Velvet treatment

[Jrco226]

I recently had a velvet outbreak in my 220 FOWLR tank and have transfer all the fish to a hospital tank for treatment. I want ahead and treated the display tank with cooper as well and levels have maintained but it still makes me feel uneasy that he won't get fully treated. I know velvet is a fallow period of 6 weeks and ich 76 days but I really don't want to wait that long. My question is if I were to drain the vast majority of water out the tank just having some water left on the sand bed and filled it with rodi water would that be enough to kill any parasites? Or will someone survive in the sand bed or rocks?

 

[Antics]

I'm not sure I'm following your post. You removed all of your fish to treat with copper and then ended up treating the DT with copper separate?

Velvet will (likely) survive in the sand and rocks so your drain and re-fill route isn't a good idea in my opinion. I'd wait out the fallow period personally. Maintaining copper in your DT is going to be difficult with live rock inside but I have seen it done.

 

[Jrco226]

Yes, treated the dt as well because I was thinking I could do the 6 week fallow period for velvet and just in case there was ich in the tank it would be taken care of by the copper. I'm thinking now I may just break down the tank clean it and have it ready to go after the 30 day treatment in the hospital tank.

 

[melypr1985]

Yes, treated the dt as well because I was thinking I could do the 6 week fallow period for velvet and just in case there was ich in the tank it would be taken care of by the copper. I'm thinking now I may just break down the tank clean it and have it ready to go after the 30 day treatment in the hospital tank.

You didn't need to put copper in the tank. A fallow period of 76 days will clear all parasites from the tank through starvation. Filling the tank with RODI water isn't going to do you any real good. I honestly think you should be patient and wait out the fallow period. Pull the copper from the display since it isn't helping anything. (it only kills the parasites when they are in their free swimming stage and since once they are in that stage that will starve anyway without the fish in the tank using copper is useless) Trying to cut corners and speed things up in this hobby rarely leads to anything good... in fact, I always say "if it happened fast, it made you cry and hurt your wallet" Nothing good happens fast.

 

[Jrco226]

You didn't need to put copper in the tank. A fallow period of 76 days will clear all parasites from the tank through starvation. Filling the tank with RODI water isn't going to do you any real good. I honestly think you should be patient and wait out the fallow period. Pull the copper from the display since it isn't helping anything. (it only kills the parasites when they are in their free swimming stage and since once they are in that stage that will starve anyway without the fish in the tank using copper is useless) Trying to cut corners and speed things up in this hobby rarely leads to anything good... in fact, I always say "if it happened fast, it made you cry and hurt your wallet" Nothing good happens fast.

You're a 100% right I just didn't know if that would've worked that same as completely tearing down the tank which I think I will do now. Should only be half a days work to do anyways. Thanks for the advice!

 

[ngoodermuth]

If you are going to take down the tank and restart.... you'll have to toss or acid bathe all the rock, replace all the sand, and let the tank and equipment dry COMPLETELY before re-filling. A hairdryer can help speed this up, but I think it won't be as easy as you think... running fallow would be much easier.

How big is your QT? Is there a reason you don't want to run the 76 days? I mean it sucks, I know. I'm doing it for the SECOND time. But, is it worth the risk of having to replace your rock and substrate and completely re-start and re-cycle?

 

[Ubergroover]

Been there...I went coral only for 4 months. From what I found and read the only real cure is starving the parasite. I feel your pain.

 

[Jrco226]

If you are going to take down the tank and restart.... you'll have to toss or acid bathe all the rock, replace all the sand, and let the tank and equipment dry COMPLETELY before re-filling. A hairdryer can help speed this up, but I think it won't be as easy as you think... running fallow would be much easier.

How big is your QT? Is there a reason you don't want to run the 76 days? I mean it sucks, I know. I'm doing it for the SECOND time. But, is it worth the risk of having to replace your rock and substrate and completely re-start and re-cycle?

My qt is 90G so currently size isn't really any issue. The other issue is its housed in my room because I wasn't in that room when i first set it up and was about to switch everything in the qt over when this happen. Plus, its just plain difficult to leave the big beautiful display empty for that long : (

 

[Scarybo]

My qt is 90G so currently size isn't really any issue. The other issue is its housed in my room because I wasn't in that room when i first set it up and was about to switch everything in the qt over when this happen. Plus, its just plain difficult to leave the big beautiful display empty for that long : (

If you breakdown and restart your DT, it is a long process. You have to let all tank and equipment completely dry. Bone Dry. As ngoodermuth stated the rock and sand would need to be disgarded. Now you have to let the tank cycle. Copper would only kill the free swimmers. Any cysts are unaffected by copper in the DT and only "complete" drying ensures they dont reinfect.

 

[Jrco226]

If the only visible thing you saw was velvet would you go fallow for the 6 week period or would you assume that you had ich as well and do the full 76 days?

 

[Humblefish]

If the only visible thing you saw was velvet would you go fallow for the 6 week period or would you assume that you had ich as well and do the full 76 days?

Full 76 days and then QT moving forward. Sometimes its best to get a clean slate of all the bugs.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Full 76 days and then QT moving forward. Sometimes its best to get a clean slate of all the bugs.

Same for me. Ich management is not my cup of tea....

 

[Jrco226]

Gotta do whats best for the fish. Now, I'm going to have to set up some more QTs for the fish I want to add haha this hobby is crazy.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Since its FOWLR I would just bleach the rocks and replace the sand to ensure parasites don't make a comeback.. your already doing all the work so putting them back in the system is risky especially when you are dealing with velvet. I just feel going this rout gives you more peace of mind then simply medicating the tank which is going to kill all the beneficial life anyways. Take this time to QT any additional fish you plan on keeping in your display and once everything is back to normal health don't add any new additions. By the time your ready you can slowly add the fish back to the system and be sure you are in a good shape with a healthy cycled tank.

Recently I watched Mark from mr saltwater tank on Youtube video on his dealing with velvet and describes why he bleached his coral and sand after having a outbreak. He mentioned people he spoke to that ran fallow had velvet come back 3 - 6 months later so he decided to restart; highly recommend you search his video. Good luck

 

[Jrco226]

Since its FOWLR I would just bleach the rocks and replace the sand to ensure parasites don't make a comeback.. your already doing all the work so putting them back in the system is risky especially when you are dealing with velvet. I just feel going this rout gives you more peace of mind then simply medicating the tank which is going to kill all the beneficial life anyways. Take this time to QT any additional fish you plan on keeping in your display and once everything is back to normal health don't add any new additions. By the time your ready you can slowly add the fish back to the system and be sure you are in a good shape with a healthy cycled tank.

Recently I watched Mark from mr saltwater tank on Youtube video on his dealing with velvet and describes why he bleached his coral and sand after having a outbreak. He mentioned people he spoke to that ran fallow had velvet come back 3 - 6 months later so he decided to restart; highly recommend you search his video. Good luck

I believe I have seen that a couple years ago but I will look to see if I can find it again. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Jrco226]

Having a slight bacterial bloom the day after dosing CP...any thoughts? No other meds in the tank.

 

[melypr1985]

Having a slight bacterial bloom the day after dosing CP...any thoughts? No other meds in the tank.

CP can make the water appear a bit cloudy which is normal, though it shouldn't be so bad as to make it difficult to see the fish at all. You can always add a powerhead or air stone for extra O2.

 

[Jrco226]

CP can make the water appear a bit cloudy which is normal, though it shouldn't be so bad as to make it difficult to see the fish at all. You can always add a powerhead or air stone for extra O2.

Its not that bad but noticeable. I went ahead and placed an airhead in the tank. Thanks for the info!