View Full Version : Quick Cure for dipping; cupramine or hypo in HT
billag
12/26/2011, 05:36 PM
Unable to find Formalin-3 locally. Picked up AP Quick Cure from the LFS. According to MSDS on mfg. webpage it is 37% formaldehyde but also 40% malachite green. Does the malachite green present any danger during dip?
Additionally, I was treating for crypto so the HT has Cupramine. I know Cupramine and formaldehyde don't mix with good consequences, so I was wondering before I start dipping, should I put carbon in the HT HOB filter to start clearing it? The salinity in the tank is 1.019, should I go hypo in the HT?
This is to treat a brook infection as identified in http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2110111 (thanks to MrTuskfish and snorvich)
Here is a current photo of one of the affected clowns. They are doing markedly better (active and eating) since the long freshwater bath over the holidays, but I think all I did was buy time. How do these spots differ from a crypto infection so I can more easily identify in the future?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=5490&pictureid=38115
hvacman250
12/26/2011, 06:34 PM
Crypt looks like salt sprinkled on the fish.
Brook looks like fuzzy white/skin peeling off.
hvacman250
12/26/2011, 06:36 PM
Look at this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2109807
Thats classic Ich. A horrible case. Cant imagine what that feels like to the fish.
MrTuskfish
12/26/2011, 07:38 PM
I think the AP Quick Cure will work. Formalin is getting hard to find and I think this stuff has about the same amount of formaldehyde as Formalin. But, it isn't unusual for everything to fail when treating brook; but it sounds like you have a fighting chance.
billag
12/26/2011, 07:49 PM
I read on another site that you shouldn't feed before a formalin dip. Does anyone know how long before?
ClowningRob
12/26/2011, 09:55 PM
I just wanted to share how my fish were cured from Ich infestation. I have a 135 gallon tank with live rock and I also have a 75 gallon tank set-up with some live rock and filter padding in the wet-dry filter. If you follow these steps exactly as described it should cure your fish too. First of all, I took all the fish out of the main 135 gallon tank and placed them into the 75 gallon tank and I had most of my live rock in the 135 gallon tank. Then I added cupramine to the 75 gallon tank until the concentration reached 0.35 ppm or mg/l and this is key, you must keep it at this level for 31 days which will kill off all phases of the ich parasite. And it is imperative that you have an accurate Copper test kit, I was using a Salifert test kit which to me seems the easiest to read. Within a few days all the fish were eating like normal and I had to change 25% of the water in the 75 gallon tank about once a week while adding more cupramine to maintain the 0.35 ppm copper level. This level of copper is high enough to kill the parasite but not high enough to kill your fish, I believe once the copper level gets up to 0.50 ppm than it hurts the fish. You must keep the copper at this level for the whole 31 days. Meanwhile since there is no fish host in the main display tank with the live rock the ich will die off there as well ( I waited for at least 6 weeks before putting my fish back in the main tank).
MrTuskfish
12/27/2011, 10:36 AM
I just wanted to share how my fish were cured from Ich infestation. I have a 135 gallon tank with live rock and I also have a 75 gallon tank set-up with some live rock and filter padding in the wet-dry filter. If you follow these steps exactly as described it should cure your fish too. First of all, I took all the fish out of the main 135 gallon tank and placed them into the 75 gallon tank and I had most of my live rock in the 135 gallon tank. Then I added cupramine to the 75 gallon tank until the concentration reached 0.35 ppm or mg/l and this is key, you must keep it at this level for 31 days which will kill off all phases of the ich parasite. And it is imperative that you have an accurate Copper test kit, I was using a Salifert test kit which to me seems the easiest to read. Within a few days all the fish were eating like normal and I had to change 25% of the water in the 75 gallon tank about once a week while adding more cupramine to maintain the 0.35 ppm copper level. This level of copper is high enough to kill the parasite but not high enough to kill your fish, I believe once the copper level gets up to 0.50 ppm than it hurts the fish. You must keep the copper at this level for the whole 31 days. Meanwhile since there is no fish host in the main display tank with the live rock the ich will die off there as well ( I waited for at least 6 weeks before putting my fish back in the main tank).
Good info. IMO, a text-book explanation of how to cure ich once and for all. I agree that cupramine at .35ppm is effective & less dangerous than the bottles suggested .50ppm. IME, most fish do just fine at .50, but if .35 works; why go higher? SeaChem tech support seems to agree, too. (Great people to help with questions, IMO & IME.) A few groups of fish can't handle copper at all and then either hypo or tank transfer should be used.
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