All of my fishes are getting velvet

greetl01

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 5, 2021
Messages
260
Reaction score
188
Location
Hubert, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Okay im getting copper sulfate, i got a cycled 20 gallon and will use my 110 gallon power filter with a sponge in it... can I use a protein skimmer? Or will that suck up and get rid of the copper sulfate? I also have cycled aragonite sand in it, should i dump that sand in my 75 g display tank? Or in the garbage? Also dont the cells live in the water? Or inside the fish? Therefore I dont get it, take out the fishes and put em in qt tank for 5 weeks , what do i do with the 75? Leave it fishless with no copper treatment? If i have to put copper in it wouldnt it kill my corals? And live rock?, can corals survive copper sulfate? In short words "all i have to do" is qt all fishes leave the fishless 75 as it is for weeks with the zoas, sps, etc.? And my BIGGEST QUESTION IS... how th am i supposed to have good beneficial bacteria in my 20 if i keep dumping copper in it? Wouldnt that kill all beneficial bacteria? Can zoanthids catch velvet? ... what should i do with my 8" serpent starfish? It cant tolerate copper but if i leave it in a rubbermaid container with a powerhead the velvet may not go away since i cant use copper in that container, and if i leave it in my fishless 75 wouldnt it be a host for the velvet? What do i do with him? Please answer all of my questions each by each.
U have a lot so I’m reading and answering
Don’t use the skimmer. Don’t use the sand. It obsorbs copper. Copper doesn’t kill good bacteria. starfish is an invert so it stays in display
 
OP
OP
M

Makubex

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 21, 2019
Messages
827
Reaction score
138
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Gotcha... so i CAN leave my serpent starfish in there thats great, to make it easier... just tell me what do i have to do next.. just got the copper sulfate, and im driving home, step by step, thank you so much guys!
 

davidcalgary29

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 24, 2020
Messages
2,722
Reaction score
3,381
Location
Peace River, Alberta
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
U have a lot so I’m reading and answering
Don’t use the skimmer. Don’t use the sand. It obsorbs copper. Copper doesn’t kill good bacteria. starfish is an invert so it stays in display
+1 on the sand. I put a small container of sand in my 15g QT as I'm quarantining a fairy wrasse and thought it would like it. The fish is ignoring the sand and burying itself in clumps of GHA at night ( it does have a use!) instead.
 

greetl01

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 5, 2021
Messages
260
Reaction score
188
Location
Hubert, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Gotcha... so i CAN leave my serpent starfish in there thats great, to make it easier... just tell me what do i have to do next.. just got the copper sulfate, and im driving home, step by step, thank you so much guys!
 

Kal93

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 27, 2018
Messages
238
Reaction score
169
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Okay im getting copper sulfate, i got a cycled 20 gallon and will use my 110 gallon power filter with a sponge in it... can I use a protein skimmer? Or will that suck up and get rid of the copper sulfate? I also have cycled aragonite sand in it, should i dump that sand in my 75 g display tank? Or in the garbage? Also dont the cells live in the water? Or inside the fish? Therefore I dont get it, take out the fishes and put em in qt tank for 5 weeks , what do i do with the 75? Leave it fishless with no copper treatment? If i have to put copper in it wouldnt it kill my corals? And live rock?, can corals survive copper sulfate? In short words "all i have to do" is qt all fishes leave the fishless 75 as it is for weeks with the zoas, sps, etc.? And my BIGGEST QUESTION IS... how th am i supposed to have good beneficial bacteria in my 20 if i keep dumping copper in it? Wouldnt that kill all beneficial bacteria? Can zoanthids catch velvet? ... what should i do with my 8" serpent starfish? It cant tolerate copper but if i leave it in a rubbermaid container with a powerhead the velvet may not go away since i cant use copper in that container, and if i leave it in my fishless 75 wouldnt it be a host for the velvet? What do i do with him? Please answer all of my questions each by each.
That's great! Yes, leave your 75G fishless--without your fish as hosts, the parasitic velvet will die out. Velvet does not infect inverts or corals.

