Marine Velvet, eradicating it by restarting tank?

coralreefer123 · Jun 13, 2021

Hi,

I have marine velvet in my 20 gallon FOWLR- fully cycled. (pair of clownfish and a pair of gobies). One got velvet, not ich, and died, others are not showing any signs so far. I currently added copper to my system but I wanted to see if it is possible to completely empty the tank/ clean it, and refill it with new saltwater. I am assuming this would kill my biological filter. Would I still be able to use my filter/media or would I have to also start fresh with that? Would my live rock need a FW dip to kill any velvet left over? Should I just continue with copper treatment for a month-6 weeks (do I do water changes?) instead of putting all new water in?

@Humblefish any advice?

Tamberav · Jun 13, 2021

Changing the water 100% won't eliminate velvet. A fallow period (no fish) for 6 weeks would.

The rock will absorb copper. So if you plan to keep copper in the FOWLR, I would suggest a high range copper Hannah kit with frequent testing. You need to keep the concentration up.

Twigg · Jun 13, 2021

Copper is the only way I know. If you don't have coral then I would just copper the tank. It tanks a while to bring it back down to zero if you wanted to add copper afterword. The rocks are like a sponge and can leach it back into the system. I would just do copper and normal water changes.

coralreefer123 · Jun 13, 2021

Twigg said:
Copper is the only way I know. If you don't have coral then I would just copper the tank. It tanks a while to bring it back down to zero if you wanted to add copper afterword. The rocks are like a sponge and can leach it back into the system. I would just do copper and normal water changes.

okay thank you. How long would you leave the copper at theraputic levels? 6 weeks? I keep reading different things online, some say two others say 6 weeks

Twigg · Jun 13, 2021

coralreefer123 said:
okay thank you. How long would you leave the copper at theraputic levels? 6 weeks? I keep reading different things online, some say two others say 6 weeks

I would say minimum 4 weeks. Some fish don't do to well and you may have to bring it down at 3 weeks. Just make sure you feed everyone super well and keep an eye on them.