An ideas on preventive angel sickness

[wegotjs]

Just thought I might throw this out, as I’m curious. . Besides putting angels in a QT and watching them,

Any tricks or medications( dips ) to use on them to reduce ick and other parasites, infections ,ect. Just want some feed back from all the knowledgeable hobbyist here to help with the angels and the tanks they go to

[reefboy]

well as far as any parasite med i have always uesed copper power in my QT works great but you got to leave in tank for the full month and rally makes a good anti bacterail solution that works well with copper power if your treating a already infected fish, now rally also makes a reef safe ich cure dont waste your money 9 times outs 10 it dosnt work and it spendy but ive had good results with there other product and copper power, but like i said fish need to be QT for the full month.

[impur]

I'm interested as well. When i get my 75 up and running i'd like to add an angel.

[SeanF]

Just buy the fish from a store that uses copper to quarantine. Between 2 and 3 weeks is usually safe but a month is safer.

[Guest Mbeef61]

there are no tricks or cure-alls that are better than time in quarantine....i use quarantine to observe fish...i dont even put ANY chemicals like copper or anything unless signs show its nessicary...i think it just adds to the fishes stress...quarantine is for observation and to allow the fish to unstress from shipment...treat when nessicary...i think profolactic treatment can just add to problems...also i think a month is nessicary to see that everything is as safe as it can get...anything shorter is usually due to an anxious aquarist...just let time tell. even though i know thats not the answer you wanted, it is the best option.

[reefboy]

ive ben doing this twenty some years and as long as copper levels are maintained in proper levels there is nothing wronge with medding the tank not sure why you wait to see if fish gets sick when meds done properly will have no ill affects i do not use copper as a all time additive in fish only system as it will over time degrade the health of the animals but there is no reason not to use as main stay in a QT as long as proper levels are maintained and tested but just my opinion:D

[wegotjs]

Maybe I was misinformed but I thought angels didn't do well in copper . Am I wrong. If so what level do you guys use, just what they say on the instructions or ?

[SeanF]

If I was running a fish only tank I wouldn't recommend the use of copper all the time but here is the reason why we started running copper. I have a local maintainence guy here who set up some quarantine tanks in his garage and for the last two years has been running copper in them and keeping the fish for at least 2 weeks before sending them on their way. In this time no tank that has gotten their fish exclusively from him has had ich. In the approximate year I have been running copper in my system I have not had one fish with ich. The problem with not running some type of medication in your tank when you are quarantining your fish is that a parasite can still come in on the fish even if their immune system is good enough to fight off the parasite it can still make it into the main tank and once in the main tank any fish that has a weakened immune system can get ich. You should also quarantine any inverts in a tank for a month before being placed into the tank. Invertebrates can carry parasites into your system also. Without a fish host parasites have a maximum lifespan of about 30 days.

 

As far as angels in copper I had heard the same thing and I can say if the copper levels get above the levels that I run it is true. The use of copper is all about running a fine line between killing the parasites and killing everything. There are some fish such as boxfish and cowfish that will not take copper. As far as the levels we run it is .5 either ppm or ppt I can't remember which level the test kit reads. It is really a very low dosage but has been very effective.

 

I personally was very against running meds in a tank full time but after seeing the results and then trying it I will never do it any other way until something better comes along.

[Guest Mbeef61]

another reason i dont ''lean'' on copper is because it doesnt kill everything...only the famous or maybe infamous ich...other things remain. i agree with the statement it is probably fine in correct levels and for a temporary time but i work at a lfs and trust me...90 percent of people dont test and just dose so often times, explicit copper use proves fatal. buy healthy specimens and treat problems when they arise...just my opinion

[WAVES]

Formalin is a useful tool as well, dipping a new fish in a bucket with 1ml per gallon of 37% formalin solution for an hour does amazing. Be sure and run an airstone in the bucket during treatment as the formalin will reduce the oxygen content of the water.

 

I also run a weak formalin dose in the FO systems, its easier on the fish than copper.

 

I have had good results from Ruby Reefs products, the catch is using it before there is a big issue. I have had 4-5 people take home a powder blue tang with Kick-Ich and introduced the fish while dosing. None of them ended up with Ick in the tank. SOme may say "if you just QT the fish it wont introduce ich" but I disagree, I would bet a PBT would either die in the QT (unless you use like a 55gal for QT) or would still get ich once you moved it into the display. They are just SO touchy with ich. Kick-Ich will not solve a nasty ich problem at all, but if you just see a few spots on 1-2 fish, it will sure help keep it from spreading/expanding as an issue.