how long till fins grow back?

[sabazerehi]

my male black and white clown fish's went missing, for lack of a better word, so i was advised to use maracyn-2 in case it might be something bacterial or fungal, i was wondering how long it would take for them to grow back? otherwise he seems to be fine, he's eating and swimming around, however, he still has these white splotches on his underside, those haven't gone away yet. here's a very bad pic of him:

<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v690/Boboltalah23/saba/?action=view&current=IMG00554.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/Boboltalah23/saba/IMG00554.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[grimreefer01]

do you have a quarantine tank? many illnesses can spread between species..

[sabazerehi]

ya the fish i have left are all in a quarantine. i'm treating ich with hyposalinity, it's been about a week now. water parameters are all good too.

[grimreefer01]

did u do the maracyn? or just doing the hypo? ever thought about running copramine? (copper) hypo doesnt always work as well as most people hope..

[sabazerehi]

i'm doing both, maracyn-2 and hyposalinity, the ich seems to be gone, however, i want to make sure everything else is taken care of as well. how would i go about using copper? also is it ok to be doing all 3 at once? thanks!

[grimreefer01]

not sure if i would run all 3 at once..

copper IS the only true cure for ich.. assuming the fish does have ich and not a bacterial infection or fungi.. maracyn would cover that part..
hypo works for the most part with ich, but stresses the fish due to the changing conditions..
copper is pretty much guaranteed and doesnt involve as much stress on the animal since it can be done at "normal" salinity levels..

if the ich is gone, i would just let things be.. if it returns and it is ich and not fungi or a bacterial infection then run copper in a QT..

[Mr. Brooks]

IMO hypo helps but doesn't cure.

[sabazerehi]

should i continue with the hypo for a few more weeks just to make sure it does what it can. and by that time the maracyn will be gone, and fish won't be in hypo anymore and then use copper. i really don't want to have to deal with catching the fish in case ich comes back, i want to get rid of it now while i have them all in qt.

[sabazerehi]

bump

[grimreefer01]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14210495#post14210495 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sabazerehi i want to get rid of it now while i have them all in qt. [/B]

good idea if you ask me..
you could even stop the hypo, bring the salinity up SLOWLY and start on your copper treatment..
i have used copramine in the past, works great! follow the direction PRECISELY!

[sabazerehi]

where can i get copramine? and what are the dangers with using copper, just so i know beforehand. thanks! oh and still wondering how long till the fins grow back :)

[grimreefer01]

no sure if fins can grow back or not..
do a google search on copramine, or check the LFS which would be much much faster! just be sure to follow the directions..
as far as the dangers of copper, it is pretty safe on the fish
with inverts its a totally different story! they will die.

another suggestion is to get a peppermint shrimp or a cleaner goby or wrasse.. they will help keep your inhabitants free of parasites, benefiting just about every fish in your aquarium (as long as they allow him to "clean" them)..

[sunfish11]

Fins grow back pretty fast once you get the disease in check. No worries there.

Lisa

[sabazerehi]

great thanks guys, since there are no invertebrates in the qt i'm not as hesitant now. i have a fire shrimp in my main tank but shrimp tend to get lazy when they can just catch food that the fish don't eat, lol. time to go find me some copramine!

[sabazerehi]

good news, i can already see the little guy's fins growing back. hope that that's a good sign that the maracyn worked. i picked up cupramine today, i'm a little hesitant to use it though. i'm not supposed to run any filtration with it? will the fish be ok? can i still do water changes to make sure ammonia and everything doesn't go up? thanks guys!!

[grimreefer01]

how long has the tank been setup? judging from your info on the left there, id say it is established.. no? an established tank CAN go weeks with no filtration.. keep the flow going and watch your water parameters!

flow is very important!

typically you dont want to do a water change, as it will change the copper level..

its all in the instructions...

[Icefire]

So much false information.

Copper is toxic to Corals, inverts, coppods etc. if you use it in a tank with live rock you can say good bye to all those.

Hypo WORK but you need to get it to 1.008-1.009 with a CALIBRATED refractometer, fishless at least 6 weeks.

[Icefire]

you can also do it In the tank with the fish but witout invert/coral

[sabazerehi]

don't worry, i'm not planning on dosing anything in my main tank, all the fish are in a qt thanks for the warnings though. i'm assuming the qt is established, i have some live rock in there and the water came from my display tank, and all tests read zero for ammonia and nitrates. just want to make sure i'm not adding any stress onto them. i've decided to go ahead and try the copper, it seems to be much more successful with treating ich. i'm going to raise the salinity fo the qt within the next week and proceed with the dosing! thanks guys

[grimreefer01]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14218499#post14218499 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Icefire
So much false information.

interesting... what information is false?

[sabazerehi]

i think he was referring to being able to add copper to the main display.

[grimreefer01]

not sure where the "So much" false information is..



perhaps he will come back

[XCrunnr36]

at my store we just run our hospital tank with salinity at 1.009 and bring the temp up and its been getting fish back to good health in no time.

fins will definitely grow back with proper protein diet.


and i wouldnt recommend cupramine. removal of copper from the system is easier said than done. and doesnt take much to do damage to inverts.

[sabazerehi]

ya i'm definitely not adding any copper to my main tank, but it's ok for a qt right?

[XCrunnr36]

i dont see it being but too much harm. just be sure not to transfer any water from the qt into your main display. always good to be overly cautious

[sabazerehi]

def won't, however, i do have live rock in the qt, will that no longer be safe to use? or is there a way to cleanse it of the copper? also, should i just quarantine all new fish and treat them with copper, will that be a faster than just leaving them in the qt for 4-6 weeks? thanks for answering all my questions guys. this is all very new to me and i want to make sure i do it right.

[XCrunnr36]

the live rock can absolutely absorb the copper.. and when that occurs it's really just cycling the copper out of the system over time.. not exactly an immediate fix that's for sure