Help with identification

[arnic123]

My brown tang died suddenly, then I noticed this on my clownfish. from a distance it looks like velvet, but up close it almost looks sludgy. Am I dealing with Brook or velvet? BTW I gave him a freshwater dip which i think saved his life. I have bee treating with metro, focus, and general cure in the food, which seems to be helping a lot. The only other fish that seemed to be affected is my striped blenny; nothing visible but he was doing a lot of scraping and trying to bite his tail. At any rate, what do people think I am dealing with?

 

[gentlefish]

At an earlier stage brook and velvet may look similar. For velvet I would at this stage expect more clouding of the eyes and a bit more on fins. So yes, I would have to think brook.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Tough to say without looking at a skin scrape under a microscope. Rapid breathing and swimming into pump outputs would point more to velvet. Oral meds are not likely to stop this. The metronidazole is very bitter, and fish avoid it at therapeutic concentrations.
Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Holy cow - severe case of velvet as Jay indicated. this is not an onset overnight.
How long has this been progressing?
This is a condition of sooner the better for treatment. In a quarantine tank using Chloroquine phosphate or Copper, this will be your best bet. A 5 minute FW dip, and an acriflavine bath for 90 minutes or a 45 minute formalin bath may provide temporary relief before the fish enters quarantine using CP or Copper for actual treatment. So what about the display tank- best that is fallow for at least 10-12 weeks ( i know, it sounds painful but worth it)
Signs that this is velvet are as you described, the fish swimming into the flow of a powerhead/ wavemaker, and tiny white dots on the fins & body. The white dots look similar to ich, but are smaller and higher in number. Learning the difference from Jay is : If you can count the white dots its usually ich. However, if they are too numerous to count there’s a good chance you are dealing with velvet.

 

[gentlefish]

If the blenny is ok, even after the tang died and the clown looks as pointed out, would that not be argument against velvet?
I don’t want to get this of topic of cause, and if please everyone understand that above 2 authors are fantastic in their knowledge. But we all try to learn...

 

[arnic123]

If the blenny is ok, even after the tang died and the clown looks as pointed out, would that not be argument against velvet?
I don’t want to get this of topic of cause, and if please everyone understand that above 2 authors are fantastic in their knowledge. But we all try to learn...

Today is day 6 of the treatment with focus, metroplex, and GC in food, twice daily. As you can see he is looking great. What blew my mind was how fast the infestation set in. The night before he was unremarkable, the morning feeding was quick as I was late for work but I did not notice anything. I get home after work same day and he was a mess.

 

[gentlefish]

When I had velvet, it was a rapid progressive tank wipe out event. From first diagnosis, 60% of my fish very dead in 3 days flat. The rest survived in copper. More timeline may help us to piece this together: last water contamination from other source, last fish in. How long since symptoms on tang, were those also spot like lesions? Are there still heathy fish in the tank on day +?

 

[arnic123]

Last fish in was a foxface about 3 weeks prior. The tang that died never had any visible signs of infestation. although he was hiding behind rocks at the night feeding; never made it to morning. All the other fish are fine now. I never noticed lesions on any.

 

[gentlefish]

I don’t know. Velvet would have killed your tank by now. Ick would be at least much more visible. Poorly transmittable skin infection of some sort?
I am happy that most everyone is doing well and your clownfish is better. Keep a keen eye on the gang!

 

[arnic123]

Thank you everyone, appreciate the support and input.

 

[arnic123]

UPDATE: Seemed like treatment regimen is effective as I near the end of week 3. Focus, Metro, and general cure premixed with selcon and garlic extract, which I refrigerated as a suspension. I then soaked food in it for a few minutes before feeding. I kept activated carbon running the whole time. Inverts and corals are fine. I also gave him 2 freshwater dips.I am now installing a 57 watt UV sterilizer; tank is a 125 and will dc meds when sterilizer is up and running.