Possibly velvet? Or "just" ich?

[mard]

I'm looking for some verification or, more importantly, proper identification.
Tank Parameters
DT: 75 gal
Temp: 78
pH: 8.27
Salinity: 1.025
Alk: 8.1 dhk
NO3: 3 ppm
PO4: 0.086 ppm
Ca: 425 ppm
Mg: 1340 ppm

The last thing to be added to the tank (fish or coral) is the Flame Angel and that was a month ago. Everything has been acting fine and I haven't really noticed anything thing until today.
My untrained eye and uneducated guess is that this unfortunately velvet.
(Due to large number, small size, and "dusty" appearance)

I know I should be QT-ing them asap (I'm working on that and I already have some copper to add). From what else I have read I should QT every fish in the tank. But I don't have that sort of QT space.
I've had UV installed for about 6 months now, but it was setup for algae. I have just now slowed to flow to better handle protozoa, though I'm not sure how much help that will be at this point.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The primary diagnosis for Amyloodinium / velvet is rapid breathing. You may not see spots until later. The fish gasp, may swim into currents and die pretty quickly. With Cryptocaryon, the fish will breath normally and still eat, until the infection gets really severe. With ich, the spots are there from day one.
Copper is the treatment of choice in either case. The problem is that it can take over three days for copper to work, and if you don’t act quickly, they won’t have that much time, especially with velvet.
Jay

 

[mard]

Thanks @Jay Hemdal
They aren't really breathing rapidly and they have been eating normally.
I'm prepping the QT at this very moment. My plan is to FWD and QT the two which are showing the most spots (the Kole tang and flame angel). But my next biggest concern is that some of the other fish (e.g. yellow tang and bellus angel) are also infected and will need to be QT soon too. But I don't have enough QT space for all of them.

Hopefully this is "just" ich and they can all battle through the tough times and I can start better ich management.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks @Jay Hemdal
They aren't really breathing rapidly and they have been eating normally.
I'm prepping the QT at this very moment. My plan is to FWD and QT the two which are showing the most spots (the Kole tang and flame angle). But my next biggest concern is that some of the other fish (e.g. yellow tang and bellus angle) are also infected and will need to be QT soon too. But I don't have enough QT space for all of them.

Hopefully this is "just" ich and they can all battle through the tough times and I can start better ich management.

I would diagnose this as ich based on that information. However, you mentioned ich management. That is really difficult when the number of trophonts on a given fish reach a certain level. The parasite reproduces in an exponential fashion. When the number of spots is around 100 to 200 (or so) the number of offspring produced is so high that the fish are overwhelmed. Ich management relies on limiting growth, often through lowering stress levels. The trouble is, swarming theronts, in huge numbers, itself is stressful, and that is where ich management breaks down. I can't tell you for certain, but it does look to me that your fish are past that point now, and all need to be treated and the tank left empty of fish for a fallow period. If you don't have room for them all, all I can suggest is pick and choose which ones you treat. Don't just choose the sickest ones - copper can take days to start to work, and you may lose them anyway. Trying to save the lightly infected ones might be a better strategy. Sorry!

Jay

 

[Cell]

Try to find a free or cheap tank or two from your local forum or craigslist perhaps. Or you can get a 10-20G setup for around $50 from Petco that would work for QT.

 

[mard]

I am fairly certain it's actually velvet now.

Before I started trying to catch the flame angel and Kole tang to get them into the QT, I noticed the Kole tang was staying in "the shade" and the angel was doing a lot of swimming into the flow. Then yesterday I noticed the bellus angel was doing a lot of swimming into the flow and the yellow tang was hiding in "the shade", breathing rapidly, and appeared "dusty".

So I think at least my two tangs and two angels have velvet. ;Nailbiting

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I am fairly certain it's actually velvet now.

Before I started trying to catch the flame angel and Kole tang to get them into the QT, I noticed the Kole tang was staying in "the shade" and the angel was doing a lot of swimming into the flow. Then yesterday I noticed the bellus angel was doing a lot of swimming into the flow and the yellow tang was hiding in "the shade", breathing rapidly, and appeared "dusty".

So I think at least my two tangs and two angels have velvet. ;Nailbiting

Correct, like I said, rapid breathing is the primary symptom for Amyloodinium, velvet. Anything over around 120 gill betas per minutre is an indication of gill disease, and around 180 to 200 is the point where the fish typically expire.

jay