purchased a sick naso need some advice

water parameters are stable unfortunately I don't have a copper test kit and I can't afford one until I get paid, I dosed it according to the directions. I have used it before with great success. Do you think I should do a water change? He's in a 20 gallon long and has been in treatment since Sunday. I see no signs of stress and his color has WAY improved. I still see ick on his fins but nowhere else. I would have kept him in the dt but I was afraid my other fish would get ich. You seem very knowlagable and I appreciate the advice. Im doing the best I can unfortunately I can't test the copper level. I was planning to move him back Sunday which would be a week is this too soon?

 

Also, I used water from my dt, I was doing a water change anyway. I let it run for 24 hours with the copper treatment. Im thinking about doing a 5 gallon water change but I don't want to mess up the copper level.

 

yes it was $20 off.

 

Here he is

 

Blue Tangs dont often do well with copper. But, you are there now so keep it going. You MUST buy a copper testing kit. I cannot impress upon you enough the importance of this. Buy a copper test kit. Keep the levels steady. Watch your water params. This is also imperative. Copper treated water will often give a false amonia reading so check online for amonia tests that compensate for the copper. Secondly, water changes are very important. Make fresh water to add to the tank you can quit pulling it from your DT. Treat it exactly as the directions specify before adding to the tank. The QT should be bare with only a few pieces of pvc present. After you have last seen the ich on the fish he must remain in copper for an additional 2 weeks. Hope this helps.

 

You are a savior! I hope you can get him back to health and then maybe sell him to an owner with a little bigger tank. Good luck!

 

REMOVE the rocks in the QT. It will dissipate the copper levels. DO NOT use this rock ever again. It will leach copper forever. Replace them with large pieces of PVC for him to hide in.

 

I was worried about that, that rock took forever to grow corraline, I will go ahead and remove it, I will pick up a test kit tomorrow.

 

yeah once you dose copper it will forever be in the rock and silicone of the tank.Make sure you dont use that rock ever in your display tank.

I would definately do a water change in the tank. With QT tanks, you really need to do frequent changes as there is little to no real biological filtration to break down the waste. So I would recommend doing a water change at least every couple of days. It is good that you are doing the water from your display tank (at least if the water is good) It is far better to have the copper be low in the tank than to get toxic so I wouldnt worry about it dropping the levels

Now that he is in the tank i personally would not move him until all the ich is gone or at least several weeks. When you move him back over, make sure everything is the same between the two tanks: alk, ph, temp, salinity, everything. This will reduce the stress on him going back in. When you return him to the DT make sure you provide a lot of algea sheets and turn the lights off immediately upon placing into your dt.