Velvet or brooklynella on clownfish

[simonfchr]

Hello. I just got home from weekend (gone Four day) this sunday to fish with a lot of White spots. Yesterday all fish but my clowns and my damselfish died. They are still eating and acting normal but one of the clownfish is almost entirely covered in a white mat. I cant decide which dicease it is so i hope you can help me help my fish.
S

 

[Crabs McJones]

That is most definitely velvet. You'll want to act fast as velvet is a very quick killer. You can freshwater dip your remaining fish to help relieve them of some of the symptoms. But get a qt with some biospira and a hang on back filter and copper power at 2.0 and get them in as fast as possible.
@HotRocks @4FordFamily @Big G @pathot984 any other tips or diagnosis?

 

[simonfchr]

It appears to have a lot of small white dots which makes me think of velvet, but he also has some excess mucus hanging from the fins which makes me think of brook. His fins also looks damaged. The other surviving fish only have a few white dots on them

 

[Katrina71]

I'm so sorry

 

[simonfchr]

Thank you. Will treat for velvet then. Any idea how it can have gotten into the tank? I havent added anything for over three months and quarantine everything that goes into the tank... all those struggles seems to have been a waste of time right now...

 

[vetteguy53081]

velvet. Very accelerated case. To verify it is velvet, you will notice a fine dusting or powdering on the fish made up of many tiny whitish-yellow spots. A fish infected with marine velvet may refuse to eat, hold its fins close to its body, and may scrape itself on rocks in an attempt to dislodge the parasite.
The fish may likely gasp for air and hang out at the tanks surface where the dissolved oxygen content is higher. Usually the gills are affected first and so the first symptom you may notice is increased respiration.
One treatment you can try, especially if only one or two fish are affected, is to give your saltwater fish a freshwater bath. The idea behind this is that the parasites will rapidly absorb lots of water through osmosis. Through the process of osmosis, water moves from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration. Because the marine velvet parasite contains lots of salt, but not much water, this causes the parasite to fill so rapidly with water that it will burst when it is placed in freshwater.
To set up a freshwater bath you add 85% freshwater and 15% water from the aquarium. The temperature and pH must be matched to that in the aquarium. Also remember to use a dechlorinator.
It is possible that your fish may go into shock. Don't leave your fish unattended during a freshwater bath and don't leave your fish in the bath for more than 10 minutes. If your fish is in distress you should remove it sooner than 10 minutes. The fish may lay on its side while in the bath, but if it appears to really be in distress get it out immediately and place it back in the aquarium. Most fish don't last the entire 10 minutes and so be prepared for this.
After the FW bath, you can try Copper sulfate is an effective treatment for marine velvet, however, some clowns don't tolerate copper well. Last option after bath would be a formaldehyde based treatment.

 

[simonfchr]

Also is there any chance that they can survive without the copper treatment? Im not home for the next couple of days and dont like just leaving them in a sterile qt with copper without supervison. Considering they have survived a couple of days longer than the other fish and still eat they dont look too impacted by the parasite. Although i gotta admit that clown looks very infected..

 

[Crabs McJones]

Also is there any chance that they can survive without the copper treatment? Im not home for the next couple of days and dont like just leaving them in a sterile qt with copper without supervison. Considering they have survived a couple of days longer than the other fish and still eat they dont look too impacted by the parasite. Although i gotta admit that clown looks very infected..

No, not a chance. If it was Ich maybe, but velvet is a guaranteed killer.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you. Will treat for velvet then. Any idea how it can have gotten into the tank? I havent added anything for over three months and quarantine everything that goes into the tank... all those struggles seems to have been a waste of time right now...

Marine velvet disease is caused by the Dinoflaggelate organism AKA Amyloodinium ocellatum.
Dinos belong to the kingdom protista which are an odd mix of organisms containing single cells such as Amoeba, and of more interest to reef keepers, Cyryptocarrion irritans which are the cause of marine white spot.

 

[simonfchr]

I will give them a freshwater dip and move them to a qt as soon as i have made enough RO water. Then i will have to see if i can have someone come and monitor the the copper for me until im home again. Thank you for all the quick help! Appreciate it.

 

[BZOFIQ]

...
To set up a freshwater bath you add 85% freshwater and 15% water from the aquarium. The temperature and pH must be matched to that in the aquarium. Also remember to use a dechlorinator.
...

@vetteguy53081

What do you add specifically (your choice) to raise your ph in freshwater bath?

 

[vetteguy53081]

@vetteguy53081

What do you add specifically (your choice) to raise your ph in freshwater bath?

Because of the SHORT amount of time the fish will be in Freshwater, I would not pay attention to ph unless you knowingly have or acidic water in which I would use seachem buffer

 

[BZOFIQ]

Because of the SHORT amount of time the fish will be in Freshwater, I would not pay attention to ph unless you knowingly have or acidic water in which I would use seachem buffer

That's what I thought, just wanted to confirm. Thank you.

 

[vetteguy53081]

@vetteguy53081

What do you add specifically (your choice) to raise your ph in freshwater bath?

Baking soda

 

[fishgirljockey]

Also is there any chance that they can survive without the copper treatment? Im not home for the next couple of days and dont like just leaving them in a sterile qt with copper without supervison. Considering they have survived a couple of days longer than the other fish and still eat they dont look too impacted by the parasite. Although i gotta admit that clown looks very infected..

Yes they can. I just dealt with velvet. I didn’t use copper. I used peroxide baths, methylene baths and kanaplex. I also used Melafix and pimafix. Lastly, formalin.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes they can. I just dealt with velvet. I didn’t use copper. I used peroxide baths, methylene baths and kanaplex. I also used Melafix and pimafix. Lastly, formalin.

Be very careful with this advice.
Melafix and Pimafix are tonics with teak tree oil and not curatives in Saltwater. Velvet is caused by a Dinoflaggelate organism amyloodinium ocellatum and rarely cured by peroxide . Methylene Blue is a healing agent and not a medication and will not address ich or velvet but rather wounds and also destroys bacteria cultures.
Formalin at 37% solution can work if properly measured and dosed or will deplete oxygen and burn the gills of fish. Kanaplex is an antibacterial

 

[fishgirljockey]

Yes they can. I just dealt with velvet. I didn’t use copper. I used peroxide baths, methylene baths and kanaplex. I also used Melafix and pimafix. Lastly, formalin.

Be very careful with this advice.
Melafix and Pimafix are tonics with teak tree oil and not curatives in Saltwater. Velvet is caused by a Dinoflaggelate organism amyloodinium ocellatum and rarely cured by peroxide . Methylene Blue is a healing agent and not a medication and will not address ich or velvet but rather wounds and also destroys bacteria cultures.
Formalin at 37% solution can work if properly measured and dosed or will deplete oxygen and burn the gills of fish. Kanaplex is an antibacterial

My flame Angel is alive because of all these I used. She almost died 20 times. She made. Recovery in 5 days

 

[vetteguy53081]

My flame Angel is alive because of all these I used. She almost died 20 times. She made. Recovery in 5 days

Very glad to hear and glad flame still around but to recommend this NOT a typical protocol and may place others in danger of tank wipeouts. velvet is a fast moving and these are not fast acting agents