Alittle About What I've Learned + Velvet Progress!!!

Dunno how to really start this post off so here goes...

Recently I've discovered i have ran into alittle problem called "Velvet". After doing research apon research on curing velvet, i sprang into action, i went and bought a QT tank, set it up and starting the curing process..
Im using "copper" as my curing method, as i have found many other experimentals ways, copper seemed to be the most effective..

I also wanted to touch basis for a second on my mistakes and hopefully i can save other new hobbiest who find their way to this hobbie some trouble.

Ive been in this hobby for about 4 months now and i was excited the day my tank had finished its cycle and i could start my fish exploration...

i started off with the "i want colorful fish idea" so i ended up with 3 green chromis, 5 damsels, 2 perc clowns. got home acclimated them all for about 30 min and poped them in the tank... 3 days later i changed my mind and wanted some really active fish, so popped them into a bucket, off to my LFS for trade in and got me a yellow tang and 2 blue tangs.. had them for 5 days and once again thought "i want something more aggresive" so popped them in the bucket back to my LFS, traded them in and got me 1 niger trigger, 1 humu trigger and 1 spiny box puffer. got home acclimated and popped them in the tank.

A couple of days past and i seen a 5inch Tomato Clown on Craigslist for $15, called em up and sure enough went a got him and popped him in my DT. a day later walked into petco and see another niger trigger, hmm ok why not, got him and on we went.

2 week later and i find myself in my current position.. i was so excited on getting the perfect fish for me, i failed to realize everything i was doing was WRONG!. Point Blank... There is so much more then just going to your lfs and buying a fish. Percautions to take, compatibility and so on which i failed big time in taking the time to learn about. If i had only taken the time to research different types of fish, their behavior, their life styles i could have saved my self a great deal of money, time and most important IMO the stress and harm i caused too the fish. Now Im fighting against a "Micro Multiplying Hulk Hogan" that may end up costing me everything that could have easly been prevented taken the right steps. on top of it all i have 6 sick fish that rely on me to take care of them in which i failed to do..

none the less the situation is in front of me and is not going anywhere..

My point here to the people that are new to the hobby and happen to come accross this post is, make sure you RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH before jumping into this, there is alot more here then a fish in a tank... Take your time and read others post as you will find it very helpful in getting too and maintaining a succussful aquarium. Another big key here i have now learned is "Patience". This is one of the most important aspect to having a successful aquarium IMO. So remember take your time and research before acting...It will pay off in the end...

I will update daily on my fishes progress. so far my spiny box puffer isnt taking his treatment so well, I wish him the best...:-[

i will update so pics shortly..

Thanks to everyone for your help in regards to my previous post..You guys are awesome!!!!

 

here is my current setup...

 

Too bad you, and worse, your fish, had to learn the hard way. Come back and read your post when you have more experience and you will cringe like everyone else will when they read it. ;D

 

I went back and read your other posts. Your boxfish has ammonia burn. That's also why your water looks a little cloudy. That is also going to be your biggest problem with the QT process, not the copper itself. You now have two uncycled QT tanks with sick fish. IMO and IME, you would have been better off using Cupramine on your DT, and putting any inverts you could catch into a HT. That's not what you did, so don't worry about that now.

Raising the temperature works to kill ich, for freshwater. That's where that little piece of disinformation comes from. In marine fish, it will deplete the oxygen and further stress the fish. Your fish most likely have ich, not velvet. In either case, copper is the correct treatment, so, whatever.

Another possible problem is mixing fresh saltwater and putting your fish in the QT tanks the same day. Monitor the ammonia level closely and be prepared to do large water changes in a way that won't freak your fish out.

Your QT tanks have no places for your fish to hide and feel comfortable. It would help to put some large PVC pieces in the tanks.

What type of copper are you using, and what copper test kit are you using to monitor it?

 

im using Cupramine, the test kit is by Red Sea... i tested my waters this morning, amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5.0, P.H 8.2... My humu has scratched his color off the top of his skin from my LR, he also goes to the top for a gasp of air at time, my niger skin is peeling on the right side as well as breathing heavily.. my tomato has these micro white spots on him that i can barley see, he is breathing heavily, and HE has goldish around his gills...

the pictures are from my cell phone that prob why my dt looks cloudy, this morning it was crystal clear as well as right now...

i will make sure i add pvc to my qts asap tomorrow morning...

the water in my QTs is direct water from my DT... please dont tell my i screwed all this up too

 

Perfect. Keep the copper at .5 for 3 weeks, not 2 as the instructions recommend.

Also, did anyone address the fact that ich will be alive in your DT after the copper treatment is finished? That is why in your young system it would have been easier an less stressful for your fish to treat the DT.

 

i was told my LR would dilute the copper is some way, that i needed to put them in a empty QT tank...

ya i read it would still be alive in my DT, so i had to keep it fish free for 10 weeks

another quick question, how could it be amm burn when my terst read 0...

also, should i put them back in my DT and treat them there???

 

It's correct that the rock will absorb the copper. That's not a bad thing because it's better to ramp up the first few days slowly. The copper can be completely removed with carbon and/or Cuprisorb after the treatment is over.

It is not correct to put the fish into an uncycled QT. The only way for that to work is to have a cycled filter system running on the QT, and you don't have one.

The boxfish looks to me to have some type of burn. Could it have been from freshly mixed saltwater? The slight cloudiness, and the speed that you added fish into your DT would point to a small ammonia spike, though. It doesn't take much. I could be wrong. :

Personally, in your situation, I would not hesitate to treat the DT.