Please Help! Came home from work and fish is covered...

[Colorz]

TIA!!! Flame angel was perfect as I left for work today, then came home and was shocked!!! After 50 pics, this is the best I could get of her to show you. Not sure if it's ich or velvet. Did notice my shrimp all over the angel cleaning which got my attention as soon as I walked in the door as shed never let him do that before.


Haven't had SW in 25 years, just got back into reefing 4 months ago and in freak out mode of course!

28gl AIO nano
After 2 months, added 2 baby clown fish
3 weeks later, CUC of 3 tiny red legged hermits, 2 margarita snails

3 weeks later,Skunk cleaner shrimp

Almost 3 weeks ago...Flame Angel!

Please help identify if pics are good enough to tell which it is...AND...if its ok to start treating tank immediately w the shrimp, hermits and snails in there as well.

Appreciate y'all so so much!!!!!!

 

[Taiyaki.Visuals]

Looks like ich to me?

 

[mehaffydr]

If its Ich you need to treat with copper which will kill the inverts. You need to get fish into separate tank from your main display. Do you have a quarantine tank? just do a search and you will find tons of helpful info on this.
@ReefSquad

 

[jaganshi066]

I can’t tell whether it’s ich or velvet but either way you should treat it. Poor guy

 

[mehaffydr]

If its Velvet you should see very heavy breathing.

 

[jaganshi066]

Yea but treat him with copper. Maybe @Jay Hemdal can help clarify and suggest what to do? He always helps me

 

[TheDragonsReef]

100% velvet. All your fish need qt and copper asap

 

[jaganshi066]

100% velvet. All your fish need qt and copper asap

I thought so cause ich are more spread out and more salt like, but I would get them in copper quickly. I know a lot of people use copper power but cupramine has never let me down. Never lost a fish with it!

 

[JoannaCora]

Agree with velvet, progresses more quickly than ich. Make sure to be thorough in setting up your quarantine, put used filter media in a HOB filter along with some seachem purigen or similar (helps with ammonia in an otherwise barren environment, does not absorb copper). Use a tank big enough that it won’t stress your fish more than they already will be.
Had to do this myself a few months ago (for ich) and spent 2x the money buying everything at the LFS vs. getting it from amazon, now I know to keep extra everything on hand at all times (no offense LFS). Luckily my afflicted survived and are happily back in the display tank.

Whatever you do and no matter what happens don’t let this discourage you! We all encounter set backs, and it happening early in the return to the hobby can be a bit devastating I know.

 

[Colorz]

Ok, in few months I'm setting up a 75gl and have a big tub of live rock w heater, sponge filter and 1 emerald crab to prepare for the tank.

I have live rock in the 28nano w the invertebrates... Should I remove the live rock ALONG w the invertebrates into the tub or is the live rock ok to stay in the tank rhat I'll treat w copper for the sick fish and my 2 clowns?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

TIA!!! Flame angel was perfect as I left for work today, then came home and was shocked!!! After 50 pics, this is the best I could get of her to show you. Not sure if it's ich or velvet. Did notice my shrimp all over the angel cleaning which got my attention as soon as I walked in the door as shed never let him do that before.


Haven't had SW in 25 years, just got back into reefing 4 months ago and in freak out mode of course!

28gl AIO nano
After 2 months, added 2 baby clown fish
3 weeks later, CUC of 3 tiny red legged hermits, 2 margarita snails

3 weeks later,Skunk cleaner shrimp

Almost 3 weeks ago...Flame Angel!

Please help identify if pics are good enough to tell which it is...AND...if its ok to start treating tank immediately w the shrimp, hermits and snails in there as well.

Appreciate y'all so so much!!!!!!

Looks like ich to me. If the fish is breathing faster than around 120 bpm, and is hovering in the water flow from a pump, it is velvet. If the fish is breathing more normally, and still eating, then it is ich. Either way, the treatment is unfortunately, to move all of the fish to a treatment tank and start a full dose of copper right away, testing with a good test kit, or a Hanna copper checker.
To measure the breathing rate, try counting the gill beats for 15 seconds and multiply by four to get beats per minute. I find that capturing the fish on video and then counting works best - you can pause and restart the video until you get a good count.

Jay

 

[JoannaCora]

Ok, in few months I'm setting up a 75gl and have a big tub of live rock w heater, sponge filter and 1 emerald crab to prepare for the tank.

I have live rock in the 28nano w the invertebrates... Should I remove the live rock ALONG w the invertebrates into the tub or is the live rock ok to stay in the tank rhat I'll treat w copper for the sick fish and my 2 clowns?

You should still look up a guide on setting up a quarantine for copper in addition to the information provided here.

No live rock (it leaches the copper and releases later). Your fish will need to be treated for up to 8 weeks in an otherwise empty tank. It’s not an easy one and done dosing process.

 

[ASIN28]

If it’s velvet it’s a very fast killer, you should if possible immediately remove all your fish to a QT tank and start copper. I wouldn’t put copper into the display because you will have more issues later down the road

 

[Tamberav]

Ok, in few months I'm setting up a 75gl and have a big tub of live rock w heater, sponge filter and 1 emerald crab to prepare for the tank.

I have live rock in the 28nano w the invertebrates... Should I remove the live rock ALONG w the invertebrates into the tub or is the live rock ok to stay in the tank rhat I'll treat w copper for the sick fish and my 2 clowns?

remove the fish to a new tank. Dose biospira to help get bacteria in there. Do not add live rock unless you don’t mind throwing it away after.

 

[mehaffydr]

The copper will saturate your live rock and if you then use that live rock in a reef with Inverts the copper leaching out will kill them. i actually do have some small pieces of live rock in my Quarantine for bacteria but they will never go into a display.

 

[Surf985]

I had a similar situation when I first started. If you plan to keep coral and inverts in the display, your best bet is probably to let it sit fallow (AKA no fish at all). Leave the fish quarantined separately where you can medicate them and separate the others from the angel (I used a small 5 gallon cheap tank for my hospital/quarantine tank). Ich and velvet should die off without a host after about 2-3 months, so your display will be back safe without having to treat it with anything potentially damaging.

As for the fish, copper is probably the most aggressive approach, so if it's getting bad fast, it may be worth it. I typically treat all my new fish with methylene blue and prazipro now, so that may be a good temp treatment for the rest of them to try and kill off any parasites that may be in beginning phases of spreading to the other inhabitants (fish, not inverts or corals - those should be fine from ich or velvet!).

While it's not the strictest quarantine, even a few days of simple treatment and observation have made a huge difference in avoiding a repeat breakdown. Hope this helps!

 

[Conrad Noto]

100% velvet. All your fish need qt and copper asap

I agree.

 

[Colorz]

Update......

Moved Angel & 2 clowns to QT, medicating and she's looking wayyy better already! Thank you all HEAPS for helping me with my 1st emergency!!!!!!

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Update......

Moved Angel & 2 clowns to QT, medicating and she's looking wayyy better already! Thank you all HEAPS for helping me with my 1st emergency!!!!!!

I am a week into qt from a velvet outbreak on my first tank. It sucks man.

 

[Colorz]

I am a week into qt from a velvet outbreak on my first tank. It sucks man.

Suuuuuucks indeed!!!! Good luck!!