Am I dealing with velvet?

[Coogzreef]

So I’ve had this hippo for a little over a week and he had a few spots here and there which to me looked like flukes at first so he’s been in qt with Prazi but this this popped up over night to me it looks like velvet but the fish isn’t breathing rapidly nor at the surface of the tank or staying in the power head flow just sits inside of the big pvc you see most of the day however sometimes he will go lay down under the pvc like you see in the photo I know this is normal for hippos to go and squeeze themselves into things but thought I’d put this photo up just incase. He eats (okay) what I mean by okay is he’s pretty slow to eat luckily he’s in there by himself so there isn’t a hurry to get food but eats nori and rods vege mix also sometimes some brine I soak the nori in garlic and selcon aswell. Any suggestions? Water parameters are pristine atm

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I’ve had this hippo for a little over a week and he had a few spots here and there which to me looked like flukes at first so he’s been in qt with Prazi but this this popped up over night to me it looks like velvet but the fish isn’t breathing rapidly nor at the surface of the tank or staying in the power head flow just sits inside of the big pvc you see most of the day however sometimes he will go lay down under the pvc like you see in the photo I know this is normal for hippos to go and squeeze themselves into things but thought I’d put this photo up just incase. He eats (okay) what I mean by okay is he’s pretty slow to eat luckily he’s in there by himself so there isn’t a hurry to get food but eats nori and rods vege mix also sometimes some brine I soak the nori in garlic and selcon aswell. Any suggestions? Water parameters are pristine atm

Yes- looks that way.
With ich, you can generally count the dots whereas with velvet, it represents the solar system as in the case of your tang. velvet spots on the fish that are much finer than the spots seen in Ich making it harder to catch until in cases too late to treat.
Some behaviors associated with a fish with velvet are :
- Scratching body against hard objects
- Fish is lethargic
- Loss of appetite and weight loss
- Rapid, labored breathing
- Fins clamped against the body
- rapid breathing and mucus around the gills

Fish with velvet will typically stay at the surface of the water, or remain in a position where a steady flow of water is present in the aquarium. As the disease progresses outwards from the gills, the cysts then become visible on the fins and body. Although these cysts may appear as tiny white dots the size of a grain of salt, like the first sign of Saltwater Ich or White Spot Disease, what sets Oodinium apart from other types of ich is that at this point the fish have the appearance of being coated with what looks like a whitish or tan to golden colored, velvet-like film, thus the name Velvet Disease.
Remove fish from main tank and give them a FW dip or bath and then place them into a QT with vigorous aeration provided. Treat the fish in the QT with a copper-based medication. Although many over-the-counter remedies contain the general name as ich or ick treatments, carefully read the box to be sure it is specifically designed to target Oodinium. My choice is coppersafe at 2.25-2.5 therapuetic level at 80 degrees monitored by a reliable test kit (no api brand either)

 

[mfollen]

That’s velvet, act quickly and start elevating copper on the correct pace (and safely!!! By measuring) towards therapeutic levels.

Freshwater dip or hydrogen peroxide dips will help, if done correctly

 

[Coogzreef]

Yes- looks that way.
With ich, you can generally count the dots whereas with velvet, it represents the solar system as in the case of your tang. velvet spots on the fish that are much finer than the spots seen in Ich making it harder to catch until in cases too late to treat.
Some behaviors associated with a fish with velvet are :
- Scratching body against hard objects
- Fish is lethargic
- Loss of appetite and weight loss
- Rapid, labored breathing
- Fins clamped against the body
- rapid breathing and mucus around the gills

Fish with velvet will typically stay at the surface of the water, or remain in a position where a steady flow of water is present in the aquarium. As the disease progresses outwards from the gills, the cysts then become visible on the fins and body. Although these cysts may appear as tiny white dots the size of a grain of salt, like the first sign of Saltwater Ich or White Spot Disease, what sets Oodinium apart from other types of ich is that at this point the fish have the appearance of being coated with what looks like a whitish or tan to golden colored, velvet-like film, thus the name Velvet Disease.
Remove fish from main tank and give them a FW dip or bath and then place them into a QT with vigorous aeration provided. Treat the fish in the QT with a copper-based medication. Although many over-the-counter remedies contain the general name as ich or ick treatments, carefully read the box to be sure it is specifically designed to target Oodinium. My choice is coppersafe at 2.25-2.5 therapuetic level at 80 degrees monitored by a reliable test kit (no api brand either)

That’s velvet, act quickly and start elevating copper on the correct pace (and safely!!! By measuring) towards therapeutic levels.

Freshwater dip or hydrogen peroxide dips will help, if done correctly

There is prazipro in the water currently should I just dose the tank with copper immediately or do i need to get the prazi out?

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Suggest you also get hold of Hydroplex and give him a 10 minute saltwater dip. It will kill the bugs on his body with low stress but the long term treatment will still need to be done - if he survives. Move quickly!

 

[Rickybobby]

Hope it pulls through. Beautiful fish!!