Copper will reduce your bacterial populations. You could feed less (reduce waste) and make frequent water changes, Don't add anything (water, sand, or rock) from your 75G.
 
OP
OP
M

Makubex

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 21, 2019
Messages
827
Reaction score
138
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thx so much guys! Just tell me step by step... i forgot to ask i got a few .75" springer damsels which u can not catch, can i just leave em in there? Would velvet kill them? Theyre not infected yet... if velvet does kill them can i leave their dead corpses there so the cuc eats it? Will velvet reproduce even with dead fishes' corpses? I really can not catch small fishes bc of my caves and dead bodies tend to rot under rocks or inside the caves, nowhere to be found
 

greetl01

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 5, 2021
Messages
260
Reaction score
188
Location
Hubert, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thx so much guys! Just tell me step by step... i forgot to ask i got a few .75" springer damsels which u can not catch, can i just leave em in there? Would velvet kill them? Theyre not infected yet... if velvet does kill them can i leave their dead corpses there so the cuc eats it? Will velvet reproduce even with dead fishes' corpses? I really can not catch small fishes bc of my caves and dead bodies tend to rot under rocks or inside the caves, nowhere to be found
I sent 1 link that tells you step by step and the other “dos and don’ts” link fills in most everything in between. The only left for us to do is to copy and paste it here...
 
Last edited:

Hugh Mann

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2020
Messages
1,998
Reaction score
1,984
Location
Merritt, BC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Some good information here, and some less than good information. Here's my recommendation.

Are you absolutely certain it is velvet? Unlike ich that can lay dormant, velvet hits right away and would have to have been introduced within a couple days of you noticing the spots. Any recent unquarantined introductions? Anything, fish, coral, inverts, live rock?

Fortunately the steps to take from here are pretty much the same for both, you just have less time to act with velvet.

Set up a hospital tank, it can even be a plastic bin. Just sufficiently sized to hold your livestock. Using your power filter is an excellent idea, and keep the filter media from the display in it. Ammonia now shouldn't be an issue, but monitor with a seachem ammonia badge just in case. You're using copper, so be sure to slowly ramp up the dosage over a few days. Raising it immediately can harm fish. If you notice them struggling to breath, a freshwater dip can buy you time. Once it is set up, the temperature and salinity matched, transfer all fish from the display to the hospital tank. Monitor the fish, copper and ammonia levels. If you have to do a water change, dose the new water with copper BEFORE adding to the tank. Keep at it for the full course of treatment, which should be 30 days at the full dose. PVC pipes and elbows make excellent hides for fish. If you have burrowing wrasse, a small container of sand will work. Keep in mind, the sand will absorb some copper, so it may effect your dosing. Hanna copper checkers are very accurate and reliable, if expensive compared to other test kits.

As for the display tank, all non fish can remain, coral, snails, crabs, urchins, anemones, stars, are fine. Gradually raise the tank temperature to 81f, provided your inverts/corals can tolerate it. This speeds up the life cycle of both ich and velvet, making for a more reliable fallow. Leave it empty of fish for at least 45 days. This will kill off all velvet and ich (some will say 76+ days, but that is based off one VERY sketchy paper). Be sure to keep them fed as well.

During that 15 day gap between the copper treatment and fallow ending, transfer the fish to a fresh tank/bin and observe them carefully for 15 days to make sure the treatment was successful. You can reuse the power filter for the observation tank as well. Be sure to add Seachem Cuprisorb which will pull any lingering copper out of the filter, and you can layer reuse it on your display, though if you want to be really paranoid, buy a new filter. If you do not have room or the ability to set up a second observation, do a series of large water changes and add Seachem Cuprisorb to pull the copper out.
 

Hugh Mann

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2020
Messages
1,998
Reaction score
1,984
Location
Merritt, BC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thx so much guys! Just tell me step by step... i forgot to ask i got a few .75" springer damsels which u can not catch, can i just leave em in there? Would velvet kill them? Theyre not infected yet... if velvet does kill them can i leave their dead corpses there so the cuc eats it? Will velvet reproduce even with dead fishes' corpses? I really can not catch small fishes bc of my caves and dead bodies tend to rot under rocks or inside the caves, nowhere to be found

No. They have to be removed. If not, even if they are not showing the visible spots, they can still serve as a host for Velvet as it can be hiding in the gills, rendering all treatment useless, as it will still be in the display tank. Also, if it is velvet, it will eventually kill them. I don't know if velvet will reproduce on a dead host, but even if you have to pull your rocks apart, unless they are cemented together, or use fish traps.

