how long will copper take?

[livingwater]

i had a out break of ick and velvet in my tank. its on every fish in the tank. they get wosre by the minute. i got some copper last night and put it in and then again this morning. i dont see much of a change. every morning it gets worse and in the morning i think i will lose another. i wlready lost a naso....i think that came from the drop in PH. (i drop he salinty at first) didnt work.
how long will it take for the copper to dure the fish?

 

[katherine]

I just came across an article (saltaquarium.about.com) on different treatment methods for curing ich and velvet disease. "A copper sulfate treatment is the MOST EFFECTIVE treatment for both Oodinium and Cryptocaryon (velvet and white spot). Copper is NOT invert, coral, live rock or reef safe. Copper should not be used in a saltwater aquarium unless it is a fish-only tank, and intended to stay that way. Once copper sulfate is introduced into a tank it cannot be completely removed. The bare minimum maintenance level of copper sulfate to be effective is at .15 ppm. BE SURE TO NOT LET THE COPPER LEVEL FALL BELOW .15 PPM, otherwize, it will not work. keep the fish under treatment for at least two weeks, three is even better. This helps to make sure there are no hidden cysts that may pop out after you have put the fish back into your main aquarium".
There are a bunch of other methods they recommend. You should take a look.
Hope this helps.