Life After Marine Velvet!

bpbonds · Mar 20, 2023

Hello fellow Reefers I'm some of you have had to Deal with the dreaded Marine Velvet, This is my first experience in over 18 years of caring and keeping marine fish and corals. I am pretty good at taking all the proper precautions when adding new fish inverts, corals e.t.c. I buy my fish from the same LFS that I have been buying from since I started the hobby, I also have a 20 gallon QT which I keep new fish in for 30 days prior to introduction into DT. Some way some how, after adding a CBB Butterfly Fish about 2 weeks ago, I now have lost 11 fish all from Velvet extremely fast, I tried everything to save them with no avail. I have 5 fish left and have them in QT, I plan to run fishless for 76 days before adding any fish back into the DT. Any advise or anything else I should be doing? This has been a rough road and hart breaking to say the least but I learn from mistakes

and hope to never have this happen again.

exnisstech · Mar 20, 2023

Sorry for your losses. I went through this and lost many fish but saved some nice ones as well. I was going to let them all die and tear the tank down but my family shamed me into putting forth an effort to save the remaining fish. I treated the remaining fish with copper power and also went fallow in the DT as you are planning. I now treat all fish with copper in QT before adding to the display. The one exception is my CBB which I didn't want to stress so I put directly in the display but it is a different tank and was the fist fish in.

bpbonds · Mar 20, 2023

I Was worried about the CBB so I did a very low does of copper in my QT, and guess what he is doing just fine which is why I think he was the host.

Sebastiancrab · Mar 20, 2023

bpbonds said:
I Was worried about the CBB so I did a very low does of copper in my QT, and guess what he is doing just fine which is why I think he was the host.

Sorry for your losses. If you didn't have the proper copper dosage in your QT tank then you might as well not have been treating the fish at all. The dosage needs to be monitored using a Hanna or Salifert, preferably, test kit. Once you have a disaster like this, you are a believer in QT. I have lost several fish in QT with all the major parasites and am a firm believer today. See Jay's protocol:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

Make sure you are running an airstone and have some PVC pipes for the fish to hide in. Watch the ammonia with a good test kit.

bpbonds · Mar 20, 2023

Sebastiancrab said:
Sorry for your losses. If you didn't have the proper copper dosage in your QT tank then you might as well not have been treating the fish at all. The dosage needs to be monitored using a Hanna or Salifert, preferably, test kit. Once you have a disaster like this, you are a believer in QT. I have lost several fish in QT with all the major parasites and am a firm believer today. See Jay's protocol:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

Make sure you are running an airstone and have some PVC pipes for the fish to hide in. Watch the ammonia with a good test kit.

Thank you very much for the info, exactly what I was thinking too, costly mistake indeed.

dkelley · Mar 20, 2023

EDITED**** I saw the answers in previous posts.

Sorry for the loss and frustration, I feel for you.

Jay Hemdal · Mar 20, 2023

bpbonds said:
Hello fellow Reefers I'm some of you have had to Deal with the dreaded Marine Velvet, This is my first experience in over 18 years of caring and keeping marine fish and corals. I am pretty good at taking all the proper precautions when adding new fish inverts, corals e.t.c. I buy my fish from the same LFS that I have been buying from since I started the hobby, I also have a 20 gallon QT which I keep new fish in for 30 days prior to introduction into DT. Some way some how, after adding a CBB Butterfly Fish about 2 weeks ago, I now have lost 11 fish all from Velvet extremely fast, I tried everything to save them with no avail. I have 5 fish left and have them in QT, I plan to run fishless for 76 days before adding any fish back into the DT. Any advise or anything else I should be doing? This has been a rough road and hart breaking to say the least but I learn from mistakes and hope to never have this happen again.

Sorry to hear.
What are you treating the remaining five fish with?
76 days is longer than you need to run fallow for velvet, but it won’t hurt to go that long.
Jay

Lost in the Sauce · Mar 20, 2023

bpbonds said:
I Was worried about the CBB so I did a very low does of copper in my QT, and guess what he is doing just fine which is why I think he was the host.

Depending on what you are calling a low dose, it may have not been high enough to be an effective dose. Copper has a limit it needs to reach and hold to be therapeutic.

bpbonds · Mar 20, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Sorry to hear.
What are you treating the remaining five fish with?
76 days is longer than you need to run fallow for velvet, but it won’t hurt to go that long.
Jay

Copper power

Jay Hemdal · Mar 20, 2023

bpbonds said:
Copper power

Copper power needs to run at 2.5 ppm for 30 days to ensure velvet is eliminated.
Jay

bpbonds · Mar 20, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Copper power needs to run at 2.5 ppm for 30 days to ensure velvet is eliminated.
Jay

That is exactly what I'm doing currently 2.5 ppm. Thank you very much! Hope the other 5 fish make it through

vetteguy53081 · Mar 20, 2023

bpbonds said:
That is exactly what I'm doing currently 2.5 ppm. Thank you very much! Hope the other 5 fish make it through

Touching on Jay's statement. the fishless (Fallow) period is 4-6 weeks for velvet being a flagellate but 6-8 weeks is what is recommended. How are you testing the coppersafe level?
Add air stone during treatment and Monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit during treatment

bpbonds · Mar 20, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Touching on Jay's statement. the fishless (Fallow) period is 4-6 weeks for velvet being a flagellate but 6-8 weeks is what is recommended. How are you testing the coppersafe level?
Add air stone during treatment and Monitor ammonia level with a reliable test kit during treatment

All Hanna Testing equipment for testing, water change on QT depending on Ammonia Levels, air stones installed and going.