempts first.
I feel that good water quality, good nutrition, cleaner shrimp with neon gobies, and a stress-free tank works better.
But I dont have the time, money, or space for a separate QT reef tank.

 

[thirty6]

It's not just the corals that need to be moved by any inverts, including worms, sponges and anything living on the LR, as a majority of them will also die. That being said, if you have a place to move the corals to then this would be a better way of going they moving out all the fish and leaving the tank fallow for 8 weeks.

I only have are pcs of coral at this time, 4 shrimp. I have a ton of snails and that would be pia scooping em all up. Besides that I am thinking easier to move the coral.

 

[marrone]

I would differently move the shrimp with the corals, as they're going to die with the lower SG. As for the snails, just try and get as many as you can out of the tank.

 

[thirty6]

Do you plan on have a QT tank for all coral going forward?
Planning on hypo for fish and fallow for corals will be undone the minute you put in a coral that has not been "fallowed" for 8 weeks.

How bad is ich? Have you tried other attempts first.
I feel that good water quality, good nutrition, cleaner shrimp with neon gobies, and a stress-free tank works better.
But I dont have the time, money, or space for a separate QT reef tank.

Hmmm, it seemed like a good idea until i read your post. if i remove the fish and treat and keep coral in tank isn't that the same difference? The main tank would just be fallow for the allotted time. If I removed the coral and hypo main tank it seems like same thing to me I'm probably confused but that is
how i read into that.

I do have a qt tank, can eerily set it back up but it's 10g, so I'd need a bigger tank. I have never used copper before and have never struggled with ich either so icant say how bad it is really. Only one fish showing any signs and the fish is eating/acting normal

 

[Imbarrie]

How long has the fish had ich? Ich can affect one or two fish or it can take out a tank. However, the actions you take could make things worse or be completely necessary. You never know which.

However, if you are setting up a QT tank, you cannot move anything back into the tank for 8 weeks. Which means everything. And if you dont do the hypo correctly you are back to the start.

My experience with ich started with a new tang and spread to a few fish. After adding a couple neon gobies and cleaner shrimp the problem was gone in a couple days with no fatalities. Never came back.

 

[duromega]

Hello everyone
I have a blue hippo that had ich also, QT the fish and treated with copper safe and the fish was perfectly cured in 2 weeks

IF: you are gonna use copper definitely you need a QT tank DO NOT add copper in a reef ever, or you eventually will have to replace your tank,

it's easier to treat the fish in a QT tank then take everything out and treat the fish in the Display Tank

"my 1 cent"

 

[thirty6]

Thank guys, I know copper can't go in main tank. Here is thing: I have qt'd everything except last additions. I have 3 large cleaner shrimp in tank. He has actually spent some time near the shrimp but no real activity that I can tell

As of now its only one fish that has signs of ich, for past few days ive noticed. With that being said I am concerned as I would like to add more to tank, no real plans at moment but tank was starting to develop nicely. If I just let run its course, would I forever have a tank with the parasite living in it? I know some say all tank have parasites such as ick. I can certainly try cleaner fish no harm in trying I guess. I only brought up thread bc it seems like easier to remove corals than fish was all

 

[Imbarrie]

I let mine run its course and never noticed any signs again. Even when the system was stressed by a weather related blackout.
You will never know for sure if hypo will actually work or not. And i haven't read anything definitive that can guarantee it either. Besides copper.

 

[marrone]

If it Ich then Hypo does work. As for neon gobies and cleaner shrimp, sorry, but they don't work. If anything they can cause more problems for the fish as they can pull off scales of the fish.

If your tank has ich you need to take measures to get rid of it, which you can. By either treating the main tank, Hypo, Copper or leaving the tank fallow it will get rid of the ich. As for QT new corals, well you don't need to QT them for 8 weeks. Basically what you can do first is to rinse off, then place them in a QT for a couple of days, and then giving them another rinse before you place them into your tank. This should get rid of any ich or spores that the coral may have. This wouldn't work on other things on the corals, as eggs and such can be hard to remove.

 

[Imbarrie]

How would a two day QT work for coral that is attached to rock?

If it came from a system that had ich spores it would need to fallowed in QT for 8 weeks and any fish would need to go into a hypo tank for treatment. You could only buy coral every 8 weeks as any new addition is a vector for ich and would need to fallow.

So, to QT with any degree of assurance you need two separate systems, a fully functional reef system and a fish only system. This is on top of the display system.
I dont see many people doing this.

 

[marrone]

Basically you would rinse the coral off before placing it into a QT. If the coral is attached to a rock you should scrub the rock and then rinse it off. During the two days in the QT you should rinse the coral and rocks off again, and actually change all the water and clean the tank out before placing the corals back in. By doing this you should be able to remove any spore or ich from the corals. And it doesn't even need to be a tank, a simple pail or container will also work.

It's not hard to setup a separate QT system when needed, and it doesn't need to be a full system either. It can be just the bare basics. This is the case for fish and coral, but with coral it can be basically just a pail with an air stone or PH to move the water around and a heater if needed. It's called prevention and even though it maybe more work up front it's a lot less than if your fish get ich.

 

[thirty6]

Basically you would rinse the coral off before placing it into a QT. If the coral is attached to a rock you should scrub the rock and then rinse it off. During the two days in the QT you should rinse the coral and rocks off again, and actually change all the water and clean the tank out before placing the corals back in. By doing this you should be able to remove any spore or ich from the corals. And it doesn't even need to be a tank, a simple pail or container will also work.

It's not hard to setup a separate QT system when needed, and it doesn't need to be a full system either. It can be just the bare basics. This is the case for fish and coral, but with coral it can be basically just a pail with an air stone or PH to move the water around and a heater if needed. It's called prevention and even though it maybe more work up front it's a lot less than if your fish get ich.

so dip, scrub, rinse and place in qt or holding tank for two days and repeat with clean fresh salt water? when you say scrub rock, what exactly to you do this with? clean unused toothbrush or similar?

 

[thirty6]

could a brute container serve as a hodling tank for the fish or i need to use a tank i seem to have surplus in brutes all of the sudden

 

[drej424]

I've seen people use Brute tanks for holding fish. Maybe you could borrow some tanks from fellow reefers. If you're going with hypo, there won't be any problem with the QT tanks when you're done. (I had success with hypo treatment and leaving the tank go fallow when my tank had Ich a few years ago)

 

[thirty6]

i have a 29/10/ and maybe a 20 not sure what the other one is really. its the filters that are more of an issue and a few members have actually offered a qt tank. i am sort of buying my time because i will be away for a few days and know what i need to do. i need to just do it and be done i guess. the problem isnt going to just go away without intervention on my part
thing is many different theories on how or what is best way to remedy situation. i am leaning on taking fish out and doing copper treatment

 

[marrone]

You can use a toothbrush, one that you didn't use tooth paste with, or a small scrub brush, some people have one if they have cured LR. Basically a small pail or even small rubbermaid container will work for holding corals for a couple of days. I usually have a small light over the container too.

A Brute container will work but it's better to get some thing that is longer, which will give the fish more swimming room and be less stressful. The thing is when you're not using it you can use it to store things in, so it's just doesn't take up space.

 

[thirty6]

very true, thanks for the advice thread response has been very helpful