Another wrasse in copper thread

[Thisisfine]

Will try to keep it brief. I purchased a PBT, dusky wrasse and twistii wrasse on 4/6. All went into a QT that was already at 1-1.2ppm copper safe (twistii actually went in on 4/7; another story). PBT and Dusky eat, not what I'd say is aggressively but they come over to eat when the brine/Mysis etc. are dropped in. Twistii always did it's own thing at feeding time and mainly pecked at things on the tank bottom but never came over to join the feeding time. LFS stated they had twistii ~ 2 weeks before I purchased him on 4/7. I should say he's significantly smaller than the other two at ~1.5".

Why I post - I have never actually not seen him out and about. There is a plastic dish of sand but I've never seen him go in it (doesn't mean he doesn't after lights out). Couldn't find him today for a while and eventually saw him come out of the sand after checking the floors to make sure he didn't jump. Looked a bit dazed or lethargic, then reburied but this time with just enough of his head out of the sand to see an eye. Copper stayed 1-1.2pp from 4/6 to probably Sunday (4/14). I increased the concentration through trial and error (sand absorbing some copper) until it reached ~2.5 on 4/17. As of this evening it's at 2.35.

Overreacting to 1 day of different behavior? Copper level raised too quickly? Other wrasse is fine fwiw. Typical for sand burying wrasse at therapeutic level?

thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thisisfine Welcome to the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Forum!

The #fishmedic team and other knowledgeable members of our community will do our best to help you resolve your questions. Please provide as much of the following as you are able:

• Brief description of the issue you are observing and answers to the following questions:
  • How long have you had the fish with the condition?
  • Did you quarantine with medication when you first acquired the fish? (If Yes, which medication?)
• Current water quality measurements
• Clear photos of the issue taken using WHITE light and/or a short video of any behaviors (post in your response or on YouTube).

If you can help us by providing as much of the above info as possible, it will make diagnosing and providing recommendations for treatment MUCH easier! The Fish Medic team will get back to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, other members of our community may also share their experience with similar situations and advice that they may have regarding your situation.

You may also feel free to provide a more detailed description of the condition if you wish to share more info than the above list.

Additionally, these links may be useful while you await a response:

• CURRENT QT PROTOCOL LINK
• HOW TO ASK FOR DISEASE DIAGNOSIS HELP LINK

 

[Thisisfine]

Disregard - think he's a goner.

Came out an got stuck to the HOB filter input - got him off but he's just lazing on the bottom. Not sure if it was copper from 1.2-2.5 in 4 days or something natural. Seemed fine yesterday but that's how these things go.

 

[Jekyl]

Copper at the lower level doesn't take care of the issue at hand. Depending on the copper product used its recommended to get the level to 2.25 quickly and keep there for a full 30 days. Any break in that going below 2.0 and the process should be restarted for complete assurance.

The links Jay provided are your best bet for the future.

 

[Thisisfine]

Thanks. What I mean is it was already at 1-1.2 from a previous round of QT a month or two back, just never took it back to 0. Wasn’t starting the clock until I hit 2.25-2.5. He was fine for 12 days, no symptoms, no signs until wasn’t today. Didn’t know if it was the rate of increase as there’s a plethora of threads starting to go slow with wrasse and copper. Other wrasse not affected. My guess is he wasn’t really eating or it was something else. I didn’t really lean into the not eating as I had him almost two weeks and lfs stated they had him for about two weeks. I think it just is what it is. The world doesn’t want me to have a tamarin lol.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks. What I mean is it was already at 1-1.2 from a previous round of QT a month or two back, just never took it back to 0. Wasn’t starting the clock until I hit 2.25-2.5. He was fine for 12 days, no symptoms, no signs until wasn’t today. Didn’t know if it was the rate of increase as there’s a plethora of threads starting to go slow with wrasse and copper. Other wrasse not affected. My guess is he wasn’t really eating or it was something else. I didn’t really lean into the not eating as I had him almost two weeks and lfs stated they had him for about two weeks. I think it just is what it is. The world doesn’t want me to have a tamarin lol.

The issue with wrasse and copper is mostly for ionic copper products, not amine chelated copper like coppersafe.
With coppersafe, you should get to full dose in 48 hours.
There are so many things that a new fish can die from, tough to say what is happening here.

 

[Thisisfine]

The issue with wrasse and copper is mostly for ionic copper products, not amine chelated copper like coppersafe.
With coppersafe, you should get to full dose in 48 hours.
There are so many things that a new fish can die from, tough to say what is happening here.

Thanks Jay and JekyI! kinda figured it was going it be an is what it is type of things with no clear symptoms once he came out of the sand with zero energy tonight. Definitely no signs of ich, flashing, no real aggression from PBT and only a few "get out of the way" moves from the dusky. Only thing I can point out is he was not an aggressive eater, mainly pecking at things on the heater, tank bottom but never really going after prepared food. Can't be much in there under copper conditions if he's not going after prepared food. I had just assumed maybe he was eating leftover stuff on the tank bottom since he had been fine for almost 2 weeks in QT.

 

[MnFish1]

Disregard - think he's a goner.

Came out an got stuck to the HOB filter input - got him off but he's just lazing on the bottom. Not sure if it was copper from 1.2-2.5 in 4 days or something natural. Seemed fine yesterday but that's how these things go.

This may be - however - then you need to worry about other fish in the tank. Your copper levels (I catnt tell if you planned it this way is too low - should be >2 always.