In which I vent about reading ich/velvet "crisis" posts...

artieg1 · Feb 24, 2020

I am two years out from a velvet wipeout. I removed all surviving fish for copper treatment, fallowed 76 days, and now nothing goes in my DT unless it can survive therapeutic copper and observation in QT for at least 30 days. And... my DT is a dream. Not a spot on any fish. I used to buy fish all the time. LOL, I think I am permanently out of the market now. I miss going to my LFS. But my fish are indestructible; I now focus on coral. I see so many posts of people adding garlic, or ruby reef, or peroxide, or metro, or kick ich, or other nonsense, and sure enough they post again, and again, and again, about parasite trouble. It is actually very simple. Parasites cannot spontaneously generate, and they cannot survive therapeutic levels of copper (or CP) for the prescribed time period (I would err on the side of max dosage). End of story. I never realized how much buying fish, again and again, and replacing them, again and again, used to be a part of my life. It was a nightmare. I may never buy another fish. Which is kind of sad. But I see these hobbyists stuck where I used to be, and there is SO MUCH resistance to the hard work. I know everyone has a different experience and opinion, but success stories not involving the above (fallow, copper, QT) are few and far between, but with so many success stories from that protocol. So I want to add my experience/story to the list. Fallow, copper and QT. Your life will change. I don't care if you "don't have space to house all the fish". But two Brute tubs. This isn't rocket science.

So, if you are stuck in ich/velvet hell: Please read up on the sticky posts from experts like Humblefish. This hobby is only hard when it comes to the corals. The fish are a breeze, but you have to follow the protocols. Eradicating parasites from fish is a walk in the park compared to the ten million factors that go into getting acropora to grow! Now for that, I am all ears...

JumboShrimp · Feb 26, 2020

;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin

I think yours is one of my favorite posts of all time, because I saw so many of my beginner (and intermediate?) mistakes in what you wrote. It should be “required reading.”

Agustin Martinez III · Feb 26, 2020

JumboShrimp said:
;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin;Smuggrin

I think yours is one of my favorite posts of all time, because I saw so many of my beginner (and intermediate?) mistakes in what you wrote. It should be “required reading.”

Same here hahaha

pdxmonkeyboy · Feb 26, 2020

AMEN BROTHER. Welcome to the enlightened side.

Tomplatz · Feb 26, 2020

artieg1 said:
I am two years out from a velvet wipeout. I removed all surviving fish for copper treatment, fallowed 76 days, and now nothing goes in my DT unless it can survive therapeutic copper and observation in QT for at least 30 days. And... my DT is a dream. Not a spot on any fish. I used to buy fish all the time. LOL, I think I am permanently out of the market now. I miss going to my LFS. But my fish are indestructible; I now focus on coral. I see so many posts of people adding garlic, or ruby reef, or peroxide, or metro, or kick ich, or other nonsense, and sure enough they post again, and again, and again, about parasite trouble. It is actually very simple. Parasites cannot spontaneously generate, and they cannot survive therapeutic levels of copper (or CP) for the prescribed time period (I would err on the side of max dosage). End of story. I never realized how much buying fish, again and again, and replacing them, again and again, used to be a part of my life. It was a nightmare. I may never buy another fish. Which is kind of sad. But I see these hobbyists stuck where I used to be, and there is SO MUCH resistance to the hard work. I know everyone has a different experience and opinion, but success stories not involving the above (fallow, copper, QT) are few and far between, but with so many success stories from that protocol. So I want to add my experience/story to the list. Fallow, copper and QT. Your life will change. I don't care if you "don't have space to house all the fish". But two Brute tubs. This isn't rocket science.

So, if you are stuck in ich/velvet hell: Please read up on the sticky posts from experts like Humblefish. This hobby is only hard when it comes to the corals. The fish are a breeze, but you have to follow the protocols. Eradicating parasites from fish is a walk in the park compared to the ten million factors that go into getting acropora to grow! Now for that, I am all ears...

Just wondered if you QT corals against the threat of introducing fish disease to the DT.
I hold my corals in QT for 30 days but hold them back for another 30 to ensure no transfer of Ich.

artieg1 · Feb 26, 2020

Tomplatz said:
Just wondered if you QT corals against the threat of introducing fish disease to the DT.
I hold my corals in QT for 30 days but hold them back for another 30 to ensure no transfer of Ich.

I definitely dip corals in order to get rid of pests. I also tend to break off and discard frag plugs, because of the risk of cysts. Where that has not been possible, I scrub very well with a toothbrush and occasionally QT. My coral side protocol is not perfect by the book (76 days in QT), I admit!

JumboShrimp · Feb 26, 2020

I had to ‘Nuke’ a FOWLR tank with copper (including sand and rock) more than once, and had to go fallow THREE times in one tank, before I wised-up. @artieg1 is spot-on with what he wrote. Be ultra patient, do it right the first time, make your tank disease & pest free and religiously keep it that way, or you will be forever ‘buying’ fish (replacements) rather than ‘enjoying’ fish.

AcroNem · Feb 26, 2020

Yes yes yes yes. I preach proper quarantine procedures as often as I can. At least 30 days, prophylactically treated. Every thing every time. Even inverts should go into a dedicated system to wait out a fallow period or go through treatment for specific diseases (for corals or sometimes sea stars). There's post after post of people not wanting to set up a simple quarantine system and go through the process and instead lose all their fish in the end. Happens over and over. In the end it's always worth it.

shookONES · Feb 26, 2020

I’ve spent most of my life keeping high end freshwater fish. Very few ailments wouldn’t be resolved with ease.

Late last year, I decided to dabble in the word of reefing. I read innumerable reports to the necessity of quarantine and ultimately decided to ignore it, fueled by a stellar career keeping some of the most difficult and rare fish swimming in freshwater without incident. Fast forward to today, my 120g display is fallow and my dream list of fish are swimming in a 29g QT (gem tang, white tail kole, Dracula goby, etc).

Don’t be like me. QUARANTINE YOUR FISH. Fortunately I caught velvet early and was proactive, So I think my story will have a happy ending when the dust settles.

AcroNem · Feb 26, 2020

shookONES said:
I’ve spent most of my life keeping high end freshwater fish. Very few ailments wouldn’t be resolved with ease.

Late last year, I decided to dabble in the word of reefing. I read innumerable reports to the necessity of quarantine and ultimately decided to ignore it, fueled by a stellar career keeping some of the most difficult and rare fish swimming in freshwater without incident. Fast forward to today, my 120g display is fallow and my dream list of fish are swimming in a 29g QT (gem tang, white tail kole, Dracula goby, etc).

Don’t be like me. QUARANTINE YOUR FISH. Fortunately I caught velvet early and was proactive, So I think my story will have a happy ending when the dust settles.

I'm sorry for your hardship, but I'm very glad you caught things early and have taken the appropriate actions. I sincerely hope there is a good outcome.

shookONES · Feb 26, 2020

AcroNem said:
I'm sorry for your hardship, but I'm very glad you caught things early and have taken the appropriate actions. I sincerely hope there is a good outcome.

I appreciate the good vibes. Hopefully in a few months/years my fish and I can laugh about my naivity starting out in this hobby