Observation time?

[jlcoop277]

Ok so I lost my porcupine puffer to ich. I removed all my live rock and it's in its own bin waiting out any ich living in it. I'm watching my 3 remaining fish in the tank for any signs. These three never showed any signs. How long should they stay under observation before going to the DT?
Current fish being watched
Yellow tang
Niger trigger
Law mower Blenny

[b0bab0ey]

If the puffer had Ich and those 3 fish were in the same tank as him, odds are they have it as well. The YT will mostly likely be the first to show visible symptoms. But why wait for that? If you've already removed all the LR it will need to sit in that bin for 9-10 weeks to starve all the Ich out of it. Why not just go hypo in the DT for a month now? Btw, be sure to have some circulation going in that bin and throw a pinch of flake in there every couple of days to keep your bacteria going.

[jlcoop277]

Yes they are were together. But never showed any signs. I'm putting off doing hypo bc I'll be pretty busy with work the next few weeks.
I have a power head and a heater running in the bin.

[MrTuskfish]

Ok so I lost my porcupine puffer to ich. I removed all my live rock and it's in its own bin waiting out any ich living in it. I'm watching my 3 remaining fish in the tank for any signs. These three never showed any signs. How long should they stay under observation before going to the DT?
Current fish being watched
Yellow tang
Niger trigger
Law mower Blenny

I'm a little confused. Are the fish in a DT or QT now? If you don't have time to care for your fish, maybe find a relative or friend who can. These fish will almost certainly be infected with ich.

[jlcoop277]

Sorry, let me clear it up. I started my SW journey with a 29g. I had the 3 mentioned and the Porc puff in there. All are 3" or smaller. I've since then got my 100 up and running.
SO my 100 is my DT that nobody has been in yet, and my 29 is my current QT. When I catch a good deal on a 40b i'll pick it up as my QT. I had the 29 full of LR and LS, now the LR is all in a tub and most of the LS has been removed. The 29 has a HOB biowheel filter (minus the biowheel) and a maxijet 1200 PH running in it.
I should have time to monitor the tank, but a bit hesitant bc i know what my work schedule looks like.

[sandwi54]

My suggestion would be that you put all the LR/LS back into the 100g DT, and remove all three fish into the 29g (convert it to QT) for cupramine treatment for 4 weeks. Leave the DT fallow for 10 weeks. This would be much easier than to hypo a large 100g (lots of water changes and salt mix gets expensive).

[MrTuskfish]

My suggestion would be that you put all the LR/LS back into the 100g DT, and remove all three fish into the 29g (convert it to QT) for cupramine treatment for 4 weeks. Leave the DT fallow for 10 weeks. This would be much easier than to hypo a large 100g (lots of water changes and salt mix gets expensive).

I agree; hypo (IMO) is much more difficult & demanding than advertised. I think copper or tank-transfer is a much better option for most folks.

[snorvich]

I agree; hypo (IMO) is much more difficult & demanding than advertised. I think copper or tank-transfer is a much better option for most folks.

I also agree with both preceding posts.

[jlcoop277]

I think i'll go with copper since the puffer is gone now.
what would the best medication for the job?

[snorvich]

I think i'll go with copper since the puffer is gone now.
what would the best medication for the job?

I always recommend cupramine coupled with seachem or salifert test kit. I suggest testing nightly before lights out as a minimum.

[jlcoop277]

hate to sound ignorant here, but what am i testing for? i'm guessing copper?

[snorvich]

hate to sound ignorant here, but what am i testing for? i'm guessing copper?

Sorry. it is critical to maintain copper at the therapeutic dosage especially at night.

[sandwi54]

cupramine is a brand of copper made by seachem, and is the recommended copper medication since it's less stressful on fish. there is a certain amount of dosage that needs to be maintained in order to kill ich, and that's what you need to be testing for daily.

[MrTuskfish]

Here's a lot of vital stuff that you should know about Cupramine; be sure to read the FAQ.
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Cupramine.html