Ich, Velvet or What?

[FlaFishNerd]

I got an awesome Achilles and within days he started looking bad. I got him into QT and none of the other fish in the DT (yeah I know) are showing any signs or issues but the Achilles is bad. I don't know if it's ich, velvet or what. Can anyone help? I've had him in Coppersafe for 4 days but he was in the DT for two weeks so he's had this a while but still eats well. The only reason I'm thinking velvet is the number of spots on him and the MP40 surfing he seems to have taken up.

My apologies for the bad pics but the QT lighting is not that good so I scooped him out for pics also.

Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to lose him!

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Sitting the powerhead screams velvet, he looks terrible. Is he currently in therapeutic copper?

 

[FlaFishNerd]

Yes using coppersafe but wondering if that’s the best thing. Any ideas? He’s doing well but can’t seem to kick this!

 

[FlaFishNerd]

Yes using coppersafe but wondering if that’s the best thing. Any ideas? He’s doing well but can’t seem to kick this!

 

[Maritimer]

Great writeup on velvet here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/#post-2499399

~Bruce

 

[Big G]

+1 ^^^ to the link posted by @Maritimer.

Looks like your tang has developed a bacterial infection. Highly suggest a 90 minute bath in Ruby Reef Rally and then treat with a wide spectrum antibiotic: Kanaplex or Furan2 or NFG (preferred)

 

[ccombs]

+1 ^^^ to the link posted by @Maritimer.

Looks like your tang has developed a bacterial infection. Highly suggest a 90 minute bath in Ruby Reef Rally and then treat with a wide spectrum antibiotic: Kanaplex or Furan2 or NFG (preferred)

@ngoodermuth has had a lot of luck with RRR, she can give you great advice on it. Be sure to match temp and aerate well.

 

[FlaFishNerd]

Good advice and thanks! What is nfg? I’ll get it but can’t figure out what it is

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Good advice and thanks! What is nfg? I’ll get it but can’t figure out what it is

Nitrofuracin green

 

[ngoodermuth]

Are you running any antibiotics along with the copper? I would start Kanaplex at the very least, can add furan-2 as well as long as you have lots of aeration (airstone and powerhead pointed at the surface)

I also would do the ruby reef rally bath. If you can’t find rally, API fungus cure can work in a pinch as well (acriflavine is the ingredient you are looking for) 90-minute temp-controlled bath, aerated both before and during the bath.

 

[FlaFishNerd]

Are you running any antibiotics along with the copper? I would start Kanaplex at the very least, can add furan-2 as well as long as you have lots of aeration (airstone and powerhead pointed at the surface)

I also would do the ruby reef rally bath. If you can’t find rally, API fungus cure can work in a pinch as well (acriflavine is the ingredient you are looking for) 90-minute temp-controlled bath, aerated both before and during the bath.

Nope, just copper right now but this is perfect. I will call around and find all this today and start tonight. this really helps because it ties everything together! A few questions:
1. Can I do copper, Kanaplex, Furan-2 and Ruby Reef Rally bath all at once? I think I can get them all today but not sure if that would overwhelm the little guy.
2. Is there a length of time for each of these (except I know the RRR is 90 minutes). Is the RRR just a one time thing?
3. I'm always struggling to get keep ammonia under control in my QT. Any tips/tricks? I had him in QT for four days and had ammonia over 2.0 yesterday and had to do a HUGE water change. It's one reason I'm so bad about qt...

Thanks for all the help and tying things together!

 

[ngoodermuth]

Yep, the ruby reef rally bath is a one-time thing (hopefully) it just gives you a head-start to give the antibiotics time to start working. It’s pretty mild on fish, it would be fine to do the bath today and start the antibiotics. Should not be overwhelming.

For ammonia with copper, unfortunately your best bet is going to be waterchanges and biospira (or similar bacteria in a bottle product) Luckily, when using the antibiotics it’s good to do a water change before each dose (every 48 hours) so that should help keep ammonia down as well. It’s a pain in the butt (I’ve been there) but at least it’s only for 10-14 days...

Just make sure you are dosing the copper into the bucket before it hits the tank. You don’t want the level dipping below therapeutic and the “catching up” after... especially with velvet. Just opens up a window of opportunity to re-attach to the fish... and copper won’t kill them while attached, only in the free-swimming stage.

 

[4FordFamily]

I am betting ich, velvet, and now a bacterial infection. Achilles tangs are immensely fragile and susceptible to parasites. If he survives, you'll need to remove and treat all fish and run the tank 76 days to keep him.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I am betting ich, velvet, and now a bacterial infection. Achilles tangs are immensely fragile and susceptible to parasites. If he survives, you'll need to remove and treat all fish and run the tank fallow (fishless) for 76 days to keep him.

+1

 

[FlaFishNerd]

Okay so I think I’m getting this all down. Hopefully last question... how long do I do all of this? Sounds like the RRR is one time and the antibiotics is 10-14 days (I’ll do 14). How long on the coppersafe?

 

[ngoodermuth]

Okay so I think I’m getting this all down. Hopefully last question... how long do I do all of this? Sounds like the RRR is one time and the antibiotics is 10-14 days (I’ll do 14). How long on the coppersafe?

If only using one QT, copper is 30 days. If you have a second QT available, can do 14 days of copper with the antibiotics and then transfer to a second non-medicated tank for observation.

 

[FlaFishNerd]

Good deal! I got furan-2 and rally today so it’s bath time then meds and copper for 14 days. I’ve got a second tank so 14 days in the meds the transfer to the second tank! Thanks for all the help! I’ll post pics of progress!

 

[ReefHog]

Yep, the ruby reef rally bath is a one-time thing (hopefully) it just gives you a head-start to give the antibiotics time to start working. It’s pretty mild on fish, it would be fine to do the bath today and start the antibiotics. Should not be overwhelming.

After my recent Velvet outbreak I was overwhelmed with medication information and techniques. I'm now in the process of creating my Medication cheat sheet this week. Just to be clear, The RRR bath is in a separate container (5g bucket) then transfer to QT/HT for copper, antibiotic etc treatment. Correct?

 

[ngoodermuth]

After my recent Velvet outbreak I was overwhelmed with medication information and techniques. I'm now in the process of creating my Medication cheat sheet this week. Just to be clear, The RRR bath is in a separate container (5g bucket) then transfer to QT/HT for copper, antibiotic etc treatment. Correct?

Yes that’s right. Make sure the RRR bath is temp-controlled with a small heater and oxygenated with an airline, both before (I usually wait 20-30 minutes while it aerates and gets to temp) and during the 90-minute bath.

 

[FlaFishNerd]

Bath is all done - 90 minutes and when I put him back in the qt which now has coppersafe and furan-2 I drop a few pellets in and he starts eating like crazy.

So it’s just a waiting game now, right? Is the copper and furan-2 all I do?