So far so good. Qt Tank.

[probe dms]

I got as much as the sand out of my 12 gallon eclipse qt tank that I could. It's been running for a little over 3 days. I have 2 dominos and my black saddle back in there. I threw my clown in there this morning. His eyes were cloudy and I read that that's one of the signs of sickness. He's been like that for a while in my main display so I decided who ever looks bad gets the treatment.
The dominos were ich'd out the second morning they were in the qt tank. This morning i don't see any spot and their color is much better. Deep rich black instead of turning bright white or grey. It jumps your heart to see a once all jet black domino turn white. They looked like they saw a ghost!
I did a test on the water and the ammonia was high so I did a slight water change. thing is, i put the proper amount of dosage of copper in the tank, which was 3 teaspoons but I did the water change. Now I don't know how much copper is in the tank. I really don't know how much is supposed to be in the tank. I guess if I just add 3 teaspoons for 12 gallons of water and did a copper test I'd see how much needed to be in the water. The medicine i Have doesn't say how much is supposed to be in the water. They only tell you how much to add which is confusing. Loer is going to let me borrow his copper reader So I'll just wait to read the water then but all is good so far.
oh yeah i will be donating this rather large domino i have. i kinda love him but he's a bully. He needs to be in a aggressive tank.

 

[MikeyZO]

Sounds like you had a pretty bad ich outbreak. So I'll forgo the whole "might be better left in the DT if they're doing well" and say that unfortunately, you do realize you run the risk of reinfecting them the second you put them back in the tank. Ich has a rather long lifecycle that requires fish to proceed forward (although it has been known to stay dormant in a tank for a LONG time without fish). So by you keeping the other seemingly unaffected fish in the display, you run the risk of the ich continuing to breed and cycle, and then once you add your QTd fish back, they may get sick again. Make sure that you leave them in the QT tank well passed their healthy stage while maintaining a 0 copper level, and feed them well, prehaps add some selcon or garlic to their food to try to boost their immunity and health. Then add them back. This will give them time to get over the stresses of the QT and copper thus making it a little less likely to be reinfected.

As far as how much copper should be in the system, perhaps someone can chime up with how much should be in the tank. You do have to continue to do water changes on the QT tank otherwise the copper levels will rise too high. So yes, you are definately also going to need a copper tester. Perhaps if you post what medication you use someone could fill you in with better instructions.

Hope this all helps and good luck.

 

[KathyC]

As Mikey said - ALL of the fish have to go into the QT so that whatever Ich is still in the display tank will die off since there will be no host (fish only, inverts don't count) for it to attach to. That will take approximately 4 - 6 weeks (better at 6 weeks).

What brand of copper are you using?
You MUST have a copper test kit to be sure you have the proper does of copper in the tank. If it is not the proper dose, the fish will continue to decline.

You sincerely need to get the ammonia out of that tank - all of it, asap.

 

[aznt1217]

All I can say is this:

Raise the temp in the DT.
Run a UV Sterilzer.
Feed all your fish garlic as much as possible.

 

[ikarus]

i agree with azn1217 about the garlic and raising the temperature. it really makes a difference. i use a garlic supplement (i use kyolic, which i got from GNC) which i add to the food before i feed my fish. it'll get your sick fish to start eating so they get their strength back. i have a puffer so i can't use any copper meds, and he fully recovered from a really bad ich breakout with just the temp increase and garlic. you have to be diligent about water changes too.

 

[probe dms]

well folks. i never put all of my fish in the qt mainly because i do think certain fish have built up an immunity to ich. as much ich out breaks ive had, none of my other fish had any signs of stress or parasites. i just left them in the dt. the one that i was a wee bit concerned about (black saddleback) has clear eyes and no signs of stress. They all eat like they were at red lobster and seems to be doing very well. I did have a friend bring over a copper tester although his brand of copper ws different, my fish in my qt seem to be doing very good as well.

 

[MikeyZO]

Good luck, let us know what happens.