Not ick? Velvet?

[Chrisz]

I’m not sure anymore what is wrong with my fish, thought Ick but now think it’s velvet. Fish are in hypo 1.009

So are to tell, stuff floating in the tank makes it hard to take pictures

I have Cupramene but I can’t do that with hypo, right?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’m not sure anymore what is wrong with my fish, thought Ick but now think it’s velvet. Fish are in hypo 1.009

So are to tell, stuff floating in the tank makes it hard to take pictures

I have Cupramene but I can’t do that with hypo, right?

This is ich and as you may know, you will need to set up a separate tank for quarantine. Treat with Coppersafe or Copper Power at therapeutic level 2.25-2.5 For a FULL 30 days (do not interrupt this 30 day period) monitored by a reliable Copper Test kit such as Hanna Brand- No API brand. Also monitor Ammonia levels while in quarantine with a reliable test kit and add aeration during treatment using an air stone.
The display tank will have to be kept fishless (FALLOW) for 6-8 weeks to assure the existing parasites go through their life cycle without a host fish and die off
A quarantine tank can be as simple as a starter kit from Walmart which most of the needed essentials or even second hand store.

 

[rocket098]

Or instead of doing that and cutting the fish life expectancy to half you can use a UV Light. Needs to be the larger one 110-120 watt set up at 500-600 gph with pump inside the tank preferably at the bottom. I still do quarantine but just to observe no meds except maybe prozi and fresh water dip. Also I don’t think the pentair uv lights work that good.

 

[rocket098]

Pro pond uv 110 is best uv light I ever used. Last time I got some ich that came in on some urchins. I hook this thing up and you can see the ich numbers dropping off with each ich cycle as the uv destroys their reproduction cycle. Good luck.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Are the fish breathing fast and not eating and hovering in water currents? Is so, that’s most likely velvet and copper is the best treatment for that. Hypo doesn’t work for velvet.
I can’t see the discrete ich trophont spots, but maybe they aren’t showing up well in the pics? With light cases of ich, the fish will still be eating and breathing normally.
UV will not cure velvet, and will not cure moderate to heavy ich infections. It should only be used as one component of ich management.
Jay

 

[Chrisz]

Are the fish breathing fast and not eating and hovering in water currents? Is so, that’s most likely velvet and copper is the best treatment for that. Hypo doesn’t work for velvet.
I can’t see the discrete ich trophont spots, but maybe they aren’t showing up well in the pics? With light cases of ich, the fish will still be eating and breathing normally.
UV will not cure velvet, and will not cure moderate to heavy ich infections. It should only be used as one component of ich management.
Jay

Both fish are eating well, the tang is a pig. Currently both fish look ok and are swimming around good, slime coat looks a little weird, only a few spots on the tang and maybe one on the angel. They won’t stop moving long enough to get a good picture

 

[Jay Hemdal]

How long has the tank been at 1.009?
I wouldn’t run Cupramine with hypo, but people have done it with Coppersafe - I try not to run both at the same time though.
Jay

 

[Chrisz]

How long has the tank been at 1.009?
I wouldn’t run Cupramine with hypo, but people have done it with Coppersafe - I try not to run both at the same time though.
Jay

I just got it there today so not even 8 hours, i’m going to let tank run at 1.009 for the 30 days as long as they don’t get worse. If worse i guess I will half to try cupramine

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I just got it there today so not even 8 hours, i’m going to let tank run at 1.009 for the 30 days as long as they don’t get worse. If worse i guess I will half to try cupramine

Oh! You may not see any real improvement for the first 72 hours, sometimes a bit longer.
Jay

 

[Chrisz]

Question on cleaning equipment used in the ICK tank that I need to use in my non-ick tank. Is wiping and rinsing with fresh water and drying enough? I don’t want ick or velvet in my other tank

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Question on cleaning equipment used in the ICK tank that I need to use in my non-ick tank. Is wiping and rinsing with fresh water and drying enough? I don’t want ick or velvet in my other tank

Soaking in FW for 24 hours and then air drying completely works for protozoans. Neobenedenia fluke eggs are sticky and tougher to kill - bleach solutions work better. 1:10 bleach (plain bleach, no additives). Soak for 30 minutes and rinse REALLY well.
Jay

 

[Weeb]

They won’t stop moving long enough to get a good picture

Try taking a video. A video longer than one minute under white light up close to the fish, showing both sides of the fish would be helpful. You can upload the video to YouTube then post the link to it here.

