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Does copper stay with ceramic rings and protein skimmer?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by sharkks, Nov 12, 2013.

  1. sharkks

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    I had some leftover live rock and sand I cannot fit in my tank so I decided to set up a secondary adjustment/observation tank for new arrivals with just a couple pieces of live rock. I am also using a BakPak on there filled with ceramic rings that I hope to use on temporary quarantine/hospital tanks. My hope when getting new fish is to do a few weeks in a medicated tank with PrazilPro followed by 1-2 months in the observation tank.


    If I need to treat anything in the hospital tank with something harsher like Cupramine would this mean the BakPak could never be used on the second tank if it was thoroughly rinsed first? I was just hoping I could use it as a portable biological filter.


    I keep low stocking levels and have never had an issue with disease or fish loss but just think it's time I do things the right way as far as introducing new fish.
     
  2. Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

    West Des Moines, IA
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    any copper treatment will nuke your bacterial colony and copper does get bound to the surface of acrylic, which does not really affect anything but inverts (snails) which can adsorb the copper from the surface. But snails should not be in your skimmer anyways so the skimmer is fine, but any rock or media you put in the tank is toast for good, unless somehow treated to remove the copper, which would probably be more expensive than just replacing the rock/media.

    Copper treatment (or any other medication treatment, ideally) should therefore be done in a dedicated tank along with water changes to maintain safe nutrient and medication levels. HOB skimmers or mechanical filtration are always good, but should ideally be dedicated to the QT system.

    You might also consider other quarantine methods like hyposalinity and/or the tank transfer method.
     
  3. sharkks

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    Thanks for the feedback. I definitely view both as sort of a 2-step quarantine. One would never have medication in it but serve as more of a low-stress observation area. The medicated tank would never have rock or sand. I think you pretty much answered my question though…I could never use that filter on the non-medicated tank even after washing if ever exposed to the medication.

    Thanks again, I will revisit my strategy. I understand the tank transfer and hypo salinity but those are limited in their effectiveness with things like flukes and velvet aren't they? I thought those were more of a strategy for battling Ich??
     
  4. jazzybio13 MBI Breeder

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    Sharkks, there are 2 schools of thought with quarantining processes. 1- proactive treatment with medication dips or baths, and such. OR 2- watch, treat if necessary. (hyposalinity).

    Personally if your just bringing in a new fish *no suspected or visible problems, I would just put the fish in normal sea water (not hypo, not medicated... just aged saltwater from your system). And let time be your best friend. I've seen more successful introductions of delicate fish by just watching instead of blasting with meds or hypo treatment off the bat. I personally don't take chances and have pretty extensive QT process, but then again- I have never had a problem spread, and have only needed to treat as needed. Observation is sometimes your best defense. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/wink.gif

    I would agree with Turbo that the HOB skimmer and/or mechanical filtration should stay dedicated to that QT tank. I run most of my fish 6-10 weeks in QT before they are introduced (pending species)... so I just always leave a tank up for it. I also thoroughly bleach the tank and equipment between fish though, I leave nothing to risk.

    Just sayin... good luck though! Feel free to ask any other questions though.
     
  5. sharkks

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    Yeah, thanks for that. Obviously I have always adopted the path of doing the least invasive approach of all by simply not quarantining. Clearly I have been lucky or my insanely low stocking levels have simply allowed fish to naturally resist anything introduced. I have actually been thinking about all of this because I want to consider adding a blue hippo tang. I have never kept one and want to ensure the best chances by acclimating one in an isolated, quiet tank that matches the display tank parameters. That got me thinking if I could just expand on the idea with a sterile treatment aquarium either proactively or in case of emergency.

    I think I will stick closer to my usual approach and let them have an observation period with no treatment unless necessary…as you said letting time be my friend. Thanks again for the feedback.
     
  6. Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

    West Des Moines, IA
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    All I can say with the blue tang is take your time and QT him. I just had one of my customers go to Iowa City and pick up a blue tang on his own and neither of them had a net so they chased him around the tank with a 5g bucket for an hour. He looked fine when he got him acclimated over the course of 1-2 hours and added him, but 3 days later he developed ich. Now I've got a 200g tank with 4 tangs and 20 other fish that I have no choice but to treat with hyposalinity for 4-6 weeks and Ich-X in the tank (no corals) and see what happens. Crossing fingers. Fish are all eating ravenously still which is a good sign.

    Not to ramp up the ich argument but it's one of those things that is always there and rears it's ugly head under stress. For instance, the big tank at Iowa Pet Foods had the breaker trip overnight a few weeks ago. They got in and the tank was dead calm and fish lethargic but as soon as the power was restored everything came right back, no corals lost, no fish lost (at least no big ones, not sure if "all" survived) but like clockwork 3 days later, all fish were covered head to tail with ich. To the chagrin of Tim, Scott dumped a ton of Ich-X into the tank and the fish are eating and ich is slowly clearing up.

    So there is a lot to be said for your proposed method. Keep fish in normal conditions for a length of time and watch for development of symptoms prior to any treatment. A hungry fish is a healthy fish. etc.
     
  7. sharkks

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    That is really good insight. I would not be shocked if my tank has ich, not because I have observed it but because I have never taken measures to prevent it. I did go nearly 7 months without adding new fish so if it is there it should be a weakened strain but there is nothing like adding a blue tang to fire it right up if it is!






     

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