Ich or velvet?

[vest596]

Alright guys bit of a story here but hopefully I can figure this out my biocube is a couple months old water parameters are
78 temp
9.5 dkh
430 calc
1350 mag
1.025 salinity
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
1-3 nitrates
I have 1 fire fish, 1 royal gramma, 1 clown, pistol shrimp and watchmen goby pair, cleaner shrimp and various snails, multiple corals

now a few weeks ago my fire fish got beat up by someone but was on the mend and doing great then about a week ago he disappeared gone no where to be found I had thought someone got him and they ate his corpse because all the other fish seemed fine. Yesterday my royal gramma didn’t come out all day he was hiding in his rock when I got home from work at like midnight I used my flash light and he was still hiding in his rock breathing heavy I could definitely see white spots on him and my clown using my flashlight in the dark. But today I wake up the royal is no where to be found and I cannot for the life of me see any white spots on the clown or the watchman. Shrimp are doing great, coral is doing great. Last night was the only time I saw white spots on any fish but I do remember the gramma rubbing it’s body on the substrate a few days ago. I got pictures of the clown and goby but there aren’t white spots today! I’m thinking of picking of medic and treating the tank anyway though.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The easiest way to tell ich from velvet is when ich starts there will be distinct white spots. With true velvet, the first symptom is just rapid breathing. As ich advances, the fish then start to breath faster.
Jay

 

[Uncle99]

“Spots” fall off, replicate, reinfect, fall off, replicate.
Any treatment other than the three documented treatments for ick are simply a waste of time

I use copper mostly, of course outside of the DT, for both ick and velvet.

The 72 day ish fallow period for ick or 60 ish days for velvet, default 72 if not sure rids the DT of these parasites.

 

[vest596]

I was thinking of using polyp labs medic to treat the tank from what I have seen people have had a lot of success with it

 

[blaxsun]

I was thinking of using polyp labs medic to treat the tank from what I have seen people have had a lot of success with it

Did you ever try it and if so, how well did it work for you? Currently dealing with an outbreak of velvet and I'm embarking on the Polyp Lab Medic to try (and hopefully) save the rest of my tank.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Did you ever try it and if so, how well did it work for you? Currently dealing with an outbreak of velvet and I'm embarking on the Polyp Lab Medic to try (and hopefully) save the rest of my tank.

Being in Canada leaves you at a disadvantage in getting fish medications. Polyp Lab Medic is a peroxide salt. In theory, it should work (hydrogen peroxide has been used to treat velvet in labs). However, in practice it doesn't always work out. It seems from your lost that you've already lost some fish? If so, you may not be able to stop the infection fast enough. Do you have the ability to dip and move the fish to a clean tank? That would buy you some time.

Jay

 

[blaxsun]

Being in Canada leaves you at a disadvantage in getting fish medications. Polyp Lab Medic is a peroxide salt. In theory, it should work (hydrogen peroxide has been used to treat velvet in labs). However, in practice it doesn't always work out. It seems from your lost that you've already lost some fish? If so, you may not be able to stop the infection fast enough. Do you have the ability to dip and move the fish to a clean tank? That would buy you some time.

Yes, six in very short order (24-72 hours). A chromis, two manadrin dragonets, two dottybacks and the original suspect, a juvenile emperor angel (died today). There are 3-4 more that display varying degrees of illness (two angels, a tang and clownfish), but they’re all active and eating well.

Unfortunately I was caught completely off guard, as this was a new setup (<3 months old) and the 4 new additions were quarantined/medicated by my LFS over a period of weeks - and I was led to believe this would be sufficient. Apparently not. I’m now in the process of researching and setting up my own observation/quarantine system, but it’s going to take at least a few days and I’m not sure that it will go online in time to make a difference at this point.

Hopefully the Polyp Lab Medic will help. Thanks for your suggestions and feedback.