Ick!!

[Congaken]

Meridith...as you can see, it is undoubtedly velvet...let me tell you where things are at and you (please) tell me if there's anything I can do...both fish are laying down or resting on the bottom upright...they are in .4+ cupramine...the dots are mostly gone...the tang scurries about if disturbed...otherwise no one is swimming...HF talks about different treatments for different stages...not sure that they would survive much at this point but I do have ParaGuard (Sea Chem) and Ruby Reef Rally which is acroflavin and formalin...so...what would your and/or HF advise be at this point...?...Thanks, Ken

 

[melypr1985]

Meridith...as you can see, it is undoubtedly velvet...let me tell you where things are at and you (please) tell me if there's anything I can do...both fish are laying down or resting on the bottom upright...they are in .4+ cupramine...the dots are mostly gone...the tang scurries about if disturbed...otherwise no one is swimming...HF talks about different treatments for different stages...not sure that they would survive much at this point but I do have ParaGuard (Sea Chem) and Ruby Reef Rally which is acroflavin and formalin...so...what would your and/or HF advise be at this point...?...Thanks, Ken

If they are breathing heavily then you can try a freshwater dip. I do - in fact- want a good clear picture of the ones that are still showing symptoms.... or at least a picture from when they were showing the spots. If it's velvet, you want to keep them in the copper even if they arn't eating or comfortable. Mainly because velvet will kill them without the copper, so there's a lot to lose and very little gain from taking the copper out.
Humble talks about doing a chemical bath (like formalin) to help the fish along some, but at this point it may not make much difference. If the spots are almost gone, then they are on their way to getting better. Watch for infection. You can transfer them to a clean hospital tank after 14 days in the copper, but it needs to have been at least 10 feet away and completely clean. Dont lower the copper levels at all before this happens. it's a happy medium for fish that are sensitive to copper and not handling it well.

 

[Brew12]

@melypr1985 He switched over to an addition thread, might want to look there

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet.266113/#post-3180427

 

[TangsRLife]

Update. So far I have lost my sailfin, lieutenant tang, 1 clownfish, and my domino damsel. Things have settled out and I think I've killed the ick but I'm keeping copper in just as a precaution for the time being. I want to know how to prepare my tank for my yellow eye kole, clownfish, pajama cardinal, some Hawaii neon blue damsel I think, some Blenny, and a green cromis. I know I shouldn't just acclimate them then dump them all in, but I don't want to wait and put each one in every month or so. Just two days ago I've started what I've heard some people call "phantom feeding" I normally feed my fish (alive ones) half a frozen brine shrimp cube. I've been adding maybe a quarter tube to my fishless display and I'm gonna slowly increase that every day. Will this work and how long will it take to "aclimate" my tank to the fish bioload? Thanks.

 

[melypr1985]

Update. So far I have lost my sailfin, lieutenant tang, 1 clownfish, and my domino damsel. Things have settled out and I think I've killed the ick but I'm keeping copper in just as a precaution for the time being. I want to know how to prepare my tank for my yellow eye kole, clownfish, pajama cardinal, some Hawaii neon blue damsel I think, some Blenny, and a green cromis. I know I shouldn't just acclimate them then dump them all in, but I don't want to wait and put each one in every month or so. Just two days ago I've started what I've heard some people call "phantom feeding" I normally feed my fish (alive ones) half a frozen brine shrimp cube. I've been adding maybe a quarter tube to my fishless display and I'm gonna slowly increase that every day. Will this work and how long will it take to "aclimate" my tank to the fish bioload? Thanks.

First off I'm very sorry for your losses Second, Ghost feeding is a good idea, but probably won't do it on it's own. You may end up with nutrient problems instead of accomplishing your goal. I would suggest smaller ghost feedings. What I did after my fallow period was introduce my fish back to the display one every 3 or 4 days. It took a while, but it worked out ok. It would be even better if you could stretch it out to one every week. I hope that helps.

 

[Empress]

I should know this by now, but I'm still a little fuzzy on what it is exactly.....what's "ghost feeding"?

 

[melypr1985]

I should know this by now, but I'm still a little fuzzy on what it is exactly.....what's "ghost feeding"?

That's when you feed food to an empty tank as if there were fish present. The point of it is to keep the bacteria alive and to lose as little of the population as possible while the fish are gone by introducing an ammonia source for them to feed on and convert.

 

[Empress]

LOL to myself for not knowing that's what it's called! I'm actually ghost feeding right now on an empty QT. I want to do this right this time. I'm planning ahead for my new arrivals come December. Thanks Mel. [emoji222]