Help please, tank under attack!!

[Armand9601]

Any idea what’s going on with my clown fish? I have 2 and both took a turn for the worse last night. I also have a Kole Eye Tang who looks to be developing Ich however the spots are less pronounced & look almost like velvet from what I’ve researched. Last night I dosed with Metroplex & Polyp Labs Reef Safe Medic

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Right now the tank is FOWLR but I was hoping to do corals at a later time.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Armand9601]

Here’s a clearer picture, the best I could get with an iPhone...

 

[HotRocks]

That does appear to be velvet. Can you upload a pic of the Kole?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/

 

[Armand9601]

I’m trying to, just added some food & hoping he appears

 

[Armand9601]

So far unable to snap a decent picture... did notice that he/she is breathing heavy with mouth wide open. Also seems to be hiding in the rockwork a bit more than usual. Based on the link you posted I think your spot on. Any recommendations for treatment? I know my LFS carries Reef Rally.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Agree with velvet

 

[JasonK84]

+1 for velvet. QT and run copper or chloroquine phosphate. Must be done for all fish in system and DT fallow to rid the system of the parasite. Otherwise you will keep battling this over and over.

 

[HotRocks]

+1 for velvet. QT and run copper or chloroquine phosphate. Must be done for all fish in system and DT fallow to rid the system of the parasite. Otherwise you will keep battling this over and over.

This^^^. It is the only way to rid the system and the fish of velvet.

Being a Fowler copper can be dosed in DT. I would NOT recommend this. Maintaining Cu level is difficult with absorbtion. Long term (post treatment) you could end up with copper leaching from rocks and having trouble keeping corals and inverts.

 

[JasonK84]

This^^^. It is the only way to rid the system and the fish of velvet.

Being a Fowler copper can be dosed in DT. I would NOT recommend this. Maintaining Cu level is difficult with absorbtion. Long term (post treatment) you could end up with copper leaching from rocks and having trouble keeping corals and inverts.

And the die off of the live rock and loss of the biodiversity. If enough of a die off, the ammonia would spike killing the fish you were trying to treat. This is another reason it isn't recommended to treat a DT. If dosed into the FOWLR you would basically be starting over with cycling and possibly encounter the leaching problems later as well. Best to set up a simple QT and get it cleared up now. Any new additions would be QT'd to keep the DT free from these parasites.

 

[Armand9601]

If I do a 40g QT how many fish can I put in there? What do I do with the shrimp, crabs & snails?

 

[JasonK84]

All inverts will stay in DT. Velvet only hosts fish.
What fish do you have and sizes?

 

[Armand9601]

2 Gladiator Clowns appox 2”
Firefish 2.5”
Kole Tang 3”
Diamond goby - 3.5”
Blue sided Wrasse 4”
Butterfly - med?
Dartfish
2 Chromis
Flame angel 3”

 

[Armand9601]

DT is a 90g, sump is a Trigger 36. Have skimmer, UV sterilizer & media reactor (carbon & phosguard)

 

[JasonK84]

You should be able to get it done with the 40 just keep a very close eye on ammonia (alert badge). Make sure there are plenty of PVC fittings so there isn't aggression over hiding spots.

 

[HotRocks]

2 Gladiator Clowns appox 2”
Firefish 2.5”
Kole Tang 3”
Diamond goby - 3.5”
Blue sided Wrasse 4”
Butterfly - med?
Dartfish
2 Chromis
Flame angel 3”

40b should work fine. Just keep eye on ammonia. I always keep a full WC mixed and heated in a brute can while QTing fish.

 

[Big G]

Note the highlighted areas that Humblefish has found to "GREATLY" increase the survival rates. The FW dip and then a bath in RRR for each fish will really help the fish's immune system to fight off bacterial infections from the numerous insertion points from the velvet parasites:

The short version:

• 5 minute freshwater dip
• Immediately afterwards, perform a chemical bath (in saltwater matching SG/temp the fish came from). You have two options:

1. Acriflavine (preferred) - Do the bath for 75-90 minutes, but remove the fish immediately at the first sign of distress. Aerate heavily both before & during the bath, and temperature control the water. The following products contain acriflavine: Acriflavine-MS and Ruby Reef Rally. DO NOT mix acriflavine with any other chemicals.
2. Formalin - Do the bath for 30-60 minutes max, but remove the fish immediately at the first sign of distress. Aerate heavily both before & during the bath, and temperature control the water. The following products contain formalin: Formalin-MS, Quick Cure, Aquarium Solutions Ich-X, Kordon Rid-Ich Plus. Use protection (rubber gloves, face mask, eye protection, etc.) whenever handling formalin as it is a known carcinogen! However, you can add Methylene Blue to the formalin bath (1 capful per 2-3 gallons of bath water.)

• After the bath, place the fish in a QT pre-dosed at 80mg/gal using Chloroquine phosphate. In theory, copper (exs. Cupramine, Coppersafe, Copper Power) should work just as well as CP. However, due to how fast velvet can reproduce you don’t have the luxury of slowly ramping up the copper level as is normally advised. Therefore, the fish needs to be placed in a QT with copper already at minimum therapeutic levels. This is the advantage CP has over copper in this particular situation.
• While in QT, use a wide spectrum antibiotic (exs. Seachem Kanaplex, Furan-2) for the first week to ward off any possible bacterial infections. Secondary bacterial infections are very common in fish with preexisting parasitic infestations such as velvet.
• Keep the fish in CP or copper (at therapeutic levels) for one month. However, you can transfer the fish into a non-medicated holding tank for observation after just two weeks (explained below). DO NOT lower the CP or copper level before transferring.