 

[Coogzreef]

Yes- looks that way.
With ich, you can generally count the dots whereas with velvet, it represents the solar system as in the case of your tang. velvet spots on the fish that are much finer than the spots seen in Ich making it harder to catch until in cases too late to treat.
Some behaviors associated with a fish with velvet are :
- Scratching body against hard objects
- Fish is lethargic
- Loss of appetite and weight loss
- Rapid, labored breathing
- Fins clamped against the body
- rapid breathing and mucus around the gills

Fish with velvet will typically stay at the surface of the water, or remain in a position where a steady flow of water is present in the aquarium. As the disease progresses outwards from the gills, the cysts then become visible on the fins and body. Although these cysts may appear as tiny white dots the size of a grain of salt, like the first sign of Saltwater Ich or White Spot Disease, what sets Oodinium apart from other types of ich is that at this point the fish have the appearance of being coated with what looks like a whitish or tan to golden colored, velvet-like film, thus the name Velvet Disease.
Remove fish from main tank and give them a FW dip or bath and then place them into a QT with vigorous aeration provided. Treat the fish in the QT with a copper-based medication. Although many over-the-counter remedies contain the general name as ich or ick treatments, carefully read the box to be sure it is specifically designed to target Oodinium. My choice is coppersafe at 2.25-2.5 therapuetic level at 80 degrees monitored by a reliable test kit (no api brand either)

Also Should i go straight to therapeutic level since its velvet or go slow?

 

[Uncle99]

When I zoom in, looks more like ick to me.
Oval, grey to white spots, where velvet spots are round and white.
Could be wrong, pics get fuzzy on my device.
Copper.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Also Should i go straight to therapeutic level since its velvet or go slow?

Go to a full dose of copper power or coppersafe in two additions, testing between to ensure your dose is correct.
If the fish is still eating and not breathing overly fast, this is ich not velvet.
Jay

 

[mfollen]

What are you using to measure copper? Raising copper too quick or high will kill it. I recommend the hanna copper checker

 

[Coogzreef]

What are you using to measure copper? Raising copper too quick or high will kill it. I recommend the hanna copper checker

I am using Hanna copper checker Luckily i had every thing on hand for this.

 

[Coogzreef]

Little update did a 5 minute FW dip fish seemed completely fine in the dip monitored the whole 5 minutes. I dosed the QT with copper little more than halfway to 2.5ppm using copper power and Hanna checker came up with reading of 1.31 ppm. Fish definitely seems a little shocked in the QT tank just kinda sitting on his side breathing pretty rapidly. This was the first FW dip ive ever done was very stressful. Matched PH and temp perfectly before dip. Fish wasnt breathing heavily before or during the dip but now is.

 

[Coogzreef]

Hope it pulls through. Beautiful fish!!

Thank you it is one beautiful hippo I wasn't too wild about getting one until I saw this one at the LFS the red on top is awesome really hoping it pulls through.

 

[mfollen]

You went straight from 0 to 1.3?

 

[Coogzreef]

You went straight from 0 to 1.3?

yes as Jay recommends go to therapeutic with two additions.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

The FWD could have stressed him but good thing you moved into copper. Did you remove the PraziPro before adding copper? If you mixed the two that could be the reason for heavy breathing. Add extra air-stone or power to heavily agitate the surface.

 

[Coogzreef]

The FWD could have stressed him but good thing you moved into copper. Did you remove the PraziPro before adding copper? If you mixed the two that could be the reason for heavy breathing. Add extra air-stone or power to heavily agitate the surface.

I dosed the prazi a day ago. I did a 50% water change before adding the copper so im sure theres (some) prazi in there but ive got a power head and a pretty good sized air stone in there atm. Checked on him about 30 mins ago and breathing seemed to have slowed down a small amount i think i just stressed him out.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

yes as Jay recommends go to therapeutic with two additions.

Yes - the idea about raising copper slowly stems from the old days when using ionic copper. That needed to be raised in small increments, over 48 hours. People took that idea and ran with it, changing the 2 days to 5+ days, and then extending the idea incorrectly over to amine-bonded copper products that are a lot more mild. Don't forget - LFS often put new fish right into 100% copper doses with no issues at all.

There is something that confuses the issue: these amine-based copper products take at least three days to start to work. People dose with copper, and the fish dies so they blame the copper. Actually, the issue was the disease and the copper didn't have enough time to work. That's why I always start my quarantine runs with copper.

Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I dosed the prazi a day ago. I did a 50% water change before adding the copper so im sure theres (some) prazi in there but ive got a power head and a pretty good sized air stone in there atm. Checked on him about 30 mins ago and breathing seemed to have slowed down a small amount i think i just stressed him out.

Personally, I only use FW dips as a diagnostic tool (looking at the dip water under a microscope). Dips don't work well against protozoans and they are only partially effective against flukes. When done on healthy fish, the stress they cause won't be fatal, but fish that are compromised in some way can react poorly to dips.

Jay

 

[Coogzreef]

Unfortunately I think the fish is going to pass away he looks absolutely terrible this morning and I don’t think there is anything I can do other than hope he pulls through another day. I think I’m gonna have to take this one as a loss and deep clean the qt so when I get the next addition this won’t happen. I too think that if I started up with copper this wouldn’t have happened. I will be starting qt with copper no matter what from here on out