Might have to eat my own words re: quarantine

Reef Pilot · #1 01-29-2012, 05:59 PM

Quarantine works best with new fish before adding them to the display tank and using an already set up and fully cycled QT. If you have to set up a new QT, then you will be dealing with cycle problems/risk, which will just cause more stress to your fish. And not to mention the stress of catching them and tearing apart your display tank.

So your best option at this point is probably to just feed them well, garlic, selcon, etc, and maybe try some reef safe remedies that others say have worked. And hope that your fishes' immune system kicks in and fights off the ick or velvet. Hopefully you have ick, not velvet. You may lose the new fish and the weaker ones, but hopefully your stronger long term fish will survive.

I learned my lesson with not QTing a year and half ago, and now use a QT for 2 months (hyposalinity) on any new fish. Have done that twice now, with total success.

The good news, though, when I did have my ich outbreak, is that I did not lose any of my long time fish, only the new fish that I had added. What happened, is that the new fish showed the ick symptoms, and some of the long time residents got it too. The tank went through a couple 4 or 5 day iterations, where it seemed the ick would subside, then come back. The new fish got it real bad just with the 2nd iteration, and died. But the long time residents were still eating well, and didn't seem to have it as bad. They got better, and subsequent iterations showed fewer symptoms until the ick finally disappeared altogether (took about a month or so).

My theory is that the long time residents had an immune response and were better able to fight off the subsequent iterations of the disease. And when the new fish died, the disease didn't have easy to affect hosts to keep the cycle going.

I know the tank is ick free now, because I have since added new fish several times after quarantining them, with no recurrence of the disease. I should mention that I had a wait time of over 6 months before adding new fish to the display tank after my initial episode.

Aquattro · #2 01-29-2012, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

So your best option at this point is probably to just feed them well, garlic, selcon, etc, and maybe try some reef safe remedies that others say have worked. And hope that your fishes' immune system kicks in and fights off the ick or velvet. Hopefully you have ick, not velvet.

no, this isn't ich. Feeding isn't going to do anything, the first one that I lost was eating like a pig 12 hours earlier, even eating bits of the fresh garlic. While I'm a proponent of that method with ich, this isn't the same.

Reef Pilot · #3 01-29-2012, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquattro

no, this isn't ich. Feeding isn't going to do anything, the first one that I lost was eating like a pig 12 hours earlier, even eating bits of the fresh garlic. While I'm a proponent of that method with ich, this isn't the same.

OK, very sorry to hear that. I feel your pain. Wish you the best.

Aquattro · #4 01-29-2012, 06:20 PM

Well, it looks like I might have enough room to drain the tank and a fast pump to fill it. That's the plan.

I now need ideas on treatment tank setup. Using water from the main tank, so good for a few days. Not sure if I should skim with copper meds? Not sure I have a skimmer. No seeded rock to sacrifice, although copper binds with carbonates, so not a good plan anyway. I can buy salt and do water changes every 4 or 5 days. Will that work?

Bblinks · #5 01-29-2012, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Well, it looks like I might have enough room to drain the tank and a fast pump to fill it. That's the plan.

I now need ideas on treatment tank setup. Using water from the main tank, so good for a few days. Not sure if I should skim with copper meds? Not sure I have a skimmer. No seeded rock to sacrifice, although copper binds with carbonates, so not a good plan anyway. I can buy salt and do water changes every 4 or 5 days. Will that work?

Call progressive and see if he's got any treatment tank setup? I know a few lfs in town that will quarantine and treat sick fish for me.

Aquattro · #6 01-29-2012, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bblinks

Call progressive and see if he's got any treatment tank setup? I know a few lfs in town that will quarantine and treat sick fish for me.

They don't, the tanks in the back were shut down for maintenance. I should be ok here, just gotta figure out how to run the treatment tank without killing them.
Got enough storage I think, but I have a 125g sump under my stairs, if I have to, I'll figure out how to get it out of there.

fishoholic · #7 01-29-2012, 06:34 PM

From what I remember the velvet can be floating in the water (like ich) so I would use new SW.

What I did (major PITA but it worked) was set up a 110g QT tank with new SW and I did a 50% water change every other day so ammonia would not build up, and treated with cuppermine (sp?) for 2 weeks. During the copper treatment I bought 80 pounds of cured LR from a tank shut down and set up a 90ish gallon rubbermaid. Transferred all my fish (only 8 left out of 34) after treatment into the rubbermaid (did weekly w/c) and kept them there for 6 weeks. They were out of the display for 8 weeks total then I slowly added them back into the display after that. Ran only heaters and powerheads in QT and the rubbermaid.

I used PVC pipes for hiding spots in the QT and followed the instructions on the cuppermine bottle for treatment

George · #8 01-29-2012, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishoholic

From what I remember the velvet can be floating in the water (like ich) so I would use new SW.

That's correct. marine velvet just like marine ich has a free floating stage. Don't use old water.

no_bs · #9 01-29-2012, 07:04 PM

Ouch, sorry to hear. Hope all works out for you.

George · #10 01-29-2012, 06:30 PM

Sorry to hear about that Brad.
Life cycle of Marine velvet is very similar to marine ich where they can multiply by numbers with day goes by. So you may not see the symptom for days (or weeks) and then bam!
I would suggest giving the fish a freshwater dip after you go them out. And give them a formalin bath after that. After that, put them into a QT and treat any secondary infections.
I hate to be pessimistic but if you see sign of marine velvet, most of time it's too late. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Good luck.