Fish in QT dying

amy · #1 02-09-2011, 03:00 PM

After reading through some of the posts on marine velvet and ick, I decided that I do not want to take any chances with my tank and will be quarantining everything prior to putting it in the display tank. I have a 10 gallon tank, bare bottom with a powerhead, a heater and some PVC for hiding. I got 2 new gobies on Sunday, so I added the copper to the water as per instructions on the bottle and dripped the fish to acclimate them.One of them died yesterday afternoon. I immediately tested all of the water parameters and everything was at 0, except for the copper which was at .4 (where I want it right?)
I woke up this morning to the other goby dead.
They only lasted 2 days. Have I done something wrong? Could it have been stress? I can't imagine they were both sick to begin with.
Any thoughts?

ALang · #2 02-09-2011, 03:45 PM

I don't know...Gobies are pretty fragile little fish.
Were they sick to begin with? If not, I would have just QT them in your hospital tank for observations and NOT dose them with any drugs until they show signs of diseases.
Next time, I'd just QT for a couple of weeks (or 4, for all those purists out there), without any medications. Just keep your water parameters top notch. If they don't show any sighs of illness, and that they are eating, and getting fat, then they'll be ready for your display tank. Gobies may want a little sand too.

fishoholic · #3 02-09-2011, 03:47 PM

Some fish can not handle copper treatment, I have seen it kill small fish within minutes of treatment. While it's good to QT unless the fish shows signs of being sick and needing treatment, I would just moniter them in the QT tank for a couple of weeks and then transfer them over or if signs of illness occur then treat as necessary. Also remember water quality is very difficult to maintain in a QT tank so 30-50% water changes every few days is needed to help keep ammonia from building up.

amy · #4 02-09-2011, 04:00 PM

I'm so upset, this is my first loss and to think it was at my own hand

I was under the impression that the whole point of QT was the copper in the water.
Another hard lesson learned!

reefwars · #5 02-09-2011, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishoholic

Some fish can not handle copper treatment, I have seen it kill small fish within minutes of treatment. While it's good to QT unless the fish shows signs of being sick and needing treatment, I would just moniter them in the QT tank for a couple of weeks and then transfer them over or if signs of illness occur then treat as necessary. Also remember water quality is very difficult to maintain in a QT tank so 30-50% water changes every few days is needed to help keep ammonia from building up.

+1 copper's not that safe especially if your fish aren't in dire need of it, personally i would also just monitor them at first.... keep him or her happy and if you like you can even do hyposalinity.

remeber theres two types of quarantine one for isolization and observation where you can have live rock and other helpful things like carbon and then theres a hospital tank like you have set up where its just a tank some pvc pretty much the bare essentials as you will be medicating.

also after adding copper to that 15 g its unusable for anything else besides medication so i would write on it in permanant blak marker "copper treated"
the tank is still usable for some things but theres high limitations and risk on what you could use it for now and the permanant marker will help you to remember its been dosed with copper

sorry to hear about your fish, in the future amy read up on hyposalinity its a much safer alternative to copper but remember theres alot of things a fish can get besides ich or velvet so the rule of thumb when using meds is to have a positive id on what your trteating unless theres no other way to do so

amy · #6 02-09-2011, 05:13 PM

So can I still use it as an observation tank once it's cleaned well? without live rock and never putting inverts in? Or will those trace amounts of copper still cause damage to any further fish?
This bites

marie · #7 02-09-2011, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefwars

also after adding copper to that 15 g its unusable for anything else besides medication so i would write on it in permanant blak marker "copper treated"
the tank is still usable for some things but theres high limitations and risk on what you could use it for now and the permanant marker will help you to remember its been dosed with copper

......

Not quite true, granted it was cupramine that I used but I have since used my tank to house corals and inverts and had no problems

globaldesigns · #8 02-09-2011, 09:22 PM

IMO, quaranting just causes more stress. I personally never treat, nor quarantine. If an environment is in good shape, and if the fish is healthy, there should be no problems... And if there is ever an issue, like ICH for example, then again if the environment is healthy and the fish is strong, it should recover without any treatment.

Just remember the more you do to your environment and livestock, the more stress that is created. Best practice is to just leave things alone.

reefwars · #9 02-09-2011, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marie

Not quite true, granted it was cupramine that I used but I have since used my tank to house corals and inverts and had no problems

if you cleaned it super super good and had no other choice but i wouldnt use it for the sake of a tiny tank that can be bought for like $30.im sure there are ways to clean them well but id be iffy for sure probably more so in a small tank then a larger one. theres no way to tell when something will leach untill its too late.

reefwars · #10 02-09-2011, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

IMO, quaranting just causes more stress. I personally never treat, nor quarantine. If an environment is in good shape, and if the fish is healthy, there should be no problems... And if there is ever an issue, like ICH for example, then again if the environment is healthy and the fish is strong, it should recover without any treatment.

Just remember the more you do to your environment and livestock, the more stress that is created. Best practice is to just leave things alone.

i agree completely holwever sometimes we dont get fish that have enough time to fight it so if say you help a friend whos got a fish showing bad symtoms and you offer to treat for him(ive had this alot because people are afraid to take that step and be the one who fails on the fish...understandable) then throwing him into your display would be bad especially if he is getting bullied.......but i do agree that if you practise safe buying, dont buy fish every couple days and let things stabilize and maintain a healthy tank then its easier for fish to fight it off and even hyposalinity can be bad if done wrong so there are no easy fixes

it always comes down to not rushing and understanding all the things you do with your tank and asking questions and reading and discussing it..... it will go a long way and end up with a healthy tank.