[Myka]

Oh Brad!! This is awful. Sorry I'm so late on the bandwagon here...

I didn't read it all, just the first few page, and last few pages. It sounds like you're not sure if it is velvet or not?

Personally, I won't use copper medication for any reason (I'm sure you've seen me say this before). I really like to use Formalin instead. It is very broad-spectrum...and my go to when I have no idea what is ailing the fish. I have never had it fail me yet. The only thing that is a pain in the butt about Formalin is that you have to dip the fish rather than treating the water in the hospital tank. I don't mind doing this because I'm not a fan of treating the water column anyway...I haven't had a whole lot of luck doing that. Even for antibiotics I prefer to put those into the food.

You said you were having troubles with Prime not working? How are you determining it is not working? Test kits? Which ones? Most test kits are not compatible with Prime. FWIW, AmQuel is half the price and 2x the concentration. BTW, these products need to be dosed daily - just enough to keep the ammonia low - don't go by the dosing instructions. Doing 25% waterchanges 1-2x weekly helps flush all the chems out too and make a big difference. You don't need a cycled filter or water. I've kept dozens of fish in fresh saltwater with nothing but an airstone and/or powerhead for weeks on end. You do have to use a lot of AmQuel or (even more) Prime though.

HTH