Please Quarantine

[nater1976]

Hello everyone,

Need a little input here. I recently got my 90 cycled about three weeks ago(2 months since start-up). I have 3 fish and some coral frags. 1 of the true percula's appears to have some sort of parasite(I think Brooklynella), white stringy poop, heavy breathing, staying close to the top of the tank. The other two fish(royal gramma, another perc) have no symptoms...yet. I've been doing a lot of research today and found that my biggset mistake was not quaratining the fish (obviously). I will be getting the quaratine setup tomorrow and then however long it takes to cycle, there after I will add the fish to the quarantine. Do you recommend I do a formalin dip for all the fish before placing them into the quaratine tank (even the ones without symptoms?

I would like to save the fish, but honestly thats not my biggest worry. This infestation is in my 90, and I really don't want to start over. Can I starve the parasites after removing the fish? Or will I have to tear everything down and start completely over? Will the parasite effect any of the inverts to include snails, hermits and coral frags?


Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Nate

[nater1976]

Bump

Tank parameters:

0 ammonia
0 nitrite
1 nitrate
8.2 ph
12.5 alk
.1 phosphates


I don't think There is any stress related to the water quality.

[Loverotties]

What kind of corals?

[nater1976]

ricordia polup
motipora digitata (sp)frag
Some zoa frags

I also have 1 coral banded shrimp
1 brittle starfish
snails
a few hermits


Will all of these be OK with the parasites? If so, how long should I keep the fish in the QT to ensure all the parasite have died?

[redwinger]

Treat with pipzine in qt has worked very well for me in the past, I also treat all new fish with pipzine while they are in QT. You will know when they have returned to health by the constitentcy of there fecies. It will not be stringy anymore. Pipzine is a great treatment for internal parasites as I have had 100% success with it.

[redwinger]

Also to be safe let the tank sit for 6 weeks just to be sure, most parasites life cycle is 3-4 weeks. It is best to let it sit for 6 weeks just to be sure. Most parasites need a fish to host to complete their lifecycle. By letting it sit you will have given the parasite a chance to have two lifecycles with no fish and die off. It is more or less more reduntant.

[nater1976]

Redwinger,

Thanks for the info. Do you recommend a 45min dip with Formalin before entry into the QT for all fish. What about a FW dip. I have read that a fish may die thats showing symptoms of Brook if given a FW dip, I guess thats why they say use the formalin.

So will the inverts and corals be fine in the main tank while I quaratine it for 6 weeks?

Thanks again,

Nathan

[nater1976]

Went to all of my LFS today and no one had pipzine, most never even heard of it unfortunately. Searched the internet and couldn't locate it for sale(found the manufacturer, but they only sell to retailers). Does anyone know of an online retailer that sells this product. Thank you,

Nate

[redwinger]

I still don't use formalin upon QT, I find it to harsh and stressful for a stressed or weaker fish to be exposed to this. It is only used when I get a confirmed instance of a problem. However I am contemplating using it in qt towards the end of the 4-6 week period, as a last resort preventative before releasing the fish into the display.