One of mi biggest fear seems here...ich?

ahl · Aug 10, 2018

Hello guys,

I posted the same question in a different forum but I do need more opinions given the implications *this is a disclaimer for other users that might have also seen the post there.

I recently noticed a powder like look on my Kole tang and it has all the indications of ich. I do TTM on every fish but decided not to do it about a month ago in a couple of leopard wrasses from LA, that turned out dead in two days anyways. Talk about back luck.

Attached are some pics for validation.

Also, in case it is, I am extremely concerned about how to handle TTM in all the fish w/o them going at each other throat in a much smaller environment and the hosting/qa until fallow is complete. I do not have a similar tank/setup for that. Any tips will be appreciated.

HairyGary · Aug 10, 2018

I'm afraid that looks like Velvet and not ich. TTM will not get rid of velvet. Any other fish in the tank? Only treatment is to pull out all the fish and treat. I'd let tank sit fallow for 76 days.

hdsoftail1065 · Aug 10, 2018

I'm leaning towards velvet. Let's get the experts.

#reefsquad

Brew12 · Aug 10, 2018

I agree, that looks much more like velvet than Ich.

Crabs McJones · Aug 10, 2018

Oh no! I agree with velvet unfortunately

. You'll want to act fast and get everyone into quarantine as velvet is a very very fast killer and let your display sit without fish for 76 to 78 days.
Treating Velvet
Chloroquine Phosphate Guide

HairyGary · Aug 10, 2018

Other may chime in but try reading these threads for further assistance:

Read this (contains pics): https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/

Best treatment protocol for velvet: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/#post-2499437

PSXerholic · Aug 10, 2018

Hi there,
just a simple method that mostly works in all scenarios as long the tank is not crazy out of whack.
Not sure if it works with Velvet as well, but I had no case where sudden ICH wasn't cured asap.

Take Tetra Marine Flakes and soak them in Selcon classic, not the new Selcon Boost!
Soak the flakes for a minute or two and feed the tank and it's inhabitants.
You do that 3-4 times a day or even more and watch the worse looking fish that they still eat that.

The lucky Reefers did see improvements within 2 days and made the fish becoming healthy again within the first week.

Worth a try, isn't it???

-Andre

Crabs McJones · Aug 10, 2018

PSXerholic said:
Hi there,
just a simple method that mostly works in all scenarios as long the tank is not crazy out of whack.
Not sure if it works with Velvet as well, but I had no case where sudden ICH wasn't cured asap.

Take Tetra Marine Flakes and soak them in Selcon classic, not the new Selcon Boost!
Soak the flakes for a minute or two and feed the tank and it's inhabitants.
You do that 3-4 times a day or even more and watch the worse looking fish that they still eat that.

The lucky Reefers did see improvements within 2 days and made the fish becoming healthy again within the first week.

Worth a try, isn't it???

-Andre

Velvet is a very fast killer, the fish will be dead long before that would have a chance to even take effect I'm afraid. The only way is to quarantine and treat with copper or chloroquine phosphate. Velvet kills within a matter of 1 to 4 days

PSXerholic · Aug 10, 2018

Crabs Mcjones said:
Velvet is a very fast killer, the fish will be dead long before that would have a chance to even take effect I'm afraid. The only way is to quarantine and treat with copper or chloroquine phosphate. Velvet kills within a matter of 1 to 4 days

He mentioned he doesn't have any alternative to bring the fish in.
So he need to make a decision what to do, based on risk and value of the fish.

ahl · Aug 10, 2018

oh geez, this is developing quick and it is a bit overwhelming. First emergency.
I can take the fish out and treat it, that I can do (If she'll let me). What I have no idea how to do is to take them all out and do TTM on them or host them. I have a small 10G tank I use for QT but not big enough for all the other fish.
If this is indeed Velvet, then TTM will not be needed and other fish seem to be ok so far. So I may have a few days to figure things out.

Now, last fish that made it to the tank were the two suspicious wrasses and it was over a month ago. If Velvet is so aggressive, how is that the tang is just showing it now? Other than his look, everything else on him seems normal.

PSXerholic · Aug 10, 2018

ahl said:
oh geez, this is developing quick and it is a bit overwhelming. First emergency.
I can take the fish out and treat it, that I can do (If she'll let me). What I have no idea how to do is to take them all out and do TTM on them or host them. I have a small 10G tank I use for QT but not big enough for all the other fish.
If this is indeed Velvet, then TTM will not be needed and other fish seem to be ok so far. So I may have a few days to figure things out.

Now, last fish that made it to the tank were the two suspicious wrasses and it was over a month ago. If Velvet is so aggressive, how is that the tang is just showing it now? Other than his look, everything else on him seems normal.

Post a new current picture for the Velvet experts here!

chipmunkofdoom2 · Aug 10, 2018

ahl said:
Now, last fish that made it to the tank were the two suspicious wrasses and it was over a month ago. If Velvet is so aggressive, how is that the tang is just showing it now? Other than his look, everything else on him seems normal.

Velvet is a fast killer, not necessarily a fast infector. In the link above about velvet, Humblefish recommends a 6 week fishless period if your tank has velvet (that's 42 days). The reason is because the stage of the parasite that can infect fish can hang around that long. By contrast, once a fish has visible velvet, it likely only has hours to days to live if you don't start emergency treatment immediately. That's why we call it aggressive.

Crabs McJones · Aug 10, 2018

ahl said:
oh geez, this is developing quick and it is a bit overwhelming. First emergency.
I can take the fish out and treat it, that I can do (If she'll let me). What I have no idea how to do is to take them all out and do TTM on them or host them. I have a small 10G tank I use for QT but not big enough for all the other fish.
If this is indeed Velvet, then TTM will not be needed and other fish seem to be ok so far. So I may have a few days to figure things out.

Now, last fish that made it to the tank were the two suspicious wrasses and it was over a month ago. If Velvet is so aggressive, how is that the tang is just showing it now? Other than his look, everything else on him seems normal.

If it came in on the wrasses, it may not have been in the infectious stage of its lifecycle yet.

ca1ore · Aug 10, 2018

Hard to say - bad ich looks just like velvet. What other fish do you have, and are they showing symptoms? Either way your best bet is CP if you can find it.

hdsoftail1065 · Aug 10, 2018

I lost all my fish to velvet, twice, the 1 fish that did diplay visual symptoms died and shortly after (about a day) took the rest of my fish. It progressed so fast and took the fish before most of the fish showed any extream visual symptoms. If you have velvet, I'm afraid your other fish have it as well.

hdsoftail1065 · Aug 10, 2018

hdsoftail1065 said:
I lost all my fish to velvet, twice, the 1 fish that did diplay visual symptoms died and shortly after (about a day) took the rest of my fish. It progressed so fast and took the fish before most of the fish showed any extream visual symptoms. If you have velvet, I'm afraid your other fish have it as well.

No expert here, simply sharing my experience with velvet.

ahl · Aug 10, 2018

ca1ore said:
Hard to say - bad ich looks just like velvet. What other fish do you have, and are they showing symptoms? Either way your best bet is CP if you can find it.

Any way to definitely tell? Yes I do have other fish in the tank but none is showing any signs.