Ich and Velvet and not improving

[Peter Houde]

There is a 2 part ick killer that i used to use. Flux and metroplex i think the names are. Worked really well. Use it on the food and feed the fish. With pumps off . Dont let touch corals.
You could also try a bath in saftey stop.

How can you possibly keep food from touching corals? Food disperses all over the tank. You suggest blowing off the rocks and sand and performing a water change. What - a daily or twice-daily water change after every feeding?

 

[Peter Houde]

I think you mean focus and metroplex? That combination is commonly used, but is not very effective against external protozoans like ich. It needs to be dosed at a specific level - 1% metro by weight in the food mix. Higher doses are more effective, but metro is very bitter so the fish often refuse the higher dose.
Safety stop, any dip really, needs to have the fish move to a new tank after the dip. Putting them back in the same tank just allows for reinfection.

Jay, how safe for corals (not to mention clams, arthropods, beneficial bacteria, etc.) is Focus+Metroplex mixed with fish food? Food is dispersed throughout the water column. I don't see how to avoid it. Corals and invertebrates are bound to ingest it, aren't they?

 

[MnFish1]

Jay, how safe for corals (not to mention clams, arthropods, beneficial bacteria, etc.) is Focus+Metroplex mixed with fish food? Food is dispersed throughout the water column. I don't see how to avoid it. Corals and invertebrates are bound to ingest it, aren't they?

They will. -and it's impossible to know how much one coral vs another coral - or one fish or another will ingest. Oral feeding of medication is fraught with issues vis a vis dosing - and IMHO should only be done In a hospital tank

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Jay, how safe for corals (not to mention clams, arthropods, beneficial bacteria, etc.) is Focus+Metroplex mixed with fish food? Food is dispersed throughout the water column. I don't see how to avoid it. Corals and invertebrates are bound to ingest it, aren't they?

Focus is not a strong binder, so more metro can rinse off. I use gelatin, that binds more tightly and is safer for use in tanks with inverts. You still need to feed it carefully so uneaten food doesn’t drift into the corals.
Bottom line though is that the only really effective use for oral metro is to treat gut flagellates….

 

[Peter Houde]

They will. -and it's impossible to know how much one coral vs another coral - or one fish or another will ingest. Oral feeding of medication is fraught with issues vis a vis dosing - and IMHO should only be done In a hospital tank

Thanks for the quick response. I asked because I've got a powder brown tang that developed a small patch (1cm^2) of cryptocarion-like granular white spots bilaterally on its abdominal flanks. I'll reserve treatment for it in the QT if I ever feel up to the task of trying to catch the fish, but I'm in no rush. The spots appeared in September 2021 after 3 months in the DT. The PBT has been stable now for 3 years and it doesn't exhibit any abnormal behavior, so it must have some level of immunity. The bacterium or parasite is certainly already endemic to the DT, but none of the other fish show any sign of disease. I've tried to trap fish before, so I know I have no possibility of trapping them all to let the tank go fallow.

 

[MnFish1]

Thanks for the quick response. I asked because I've got a powder brown tang that developed a small patch (1cm^2) of cryptocarion-like granular white spots bilaterally on its abdominal flanks. I'll reserve treatment for it in the QT if I ever feel up to the task of trying to catch the fish, but I'm in no rush. The spots appeared in September 2021 after 3 months in the DT. The PBT has been stable now for 3 years and it doesn't exhibit any abnormal behavior, so it must have some level of immunity. The bacterium or parasite is certainly already endemic to the DT, but none of the other fish show any sign of disease. I've tried to trap fish before, so I know I have no possibility of trapping them all to let the tank go fallow.

Ok - no problem - just realize that metronidazole does not treat cryptocaryon. A copper regimen or hypo salinity regimen should be used if needed - of course not in a tank containing invertebrates