Ich or Velvet?

[trexodore]

I have had this purple tang for about 2 months now and sometimes he develops a few white spots on him but they are gone the next day or two. The skunk cleaner shrimp works on him at night and I have always attributed it to that. Recently the ammonia spiked in my tank a little bit to .5 and the next day (today) he had quite a few spots on him more than have ever been and the tomini tang has a few. I already did a water change and got the ammonia back to 0. Ich or velvet?

I started soaking food in brightwell Vitamarin-M and ordered a UV sterilizer but it won't be here until monday. I have Metroplex and Focus on hand I was going to soak food in overnight. I am honestly not sure how I would catch him to put in QT I would need a trap for sure.

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

I can only kinda see it - it appears from what i can see to be ich

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

#fishmedics

 

[SamsReef]

Seems like ich. Velvet comes the whole body

 

[Jekyl]

Have some white light photos or video? Is the fish eating and breathing normally?

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

And if it is ich - its in your tank now anyway.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I couldn’t see much until the last pic, that’s ich.
Metroplex soaked food won’t work, you would have no idea as to the dose. If you make up a gel food that has 0.50% metro in it, that’s the proper dose. Trouble is, oral meds don’t work well on external parasites.
You may end up needing to treat the fish in a QT….
Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have had this purple tang for about 2 months now and sometimes he develops a few white spots on him but they are gone the next day or two. The skunk cleaner shrimp works on him at night and I have always attributed it to that. Recently the ammonia spiked in my tank a little bit to .5 and the next day (today) he had quite a few spots on him more than have ever been and the tomini tang has a few. I already did a water change and got the ammonia back to 0. Ich or velvet?

I started soaking food in brightwell Vitamarin-M and ordered a UV sterilizer but it won't be here until monday. I have Metroplex and Focus on hand I was going to soak food in overnight. I am honestly not sure how I would catch him to put in QT I would need a trap for sure.

this is cryptocaryon which is marine ich. This needs to be treated in quarantine at your soonest. Best treatment would be coppersafe or general cure with coppersafe my choice at therapuetic level 2.25-2.5 monitored with a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna brand, not Api
Also monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit during treatment and would not be a bad idea to add an air stone for added oxygen during treatment
You will also need to leave display tank FishLess (Fallow) for at least 6-8 weeks to assure the cysts and trophants have completed their life cycle without a host and have died off

 

[trexodore]

Have some white light photos or video? Is the fish eating and breathing normally?

I can take more photos later if needed but yes the fish is eating and breathing normally.

 

[trexodore]

this is cryptocaryon which is marine ich. This needs to be treated in quarantine at your soonest. Best treatment would be coppersafe or general cure with coppersafe my choice at therapuetic level 2.25-2.5 monitored with a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna brand, not Api
Also monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit during treatment and would not be a bad idea to add an air stone for added oxygen during treatment
You will also need to leave display tank FishLess (Fallow) for at least 6-8 weeks to assure the cysts and trophants have completed their life cycle without a host and have died off

do you have any suggestions for catching the fish? I'd like to treat the 3 tangs in there and i have an extra 10g and 20g for this occasion. going fallow isn't really an option though I would essentially have to tear the tank down to get the rest of the fish out there's quite a few and many are cave dwellers that just go into a piece of base rock in my aquascape. hopefully treating the tangs and getting the UV on there on Monday will be enough to manage it in the tank.

some have said fish traps and a mirror but all the fish traps i've seen online are either too small or like $100 which is outrageous. thanks for your help!!

 

[trexodore]

I couldn’t see much until the last pic, that’s ich.
Metroplex soaked food won’t work, you would have no idea as to the dose. If you make up a gel food that has 0.50% metro in it, that’s the proper dose. Trouble is, oral meds don’t work well on external parasites.
You may end up needing to treat the fish in a QT….
Jay

good point on the external parasites I didn't even think of that

 

[vetteguy53081]

do you have any suggestions for catching the fish? I'd like to treat the 3 tangs in there and i have an extra 10g and 20g for this occasion. going fallow isn't really an option though I would essentially have to tear the tank down to get the rest of the fish out there's quite a few and many are cave dwellers that just go into a piece of base rock in my aquascape. hopefully treating the tangs and getting the UV on there on Monday will be enough to manage it in the tank.

some have said fish traps and a mirror but all the fish traps i've seen online are either too small or like $100 which is outrageous. thanks for your help!!

I always use a fish trap with success. I bait with their favorite food and let them go in on day 1 and eat and gain trust with trap. Thereafter, I wait for them to go in and let the door go and trap them

 

[trexodore]

I always use a fish trap with success. I bait with their favorite food and let them go in on day 1 and eat and gain trust with trap. Thereafter, I wait for them to go in and let the door go and trap them

ok and based on this article from @Humblefish fish he's saying coppersafe at 2ppm so should i do that or 2.25-2.5ppm because that seems like a big difference?

Copper treatment

EDIT: Taking the Hanna copper checker's margin of error into consideration, we are now recommending 2.2-2.3 ppm for Copper Power. This ensures that the copper level is "just right" i.e. not too high, not too low. (y) Copper treatment (updated 5-16-2023) What It Treats: Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon...

humble.fish

also, would it be ok to do a 5 min FW dip before going into QT tank or would that be too harsh on him already being sick?

found this video for a DIY I can make with some egg crate I have lying around for anyone following.