-source, I had velvet and the only fish I had that displayed the spots were converted freshwater mollies, and they were one of the few to survive the velvet. All of my fatalities showed zero spots.

As to the question about your filter/bacteria. Keep the sponge that's in it right now for the hospital tank and you should be fine. Again, that is exactly what I did when I had velvet and had no ammonia problems and I had a decent bioload.
 

jaganshi066

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Messages
1,309
Reaction score
777
Location
los angeles
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
U gotta quarantine with copper. NOW. This is my first quarantine too so I won’t give you any advice. I’d just start getting it ready while you wait on replies. What I can tell u for sure is get copper power instead of seachem cupramine if you can
Why not cupramine? I’ve never lost a fish with cupramine
 

greetl01

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 5, 2021
Messages
260
Reaction score
188
Location
Hubert, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Why not cupramine? I’ve never lost a fish with cupramine
I’m not saying it doesn’t work. It’s just not BEST option for a person new to quarantining. Just learned today you can use prime with copper power but not with cupramine. That alone tips the scales for me but the greater margin of error is what most of us noobs struggle with
 
OP
OP
M

Makubex

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 21, 2019
Messages
827
Reaction score
138
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Can i use copper power? It was $22
 

Attachments

  • 80028984-1C71-429D-9091-2116EB138FA5.jpeg
    80028984-1C71-429D-9091-2116EB138FA5.jpeg
    217 KB · Views: 12

jaganshi066

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Messages
1,309
Reaction score
777
Location
los angeles
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I’m not saying it doesn’t work. It’s just not BEST option for a person new to quarantining. Just learned today you can use prime with copper power but not with cupramine. That alone tips the scales for me but the greater margin of error is what most of us noobs struggle with
I heard that copper power is easier on the fish so that’s a good thing. But I hear from iconic copper is more effective than chelated. What is prime though?
 
OP
OP
M

Makubex

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 21, 2019
Messages
827
Reaction score
138
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
No. They have to be removed. If not, even if they are not showing the visible spots, they can still serve as a host for Velvet as it can be hiding in the gills, rendering all treatment useless, as it will still be in the display tank. Also, if it is velvet, it will eventually kill them. I don't know if velvet will reproduce on a dead host, but even if you have to pull your rocks apart, unless they are cemented together, or use fish traps.

-source, I had velvet and the only fish I had that displayed the spots were converted freshwater mollies, and they were one of the few to survive the velvet. All of my fatalities showed zero spots.

As to the question about your filter/bacteria. Keep the sponge that's in it right now for the hospital tank and you should be fine. Again, that is exactly what I did when I had velvet and had no ammonia problems and I had a decent bioload.
Can anyone chime in on this?.... will velvet reproduce on a dead host?, thanks
 

hds4216

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 18, 2020
Messages
1,283
Reaction score
1,811
Location
Denver, CO
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
can't he use some tank water for his QT? It's going to be treated an yway. Also, could toss in a live rock or 2. You just can never put that rock in your display. Ever again due to the copper. Those 2 steps would help.
Live rock would absorb the copper and make it harder to keep at therapeutic levels. I would just buy some bottle bacteria.
 

greetl01

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 5, 2021
Messages
260
Reaction score
188
Location
Hubert, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Can anyone chime in on this?.... will velvet reproduce on a dead host?, thank
I heard that copper power is easier on the fish so that’s a good thing. But I hear from iconic copper is more effective than chelated. What is prime though?
it neutralizes ammonia. Good for ammonia spikes in qt
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 27 50.9%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 28 52.8%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 10 18.9%
  • None.

    Votes: 12 22.6%
  • Other.

    Votes: 3 5.7%
Back
Top