Just an aside. . .Read through the Fish Nutrition post. You might want to provide supplements for an ill fish, noted in that post.

 

[Chrisz]

Second guessing my salinity, hanna reads 1.009, refractometer reads 1. 010, ICK looks worse, now on the Tang’s eye. Should I reduce salinity more?

Tang’s fins starting too looking a little beat up

Fish are still eating well, NOT hiding at the surface of the tank

 

[rocket098]

Should have done the UV

 

[Chrisz]

Should have done the UV

setting one up today

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Second guessing my salinity, hanna reads 1.009, refractometer reads 1. 010, ICK looks worse, now on the Tang’s eye. Should I reduce salinity more?

Tang’s fins starting too looking a little beat up

Fish are still eating well, NOT hiding at the surface of the tank

Can you post a video of the fish under white light? Discrepancies between testing devices is pretty common - do you have access to a third method to see if there is any consensus?
Siphoning off the surface of the sand at night will remove tomonts which UV will not do. What happens is that the tomonts release theronts which infect the fish. UV only kills theronts, but because these theronts hatch out at night and infect the fish directly, many of them never even pass through the UV.
We should work on getting a firm diagnosis here - I didn’t see trophonts in your first images…

Jay

 

[Chrisz]

Can you post a video of the fish under white light? Discrepancies between testing devices is pretty common - do you have access to a third method to see if there is any consensus?
Siphoning off the surface of the sand at night will remove tomonts which UV will not do. What happens is that the tomonts release theronts which infect the fish. UV only kills theronts, but because these theronts hatch out at night and infect the fish directly, many of them never even pass through the UV.
We should work on getting a firm diagnosis here - I didn’t see trophonts in your first images…

Jay

will do

 

[rocket098]

Not to discredit Jay’s method which obviously has been around for a while. The issue with that is it’s a lot of work and one slip up and you have ich again in your tank. Also the amount of stress the fish go through is probably the equivalent to doing chemotherapy. The main advantage of uv is it continuously reduces the ich population. What’s left in your tank is a small amount of ich which will actually help your fish become more resistant to ich. Also the ich strain will eventually breed itself out. I believe anywhere from one to four years unless a new strain is introduced. It is very important to make sure the uv wattage is more then adequate to do the job. Everything I have suggested is from personal experience. I can drop an ich infected fish in my tank right now and I know my fish have enough resistance to it that a major outbreak will not occur. How many sterile full quarantine guys can say that. I do encourage an observation tank to initially observe the fish. Hope you figure out what best works for you.

 

[Weeb]

hanna reads 1.009, refractometer reads 1. 010

Both devices need calibration. Best to calibrate each before comparing their results.

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Some research supports the hypothesis that ornamental marine fishes can develop an immunity to Cryptocaryon irritans (Marine Ich) lasting about 6 months (Burgess 1992; Burgess and Matthews 1995). Immunity doesn't last even after it was achieved.

In theory, it would seem possible for an ornamental marine fish to obtain immunity from any parasite. It requires pristine water quality, the best foods like found in the Fish Nutrition post (plus use of regular supplements as recommended in that post) and the absence of any other stress sources (e.g., tankmate issues).

But let’s say a community fish does reach immunity. The fish that aren’t immune will play host to the/a parasite. Then too, how long would such immunity last?

It sometimes happens to think a fish is immune when in fact it has a different disease. A proper diagnosis is very important.

I have always quantined my fish before adding to my DT system. I also had a UV in the system. I always thought UV was a means to manage Marine Ich, rather than to cure it.

 

[rocket098]

Glad you found a method that works for you. There are multiple ways to get to a tank that is not at a high risk of fish loss due to disease or parasites. I think I have outlined a method that I found to work for me. Just trying to share that with others not taking away from your method