 

[vetteguy53081]

ok and based on this article from @Humblefish fish he's saying coppersafe at 2ppm so should i do that or 2.25-2.5ppm because that seems like a big difference?

Copper treatment

EDIT: Taking the Hanna copper checker's margin of error into consideration, we are now recommending 2.2-2.3 ppm for Copper Power. This ensures that the copper level is "just right" i.e. not too high, not too low. (y) Copper treatment (updated 5-16-2023) What It Treats: Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon...

humble.fish

also, would it be ok to do a 5 min FW dip before going into QT tank or would that be too harsh on him already being sick?

found this video for a DIY I can make with some egg crate I have lying around for anyone following.

It needs to be treated in quarantine at your soonest. Best treatment would be coppersafe or general cure with coppersafe my choice at therapuetic level 2.25-2.5 monitored with a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna brand, not Api
Also monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit during treatment and would not be a bad idea to add an air stone for added oxygen during treatment
You will also need to leave display tank FishLess (Fallow) for at least 6-8 weeks to assure the cysts and trophants have completed their life cycle without a host and have died off

 

[trexodore]

It needs to be treated in quarantine at your soonest. Best treatment would be coppersafe or general cure with coppersafe my choice at therapuetic level 2.25-2.5 monitored with a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna brand, not Api
Also monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit during treatment and would not be a bad idea to add an air stone for added oxygen during treatment
You will also need to leave display tank FishLess (Fallow) for at least 6-8 weeks to assure the cysts and trophants have completed their life cycle without a host and have died off

not sure if that was a macro or what happened there but I found an updated chelated copper recommendation for anyone following https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/new-recommendation-for-chelated-copper.6796/

 

[vetteguy53081]

not sure if that was a macro or what happened there but I found an updated chelated copper recommendation for anyone following https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/new-recommendation-for-chelated-copper.6796/

You DONT want to expose this fish to other forms of copper. If youre going to work with Humblefish, please do but to jump between sites is countering what recommendations you are given.
You have a choice of how you want to proceed with Your own livestock, but not sure why you are asking for help yet seeking your own analogy elsewhere.
Best of luck figuring this out.

 

[trexodore]

You DONT want to expose this fish to other forms of copper. If youre going to work with Humblefish, please do but to jump between sites is countering what recommendations you are given.
You have a choice of how you want to proceed with Your own livestock, but not sure why you are asking for help yet seeking your own analogy elsewhere.
Best of luck figuring this out.

sorry for the confusion here, i greatly appreciate your advice!! I'm asking about safe levels for coppersafe (chelated copper) specifically because your recommendation is the highest I've seen and just asked why that was. It looks like the manufacturer's recommendation is 2ppm but if you've successfully used 2.25-2.5ppm with coppersafe that's excellent news for me and will happily do that as I would assume it would more effectively kill parasites than at a lower level.

 

[MnFish1]

ok and based on this article from @Humblefish fish he's saying coppersafe at 2ppm so should i do that or 2.25-2.5ppm because that seems like a big difference?

Copper treatment

EDIT: Taking the Hanna copper checker's margin of error into consideration, we are now recommending 2.2-2.3 ppm for Copper Power. This ensures that the copper level is "just right" i.e. not too high, not too low. (y) Copper treatment (updated 5-16-2023) What It Treats: Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon...

humble.fish

also, would it be ok to do a 5 min FW dip before going into QT tank or would that be too harsh on him already being sick?

found this video for a DIY I can make with some egg crate I have lying around for anyone following.

I would suggest you treat all of your fish - with copper per the recommendations already given - and leave the tank fallow for 60 days. Do you have coral or invertebrates in your tank? If so - you cannot use copper in your display. One product you could try is Ruby Reef Rally Pro - which supposedly works for velvet and external parasites - and can be used in the display tank

PS this would ONLY be if you cannot remove all of your fish from your display tank. If you do not treat all of them - there is a high likelihood that the fish will become re-infected when put back in the tank

 

[MnFish1]

sorry for the confusion here, i greatly appreciate your advice!! I'm asking about safe levels for coppersafe (chelated copper) specifically because your recommendation is the highest I've seen and just asked why that was. It looks like the manufacturer's recommendation is 2ppm but if you've successfully used 2.25-2.5ppm with coppersafe that's excellent news for me and will happily do that as I would assume it would more effectively kill parasites than at a lower level.

You can safely dose up to 2.5. However, just be careful that you do not over-dose.

 

[trexodore]

I would suggest you treat all of your fish - with copper per the recommendations already given - and leave the tank fallow for 60 days. Do you have coral or invertebrates in your tank? If so - you cannot use copper in your display. One product you could try is Ruby Reef Rally Pro - which supposedly works for velvet and external parasites - and can be used in the display tank

PS this would ONLY be if you cannot remove all of your fish from your display tank. If you do not treat all of them - there is a high likelihood that the fish will become re-infected when put back in the tank

yeah I don't really see taking all of the fish out as a possibility unfortunately. though by the time the tangs go back in the UV will have been running on the DT for 2 weeks

You can safely dose up to 2.5. However, just be careful that you do not over-dose.

thanks yeah I think I'm going to drop them in at 2ppm and increase to 2.25 over 24 hours and make sure there's no adverse reactions then go up to ~2.4