Velvet?

Arkayology · Oct 26, 2024

Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Reef
Aquarium water volume: 50g
Filtration type - skimmer, rock, sand, 50 micron filter floss in sump
Lighting- Orphek Natura
How long has the aquarium been established? 2.5 Months

Water quality (be sure to indicate what measurement units you are using, as well as the test kit brand)
Temperature
pH: 7.8
Salinity / specific gravity 1.205 (Milwaukee digital refractometer and confirmed with hand-held)
Ammonia 0 (Salifert)
Nitrite 0 (salifert)
Nitrate 5 (Salifert)
Phosphorus .01-undetectable (Salifert)
Copper N/A
Other tests that have been done (if any)

In-depth information:
Have you lost any fish to this problem yet? (see below) Unclear. I bought 3 fish (Midas Blenny, Exquisite Wrasse, and McCosker Flasher Wrasse) three weeks ago. All fish were swimming around, eating like pigs, then started hiding. Some mild flashing, but not constant. The Midas blenny would dive towards the sand and scratch on it once in awhile and the McCosker would scratch on the rocks (maybe once every hour to two). McCosker died a week ago, then fairy wrasse three/four days ago, then Midas blenny last night. No outward signs of injury, disease, parasites that I could see on any of those three. I inspected the fish when I removed their bodies and did a FW dip and no parasites came off. Yesterday I noticed that the blue cleaner goby has what appears to be velvet or possibly ich. It is being reclusive now. Other fish include two clowns and a yasha goby who appear normal and are eating. Blue cleaner goby is eating some but not as much as usual - he is a fat piggy. No heavy breathing or gasping on any of the deceased fish or current fish.
Are any invertebrates affected? I lost a emerald crab over night, but that might be unrelated. I have been working to up my Ca using the balling method lately and it might not have liked the swing in params as they are going up (measured 250 Ca last night (Salifert) and 300 this morning. Probably not the Ca but I thought I would mention it.

These are the best pics I could get. He is a fast little guy and is hiding a lot in the last day or two. Based on the white film covering the body I may be dealing with Velvet? What do you all think?

Jay Hemdal · Oct 26, 2024

Arkayology said:
Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Reef
Aquarium water volume: 50g
Filtration type - skimmer, rock, sand, 50 micron filter floss in sump
Lighting- Orphek Natura
How long has the aquarium been established? 2.5 Months

Water quality (be sure to indicate what measurement units you are using, as well as the test kit brand)
Temperature
pH: 7.8
Salinity / specific gravity 1.205 (Milwaukee digital refractometer and confirmed with hand-held)
Ammonia 0 (Salifert)
Nitrite 0 (salifert)
Nitrate 5 (Salifert)
Phosphorus .01-undetectable (Salifert)
Copper N/A
Other tests that have been done (if any)

In-depth information:
Have you lost any fish to this problem yet? (see below) Unclear. I bought 3 fish (Midas Blenny, Exquisite Wrasse, and McCosker Flasher Wrasse) three weeks ago. All fish were swimming around, eating like pigs, then started hiding. Some mild flashing, but not constant. The Midas blenny would dive towards the sand and scratch on it once in awhile and the McCosker would scratch on the rocks (maybe once every hour to two). McCosker died a week ago, then fairy wrasse three/four days ago, then Midas blenny last night. No outward signs of injury, disease, parasites that I could see on any of those three. I inspected the fish when I removed their bodies and did a FW dip and no parasites came off. Yesterday I noticed that the blue cleaner goby has what appears to be velvet or possibly ich. It is being reclusive now. Other fish include two clowns and a yasha goby who appear normal and are eating. Blue cleaner goby is eating some but not as much as usual - he is a fat piggy. No heavy breathing or gasping on any of the deceased fish or current fish.
Are any invertebrates affected? I lost a emerald crab over night, but that might be unrelated. I have been working to up my Ca using the balling method lately and it might not have liked the swing in params as they are going up (measured 250 Ca last night (Salifert) and 300 this morning. Probably not the Ca but I thought I would mention it.

These are the best pics I could get. He is a fast little guy and is hiding a lot in the last day or two. Based on the white film covering the body I may be dealing with Velvet? What do you all think?

The neon goby looks like it might have ich. On these fish, the ich trophonts are less distinct than they are on most other fish - thus the sort of milky white coloration around each spot. However, I can't totally rule out Brooklynella, that protozoan causes a more overall skin cloudiness, not limited to spotty areas. I think you can rule out velvet (Amyloodinium) because the fish weren't breathing fast, and the fish loss was strung out over days (velvet kills swiftly). Flukes are another possibility - people do a FW dip and don't see dead flukes, but the reality is that only one species of fluke (Neobenedenia) is visible without using a microscope.

Jay

Arkayology · Oct 27, 2024

Jay Hemdal said:
The neon goby looks like it might have ich. On these fish, the ich trophonts are less distinct than they are on most other fish - thus the sort of milky white coloration around each spot. However, I can't totally rule out Brooklynella, that protozoan causes a more overall skin cloudiness, not limited to spotty areas. I think you can rule out velvet (Amyloodinium) because the fish weren't breathing fast, and the fish loss was strung out over days (velvet kills swiftly). Flukes are another possibility - people do a FW dip and don't see dead flukes, but the reality is that only one species of fluke (Neobenedenia) is visible without using a microscope.

Jay

Thanks for the response! I am going to monitor and see how things go.