Quarantine Tank Setup Question

[Fun $ Pit]

We need to start treatment of ick this evening for all our fish and want to make sure the equipment is setup accordingly.

I have these dedicated for quarantine tank:

29GA tank, appropriate heater set at 80 degrees, MJ 600, Aquaclear HOB filter with sponge insert only, and some PVC for hiding.

Am I missing anything? I am treating with Cupramine btw.

The Aquaclears come with bio and carbon filtration as well - I removed these, that ok? Sponge filter has been soaking in my display sump to kickstart bio filtration.

I lost two fish while I was on vacation and don't want to lose anymore. I want this setup done right the first time.

Fish list being treated: Female clown, Sailfin Tang, Kole Tang

RIP to bicolor blenny and male clown.

[not_sponsored]

Yea removing the carbon is good, I would cover the tank with something to block out the room, keep any changes in the room from stressing out the fish.

[Fun $ Pit]

Ok - treatment has begun for my two tangs with marine ich.

Question - do I do daily water changes on the quarantine tank? If so, how do I maintain the copper levels being dosed? (Cupramine)

Question - How much do I feed and how often?

Question - Is the sponge filter sufficient in the power filter, or should I add the ceramic bio-media as well?

Question - Cupramine is measured in mg/L and my Red Sea copper test measures in ppm. What gives? I'm not doing my second dosing of copper until I figure this one out.

Reminder - Tank is a 29ga, two MJ600's for flow, aquaclear power filter with sponge filtration, heater, single flourescent light for observation, and some pvc for hiding.

[jeffbrig]

Question - do I do daily water changes on the quarantine tank? If so, how do I maintain the copper levels being dosed? (Cupramine)
If you do a water change, whatever % of water you change needs cupramine added back to it. Keep track of how much cupramine you dosed in the tank initially, and that number times the % change will give you a ballpark idea of how much additional you need to add.

Question - How much do I feed and how often?
Feed heavily if the fish are sick/struggling. If they're healthy and doing well, minimal feedings are ok, and will result in less nutrients into the tank (since biological filtration is weak initially)

Question - Is the sponge filter sufficient in the power filter, or should I add the ceramic bio-media as well?
Anything is better than nothing. I actually like biowheels on QTs for handling ammonia and nitrite. Realistically, adding additional media at this point won't help for a while until they are populated with bacteria. Your best bet is to syphon any visible waste daily, and use water changes in the short term.


Question - Cupramine is measured in mg/L and my Red Sea copper test measures in ppm. What gives? I'm not doing my second dosing of copper until I figure this one out.
It just so happens that mg/L and ppm can be used interchangeably.

[Freed]

Hyposalinity is much easier to do. Easier to keep salinity levels constant, less "stressful" on the fish, don't have to worry about testing, retesting, dosing, testing again, buying more chemicals, etc., etc.

[Mike de Leon]

Make sure you check for ammonia everyday. This will be your #1 challenge. It only takes a little bit to stress the fish even more let alone kill them.

[Mike de Leon]

Originally posted by Freed
Hyposalinity is much easier to do. Easier to keep salinity levels constant, less "stressful" on the fish, don't have to worry about testing, retesting, dosing, testing again, buying more chemicals, etc., etc.

Hypo is also difficult to do. You have to do it for at least a month. There's no guarantee that you kill everything. Checking your SG regularly needs to be done as well.
Exposure to hypo for long periods of time can damage kidneys especially on Tangs.

[Freed]

Difficult to do? How so? Easiest damn thing I've ever done. You don't need to test for the salinity at all but once or twice a week. Keep the water at the same level with fresh water top off is all that needs to be done.

[Fun $ Pit]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Although the debate about hyposalinity goes back and forth as to whether it truely works or not, I am treating via copper. Please debate somewhere else so my thread stays on topic.