Powder blue brought Ich with it.

[SirLight1337]

We recently purchased a Powder Blue Tang because who doesnt love how beautiful these fish are ? I wish i had gone with my gut instinct while at the fish store and NOT purchased this fish, but o well. It brought Ich with it and looks like it has infected another 1 or 2 fish with it as well. A small Pacific blue tang and my yellow tang looks like it may have it. Time for me to go buy a 35 gallon ish tank and start the QT.

How would one go about Hyposalinity treatment ? i dont quite understand this process, but understand that parasites cannont live in low salinity environments. Thanks for any help.

SL

 

[steve-s]

How would one go about Hyposalinity treatment ?

Follow the step by step instructions on <<this website>> it will tell you how to lower the salinity over a few days once the QT is set up and the fish transfered. Above all be very sure pH and alk are monitired daily, twice daily on the pH in the first week or two. With the reduced salinity pH will fall quite quickly often needing a buffer to help.

i dont quite understand this process, but understand that parasites cannont live in low salinity environments.

Actually the little pest can withstand fresh water for quite a long stint which often misleads people into beleiving FW dips have any affect, they don't. Hyposalinity does not affect the parasite in that way. It interupts the reproductive stage of the tomont preventing it from completing this stage and thereby preventing future infestations on the fish. It will not target the free swimming stage or the attached stage.

Cheers
Steve

 

[SirLight1337]

What do you think would be an acceptable QT tank size for a medium powder blue and small pacific blue ? I have a 10 gal but im not sure i want to put them in that considering how fast all the water parameters can swing in such a small tank. Should i spring for a 30 gallon ? Also, would this be the best option? or should i use some type of chemical ?

Thanks for the help steve

SL

 

[quarryshark]

The problem is you need to remove all the fish for the treatment to work, even the clowns. As long as a fish host remains the in main, the parasite will survive and the treated fish will just become reinfected once you return them to the main.
I would opt for at least a 40 gallon so you can keep control of the water quality.
Hypo is a great option, you will need a good refractometer to measure the SG with accuracy. It is very important to keep it at treatment level.
If you wish to use chemical means, we generally suggest cupramine. It is well tolerated by most fish.
Each treatment has its downside. With hypo you need to monitor PH, (its tends to dive with lowered SG) and you need to monitor the SG itself. With copper you need to monitor the meds dosage and the ammonia daily as it tend to kill off most of the biological filter.

 

[SirLight1337]

Does the QT tank need lighting or will natural indirect sunlight work? Im getting ready to go purchase a new 50 gallon glass tank and i have a spare heater and power head but im wondering, after i use the power head and header and everything, is it all basically tainted ? Unuseable in any tank with inverts in it forever ?

Again thanks for all the pointers and help.

 

[quarryshark]

after i use the power head and header and everything, is it all basically tainted ? Unuseable in any tank with inverts in it forever ?

if you use hypo, it will be fine. If you want to reuse the tank later, just don't use copper in it. Not a problem really.

Does the QT tank need lighting or will natural indirect sunlight work?

Normal room light for a normal lighting period is just fine.

 

[SirLight1337]

Im getting this extra tank in hopes of using it after it serves its purpose as a QT tank. again this tank is glass. Would Cupramine leech into the glass and all powerheads etc that would be used with it ? No substrate or any type of anything in the QT except some PVC for the fish to hide in. Will this chemical seep into the silicone used to seal the tank ?

 

[steve-s]

With ionic copper salts this would be a definate no but with Cupramine it is generally easy to remove. It does not get into everything like other types of copper but would still be an "at your own risk" venture. The best rule of thumb is to play safe and leave the tank as a QT only.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Pghjeff71]

SirLight1337, I personally go for the hypo treatment. I had steve-s and quarryshark helping me along this route and it worked like a champ. Just make sure you use a refractometer. My swing arm was way too unreliable. Just my .02

(edited for name correction of quarryshark)

 

[SirLight1337]

Hypo it is. Thanks for all the help Steve and quarry. ill be sure to post again if i hit any bumps.