Marine Velvet or Ich? *PICS*

[Youngster Dan]

That sucks, good luck with the treatment. This hobby can sure turn stressful sometimes eh?

[apex82]

Originally Posted by Youngster Dan

That sucks, good luck with the treatment. This hobby can sure turn stressful sometimes eh?

Ya... lost the butterfly and coral beauty overnight in the hospital tank Trigger is going to go soon as well... I am using coppersafe with the correct dosage and reading on the test kit. I just don't get it... I made sure I did a proper 5 minute fw dip (temp +ph + aeration) and put them in clean tank with pvc pipes, heater at 78-80, aquaclear filter and two powerheads. Only thing is I dont have much surface agitation because I thought the aquaclear took care of that? I also used a dechlorinator when preparing the saltwater a few days ago... Stress is an understatement, they have taken over my life the past 2 weeks...

Can ich still look like this in its worst stage?

[fishoholic]

That is velvet. The problem with velvet is that it looks like ich for the 1st week and a bit the fish get it, and by the time you figure out that it's velvet it's usually to late to save the fish with treatment. When I had it I started with 34 fish and ended up only being able to save 8 fish

Here's a link to thread I started when I was dealing with velvet.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=51938

[apex82]

I took a look at your thread and pics.. .it does look very similar. What a f'd up parasite! Do you think I should try another fw dip? He definately wont eat and is on his last legs... not sure if this would send him over the edge or possibly help him out... He also has lots of white scabs coming off skin... kinda like after a sunburn and your skin is peeling.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by apex82

I took a look at your thread and pics.. .it does look very similar. What a f'd up parasite! Do you think I should try another fw dip? He definately wont eat and is on his last legs... not sure if this would send him over the edge or possibly help him out... He also has lots of white scabs coming off skin... kinda like after a sunburn and your skin is peeling.

FW dips definitely helped my fish, but the copper treatment was what cured the ones I could save. My sohal had part of his face peel off, it looked awful but somehow he survived the velvet.

Also this disease stays in the display tank for weeks after the fish have been removed. It's very important that you leave the display fishless for a minimum of 6 weeks before adding any new fish, or the new fish could get velvet. I left my tanks empty for 8 weeks just to be on the safe side.

[apex82]

Well its officically velvet... Had to leave for the weekend to go to Van and came back to my two clowns and blenny dead... It has now claimed:
2 x chromis
2 x clownfish
2 x coral beauty
1 x ignitus anthias
Lawnmower blenny
Blue throat trigger
Bannerfish

Resetting up the quarantine tomorrow WITHOUT using dechlorinator for the remaining 2 chromis, flame hawk and mandarin

Display tank will go fishless for 8 weeks to make sure the parasite is dead and all new fish will go through quarantine before being added...

I just feel like throwing in the towel at times... fn brutal