whats up guys and girls need a little help.

[mbaker82]

hi i have been in the trade for about 2 years and i am still no pro. major props to those who are running this form.
my question is i have a 55 gallon sw tank with about 35 # of live rock and about 20 hermits and 20 snails 3 sand sifting sea stars 2 red 1 tiger striped. 1 dory, 1 nemo, 2 yellow tail damsels
i have not been good at qt fish . i always seem to kill them . i have better luck putting them right in. my 2 damsels have been with me for about 1 year, dorrie about 3 months or so., nemo about 1 week. well now i got a major problem dorrie gulps for air and rubs a whole bunch i know she
has whites spots all over her i have so many books but none seem to help me. i know if i put her in a qt tank. i put copper in it . but i have no idea how much. i have copper and test kits so thats covered. but as for whats in my tank how do i kill the parasites with out harming other fish and inverts.

also i have a 25 watt uv ster. and a wet dry set up rated for 100 gallon.
on the back of my tank i have a hang on filter for mach. filt. wet dry just dont do a good job on getting outfish poop
so if any one can help i would be sooo sooo great full.
i have spent so much on these fish i really dont want to loose them.
thanks
michael

 

[steve-s]

The only way to beat C. irritans is by removing all the fish and treating them simultaniously even if you see no sign of the parasite. The display tank should then be left fallow for 6-8 weeks. Only by breaking the life cycle of the parasite will you be rid of it permanently. That is, if you properly QT all future additions for a minimum of 4 weeks.

What is the current copper level and what type of copper was used?

With a tang I would suggest Cupramine or preferabley Hyposalinity. Tangs in general do very poorly in ionic copper and not much better in chelated.

Also please read the sticky at the top of the forum and answer as many q's from there as possible. Just want to be sure


Cheers
Steve

 

[fishfreek]

Sounds like your UV unit might not be working very well. The flow might be to fast thru it or the bulb might need replaced. How long has the UV been in operation? Do you know the approx flow rate thru the UV?

Some not so scientific ways of treating the ich is to soak the food you feed in garlic oil. A FW dip for the affected fish should remove the parasites off the fish's body but it wont remove the parasite from the tank.

 

[steve-s]

Dips won't remove the parasite from the fish completely so I wouldn't attempt it unless heavily infested. The UV would help eliminate the parasite from the main faster once all the fish are removed but I would not rely on it as a cure. QT, treat and fallow... that's really the best solution.

Cheers
Steve

 

[mbaker82]

cool i see
as for copper i have cupermine.
as for the uv light its less than 6 monhts old. and i have a ball valve on it to reduce flow rate how can i tell how fast or how much its putting out per hour.
i have a sump. so i have a big pump thats puts ou like over 1000 gallons an hour at 1' head height
so all i did was get a ball valve, is that bad or good? some one said that if i take out all fish and qt them or 4 weeks they sould be ok. now the problem in my tank will still be there right.
i know some one said too run it for 6-8 weeks too kill off the parasite in the tank. but wont it live on hermits and starfish or live rock?
michael

 

[dralarms]

I lost a Regal tang to copper, don't use copper on a tang. If you do please use it at 1/2 strength.

Take your hose and stick it in a 1 gal jug, count to see how long it takes to fill it up. then multiply by 60.

Ich can't live on hermits, ETC. they have to have a fish host to survive.

 

[steve-s]

Cupramine will not typically stress a tang when dosed properly. Agreed that most regular/chelated forms will though. For more sensitive fish species, treat and 0.4 mg/l instead of 0.5 mg/l but not ½ the dose.

Cheers
Steve

 

[loganj]

As for using the UV to help eliminate the ich parasites, you're going to need a very slow flow rate. The UV "zap dose" for the parasites is about 100,000mw/cm2. With a 25w sterilizer, you'll need to cut your flow rate to around 30gph. This assumes a 2" diameter unit. If you have the 3/4" diameter unit, you're down around 15 gph. I know this sounds terribly slow, but it takes a lot of UV to kill parasites. You won't have a good turnover rate with this flow, but you'll kill the parasites that do pass through the unit. As steve-s recommended, look at the UV as a helper and not a cure.

 

[mbaker82]

ok thanks guys i thank you
i let you know how it turns out.
thanks alot
michael

 

[jaiden]

you could also treat the QT with hypo at 1.009 instead of copper.