Warning to all those who don't QT

[TimT]

Sorry about the problems you're having...

The easiest and best way to control velvet/ick is with a properly sized UV sterilizer with proper flow rate and a good bulb.

The next best method is copper sulfate, which you can still buy on Amazon.ca, in a QT. You'd need a very accurate scale and a way of testing the copper levels. Copper needs to always be above 0.16mg/l but not above 0.26mg/l. It's also best to add some citric acid to the mix to help it stay in solution better. Sorry I don't remember the recipe anymore... it was a long time ago I used to use it.

I'd never try treating fish with h2o2 as it will burn they're gills.

Cheers,
Tim

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by TimT

Sorry about the problems you're having...

The easiest and best way to control velvet/ick is with a properly sized UV sterilizer with proper flow rate and a good bulb.

The next best method is copper sulfate, which you can still buy on Amazon.ca, in a QT. You'd need a very accurate scale and a way of testing the copper levels. Copper needs to always be above 0.16mg/l but not above 0.26mg/l. It's also best to add some citric acid to the mix to help it stay in solution better. Sorry I don't remember the recipe anymore... it was a long time ago I used to use it.

I'd never try treating fish with h2o2 as it will burn they're gills.

Cheers,
Tim

Thanks for the info. I did see copper sulfate on Amazon but I wasn't sure if my puffer could handle it or not.

I have run a UV sterilizer on most of my larger aquariums in the past and always felt they helped a lot. I will be doing the same with my new tank.

[smokinreefer]

UV sterlilizer is good for Ick and Velvet?

Do you have any literature on this?
Everything i've read says otherwise... but i'd like it to be true.

[1bigstud]

Any adbice on the most effective way to setup a QT?
I'm challeneged for space.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by 1bigstud

Any adbice on the most effective way to setup a QT?
I'm challeneged for space.

I have always set up QT's when needed, meaning I don't keep it running all the time.


What I do is... keep ceramic biomedia in my main tanks sump, if you don't have a sump you can keep it in your main display somewhere. When I am going to buy fish, I pull out my QT tank and put the biomedia in a HOB filter. Add a heater and some PVC pieces for the fish to hide in. I let that sit for a few days and then add fish. I also like to have an ammonia badge (cheap on amazon) so I always know right away if there is an ammonia issue. You can keep something like 'Prime' on hand in case of an ammonia issue. It will temporarily detoxify ammonia. Keep in mind if you use a product to detox ammonia, your test kits or monitor will still read ammonia in the water, it is just not toxic to fish for a period of time.

Since my QT's are usually around 20G, I try and buy small fish. In the past when I was buying some large fish, I used larger rubbermaids that I re-purposed as storage after.

If the fish show signs of disease, you can then decide how to treat them and turn the QT into a hospital tank.

Once QT is done, I just sanitize everything and put it in storage. You should throw away the ceramic balls after QT and put new ones in your sump for next time.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by smokinreefer

UV sterlilizer is good for Ick and Velvet?

Do you have any literature on this?
Everything i've read says otherwise... but i'd like it to be true.

I'm not sure but I have always thought they helped. There are some great videos on UV sterilizers on BRS TV (youtube). I trust most of what they say on there.

The big thing is to get the flow rate correct for whatever it is that you want to accomplish. For example, if you want to avoid algae, the flow rate needs to be higher than if you want to kill parasites which need more contact time. I have always used them for algae control with high flow rates and never had algae problems, even when using tap water in a FOWLR. They also make the water really clear which I like.

If you want to try and control both algae and parasites at the same time, you can try and go with a oversized UV sterilizer and have a high flow rate. The high flow rate should allow it to keep up with algae but also have enough contact time to kill parasites. I have never tried this but I am probably going to on my new tank.

[TimT]

Yes, UV's are very effective against Velvet due to the trophonts small size.

There is a lot of literature out there about how to configure a UV's flow rate. If you have too low of a flow rate for the tank volume or too high of a flow rate through the UV or an old bulb they will not be effective.

This book will explain it.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sh...ms_Engineering

Cheers,
Tim

[smokinreefer]

found this article that seems to outline things.
http://www.americanaquariumproducts....ilization.html