Paradiddle7
New member
Sorry for the long read but I need to make sure I will be starting over safely and correctly.
So, I had a devastating outbreak of something, probably velvet, even though I saw spots on fins and some lesions on bodies, but not white dots on the bodies so much. I thought it was Ich. I had 2 fish survive so far and their lesions are going down, so I'm assuming their immune systems were strong enough to fight off the infection.
I was keeping a FOWLR with a 1" sand bed and extra live rock and biomedia in the sump. I treated with Metroplex/Focus in water column first and then in food. I also treated with Paraguard. I don't think I saved any fish and I think I was primarily treating for ich instead of velvet. By the time my cupramine came, the other fish were goners.
TBH, I was kind of hoping the last 2 would die. I would break down the tank, clean it and run acid/vinegar and high temp and very cold temp, let everything dry and start over, cycle the tank and whatever.
I do have a fusion 20 I can use as a QT/Hospital tank but I'm thinking about doing the following. I'll move the last 2 fish to the fusion 20 and start them on cupramine. I will break down the display tank, toss the sand and put the LR into a bucket with mild acid to just eat away the outside layer slightly, rinse in RO etc.. let dry for a few weeks. While I'm letting everything dry out, I will start up the display again, after cleaning with acid/vinegar and letting everything dry out for a few days. This time though, I will start the display bare bottom with pvc pipe and some fake corals just for looks and bring the 2 sick fish back in, continue running copper for 8 weeks. I will also introduce a few more new fish and extend the entire treatment for 8 weeks.
So in short, I'll be converting the display to a QT tank with copper for 8 weeks. When the 8 weeks is up, I'll get the copper out of the water column, and add sand and some LR and go again. I will probably cycle the LR in the fusion with biomedia so that when i turn the main display back into a real main display, i can monitor ammonia and nitrates etc... to make sure I do any large water changes to preserve water quality.
I will not be overstocking the main display. My tank is in my office and I just want to be able to see my fish while I'm doing the 8 weeks of copper. It will also be better conditions in the larger tank for the 4-5 fish I will have in the 65 gallon system.
Does my regiment sound reasonable and will I totally get rid of the velvet this way? From this point on, I will QT all fish for 8 weeks on copper in the fusion 20.
Thanks for any advice on this matter and I appreciate your time.
So, I had a devastating outbreak of something, probably velvet, even though I saw spots on fins and some lesions on bodies, but not white dots on the bodies so much. I thought it was Ich. I had 2 fish survive so far and their lesions are going down, so I'm assuming their immune systems were strong enough to fight off the infection.
I was keeping a FOWLR with a 1" sand bed and extra live rock and biomedia in the sump. I treated with Metroplex/Focus in water column first and then in food. I also treated with Paraguard. I don't think I saved any fish and I think I was primarily treating for ich instead of velvet. By the time my cupramine came, the other fish were goners.
TBH, I was kind of hoping the last 2 would die. I would break down the tank, clean it and run acid/vinegar and high temp and very cold temp, let everything dry and start over, cycle the tank and whatever.
I do have a fusion 20 I can use as a QT/Hospital tank but I'm thinking about doing the following. I'll move the last 2 fish to the fusion 20 and start them on cupramine. I will break down the display tank, toss the sand and put the LR into a bucket with mild acid to just eat away the outside layer slightly, rinse in RO etc.. let dry for a few weeks. While I'm letting everything dry out, I will start up the display again, after cleaning with acid/vinegar and letting everything dry out for a few days. This time though, I will start the display bare bottom with pvc pipe and some fake corals just for looks and bring the 2 sick fish back in, continue running copper for 8 weeks. I will also introduce a few more new fish and extend the entire treatment for 8 weeks.
So in short, I'll be converting the display to a QT tank with copper for 8 weeks. When the 8 weeks is up, I'll get the copper out of the water column, and add sand and some LR and go again. I will probably cycle the LR in the fusion with biomedia so that when i turn the main display back into a real main display, i can monitor ammonia and nitrates etc... to make sure I do any large water changes to preserve water quality.
I will not be overstocking the main display. My tank is in my office and I just want to be able to see my fish while I'm doing the 8 weeks of copper. It will also be better conditions in the larger tank for the 4-5 fish I will have in the 65 gallon system.
Does my regiment sound reasonable and will I totally get rid of the velvet this way? From this point on, I will QT all fish for 8 weeks on copper in the fusion 20.
Thanks for any advice on this matter and I appreciate your time.