Leebca,
I really appreciate your detailed response!
I definitely noticed the Emperor's pace of breathing picking up over the last week or so. I also know I've been overfeeding a bit, but that's also due to the limited food intake/stress the fish is under at the moment. I have been dosing trace elements every other day to try and stay on top of depletion.
I have a plan going forward, please let me know if you have any concerns with my approach....
I'm going to buy a 40 gallon breeder to use as a QT tank, I should have it set up and ready to go within the next couple of days. What I would like to do at this point is remove both the clownfish and the emperor angel and QT them both together. This would allow me to leave the DT fallow for a couple of months, and kill off diseases.
Based upon this information would you recommend copper dosing? If so, can copper dosing be used in conjunction with one of the antibiotics you have mentioned? I suppose I could always start with the antibiotic and move on to the copper dosing after what will hopefully be a recovery.
Appreciate the help thus far, thank you!
Maracyn may be used in conjunction with Coppersafe, however Maracyn mostly targets Gram Positive bacteria, like the nitrifying bacteria of the biological filter.
Maracyn 2 which targets mostly Gram Negative bacteria can be used with Coppersafe.
Vibrio anguillarum (Vibrio) - Fish can be treated with
ampicillin, chloramphenicol, nalidixic acid derivatives, nitrofurans, sulphonamides and trimethoprim. Drug resistant strains have appeared because of extensive use of these chemicals.
The more medications/chemicals used usually results in an increase of stress on the fish. Speaking in generalities, it's best not to pile on multiple drugs at the same time. I'd begin with the antibiotic followed by a copper treatment if you are sure you want to perform a copper treatment. So your plan would be a good one. Just an FYI: Download then read, the
Copper Treatment Procedure document. At this point, I have no reason to recommend a copper treatment, although if I remember correctly somewhere you mentioned having had a problem with
Cryptocaryon irritans (Marine Ich) in the past. If the treatment was done properly for this, then I'd put a copper treatment on the back burner.
Just in case you don't know. . .The biological filter of the Hospital tank can be jump started with viable nitrifying bacteria you can buy in a bottle.
Lastly, having the DT going fallow addresses many parasites, but not a bacterial issue. If you suspect Marine Ich, then. . .
Studies have shown that about 45 days of the tank going fishless (fallow) are reliable if you can raise the DT temperature to 27C (80.6F) and there are no dormant Marine Ich in the DT and DT system (assuming corals and invertebrates, if present, can handle this temperature). If you have a FOWLR DT, raise temp to 30C (86F) for 15 days, again providing there are no dormant Marine Ich in the DT or DT system (assuming invertebrates present, if any, can handle this temperature).
Marine Ich can lay dormant in low oxygen (hypoxic) areas and is able to survive longer than the above times. To avoid this, you want to reduce/eliminate areas of low oxygen. These areas include:
1. Thick substrates -- need to be 'disturbed.'
2. Rock sitting on substrate can hide dormant Marine Ich;
3. Canister filters -- need to be broken down;
4. Other non-biological filters/media and chemicals need to be replaced (e.g., carbon, filterfloss),
5. Check that bio filter(s) are not trapping any water; and lastly
6. Rock crevices can hide dormant Marine Ich.
Use high circulation and 'blast' under rocks and into rock crevices -- as much as any corals you have can take. If there is any part of the system which you feel may have low oxygen areas, find and eliminate them.
After removing/eliminating low oxygen areas,
then begin the times noted above.
If raising the temperature above 78F is not an option, then go fallow 75 days after removing/eliminating low oxygen areas.