Is this Velvet?

[blitzkragz]

Give it to me straight -- is this velvet?

I had a batch of 8 fish go through 2 weeks of copper, then another week of observation, and then put them in my DT. A day after I put them in, I noticed the coral beauty flashing on the rockwork, then removed it the second day. Here it is (heavy breathing). I did a FW dip, and didn't notice much leftover other some really, really tiny white specs that could have just been dust. I don't see anything that looks like ick. But he is breathing pretty heavy and looks banged up.

I am just petrified that somehow velvet got through and all of the QT work I have done over the last few months might have been for naught. The fish was in the DT for a couple days, although there are no signs at all any of the other fish (it has been around 4 days since it was in the DT)

 

[HotRocks]

Looks like velvet to me. Can be seen best at very beginning of video. The white dusty look along the left side of the fish.

Also breathing is very heavy and fish seems to have limited control as well.

I would start copper ASAP.

 

[blitzkragz]

Looks like velvet to me. Can be seen best at very beginning of video. The white dusty look along the left side of the fish.

Also breathing is very heavy and fish seems to have limited control as well.

I would start copper ASAP.

Thanks for having a look! Copper started. I am trying to think about all of the things I might have done wrong in QT.

So what are the chances of it not having infected the DT? Is it a sure thing I will need to fallow it? It was in there for 2 days (took it out 4 days ago). All of the fish in the DT look perfectly fine.

 

[HotRocks]

Thanks for having a look! Copper started. I am trying to think about all of the things I might have done wrong in QT.

So what are the chances of it not having infected the DT? Is it a sure thing I will need to fallow it? It was in there for 2 days (took it out 4 days ago). All of the fish in the DT look perfectly fine.

What kind of fish are in your DT?

48 hours is definitely a long enough exposure for the parasites to reproduce an begin spreading throughout your tank.

 

[blitzkragz]

What kind of fish are in your DT?

48 hours is definitely a long enough exposure for the parasites to reproduce an begin spreading throughout your tank.

The fish are:
1 hippo tang
1 starry blenny
3 normal firefish
1 purple firefish
7 threadfin cardinals.
3 pajama cardinals
2 bangai cardinals

DT is 12ft, 400 gallons. I have a 120w AquaUV on it, if that might help?

 

[HotRocks]

Use the hippos tang as your gauge keep a close eye on it.

The UV may help control the free swimming population of parasites so you may not see this show up as soon as you would if you weren't running the UV.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Hatch and feed baby brine shrimp to your DT, as a precaution. Supposedly, they eat velvet dinospores like crazy. In either case, the fish will enjoy them and they are pretty nutritious just hatched.

I agree with @HotRocks... the blue tang will likely be the next to show symptoms if velvet.

What type of copper do you use, and how do you measure/what level was held for 14 days? Do you add copper to new water before it goes in the tank during water changes?

It does look like velvet, but could be an off-chance that it is bacterial... lingering after the copper treatment? I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you... that doesn’t sound like a fun tank to go fishing in :(

 

[blitzkragz]

Hatch and feed baby brine shrimp to your DT, as a precaution. Supposedly, they eat velvet dinospores like crazy. In either case, the fish will enjoy them and they are pretty nutritious just hatched.

I agree with @HotRocks... the blue tang will likely be the next to show symptoms if velvet.

What type of copper do you use, and how do you measure/what level was held for 14 days? Do you add copper to new water before it goes in the tank during water changes?

It does look like velvet, but could be an off-chance that it is bacterial... lingering after the copper treatment? I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you... that doesn’t sound like a fun tank to go fishing in :(

Wow I had no idea about the baby brine! I have this awesome/easy hatchery dish on hand and will do just that!

Thanks for the advice on the blue tang, I will watch him like a hawk, but really I am watching them all.

I use Copper Power, when fish arrive they go straight into 1.5 ppm (measured with Hanna), then 1.75 for 2 weeks, then to a sterile tank. I have a dedicated 40g trashcan of water pre-dosed to 1.8 copper that is the only thing I use for QT water changes.

Do you think at some point I should turn the UV off to speed the onset of fish that might already have been exposed so I can decide its time to fallow, or leave it on and wait and see?

The stuff on the coral beauty has changed since yesterday (he has been in copper since then), it is now more prominent. Bacterial or velvet?

 

[Spar]

The new marks look bacterial. Start dosing Furan-2 along with the copper. And whatever else people jump in with recommending.

 

[ngoodermuth]

The new marks look bacterial. Start dosing Furan-2 along with the copper. And whatever else people jump in with recommending.

+1 or maybe even brook [emoji849] which would explain why the copper didn’t treat it initially.

I would definitely add furan-2 and metroplex (for brook), can add in Kanaplex as well for broader coverage.

Also, a 90-minute bath in ruby reef rally (acriflavine) prior to the above treatments will help against both brook and bacterial infections.

 

[blitzkragz]

+1 or maybe even brook [emoji849] which would explain why the copper didn’t treat it initially.

I would definitely add furan-2 and metroplex (for brook), can add in Kanaplex as well for broader coverage.

Also, a 90-minute bath in ruby reef rally (acriflavine) prior to the above treatments will help against both brook and bacterial infections.

Just dosed furan-2! I have some ruby reef rally on hand too, I will give him a bath later today.

The marks aren't new, they were present yesterday and today are more defined, that is the white dusties I thought @HotRocks was referring to? Or was there something else that looked like velvet?

 

[ngoodermuth]

Just dosed furan-2! I have some ruby reef rally on hand too, I will give him a bath later today.

The marks aren't new, they were present yesterday and today are more defined, that is the white dusties I thought @HotRocks was referring to? Or was there something else that looked like velvet?

They might not have been as noticeable in the video, but those white patches in the photos don’t look like velvet. Those are likely bacterial.

 

[Spar]

there is some dusting on the fins, per the photo. that could be velvet, or ich. regardless, putting him through copper and furan-2, etc, is the right move just in case. and keep a close eye on the other fish (in the DT) to make sure nothing like white dusting pops up in the meantime. move fast if it does... aint fun.

 

[blitzkragz]

I tried the rally bath the furan-2 but the coral beauty didn't make it. Thank you for the suggestions though, at least we tried.

The good news is the hippo tang (and everyone else) in the DT still looks pristine, and I have never seen any signs of the flashing the coral beauty exhibited. I also hatched some baby brine and have been "dosing" them, not sure if that is making any difference but the fish seem to like it:)

I am really hoping that it was only bacterial. Is it unusual for a fish to flash because of something bacterial?

 

[ngoodermuth]

Is it unusual for a fish to flash because of something bacterial?

No, it’s not unusual. But, it’s also not unusual for bacterial infections to be secondary to parasites.

 

[blitzkragz]

No, it’s not unusual. But, it’s also not unusual for bacterial infections to be secondary to parasites.

Understood. The coral beauty was about a week out of copper, which my understanding also makes them more susceptible to bacterial infections. So it might have either been that, or I messed up somewhere in the QT process (possible!). I probably should have just watched longer before releasing.

This is my second failed attempt with a coral beauty, the first try it looked pristine and didn't even have any external distress signs, so folks suspected an internal bacterial infection. Both went through QT with a bunch of other fish that made it fine.