Please help ASAP, Ich or Velvet???

[Nuuze]

Hi R2R,

I came home this evening to see some strange occurrences to some of my fish! Earlier today all fish were fine when I fed them before leaving. Three of my Tnags, 2 has specs on them and 1 has a sort of rash.

Hybrid Black and Gem tang has specs. Purple tang is fine spot are from particles in water.

Kole Tang has a sort of rash

Please help me ID what is happening. Fish were added 4 days ago and were said to be QT for 3 weeks from LFS. I have other fish in tank that currently not showing signs at the moment.

2 stripped Damsel
2 Borbonius Anthias
Purple tang
Black Wrasse
Red faced fairy Wrasse
Red Coris Wrasse
Yellow Coris Wrasse

Tank has been running about 3 months. I’m pulling coral frags as I’m typing and treating with focus/metroplex with frozen mysis and selcon as that's all I have on hand.

 

[piranhaman00]

I cant ID the disease but I would get them in a QT with copper ASAP.

 

[dwest]

I think velvet. Act quickly.

Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum)

Marine Velvet Disease (Amyloodinium ocellatum) What You Need To Know: * Fast killing parasite capable of wiping out most of your fish in just a matter of days. Sometimes there are survivors, sometimes not. * Can be treated in a quarantine tank using Chloroquine phosphate or Copper. A 5...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Redfoxtang]

Definitely Velvet. Follow thread posted above!

 

[Dom]

It is hard to find a reputable fish store. Most are in survival mode as it is difficult for them to compete with on line retail and overnight delivery. So for every problem, they have a solution to sell.

Never ever trust the quarantine periods and methods of the LFS.

How old is the tank? It looks new... not that it has anything to do with your question, I'm just curious.

 

[artieg1]

Follow protocols for velvet and read, read, read. Don't pull the corals, pull the fish (all of them) into a separate treatment tank. You can leave the corals and inverts in the display. You need to read the stickies on velvet and what to do. The only medications that are going to be useful are ones you cannot use in the display tank.

This is really not meant to kick you when you are down, but there is literally not any LFS that "quarantines" its fish in the way that people mean on R2F when we speak about a QT setup. When a fish comes to you, from any source whatsoever, you have to assume it is infected with nastiness that will wipe out your tank. You either take the risk, or you quarantine (if only for observation). So sorry about the gem tang, I know that is a kick in the gut. My very strong advice, having suffered this exact same wipe out, is to read exhaustively on velvet and other deadly parasites. Ich is child's play in comparison.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Definitely not worth stressing corals.
Go to Petco, get a 29 or 40 gallon tank, Aquaclear 50 filter and a heater. Then dose copper if you have it on hand

 

[Uncle99]

I would have said ick because the spots are oval and not round.
Nevertheless, if unsure, copper can treat both parasites, whereas Hypo and TTM can only do Ick.

 

[cancun]

Hi....I was following along....sound advice on here for sure! Any updates?

 

[Nuuze]

Thank you so much for all your prompt replies!

I spent half the day catching up on some work related stuff. For lunch I headed out to Petco and picked up a 40G breeder and stand. Since last night I been reading up on the treatment methods in the thread above so I have the rest of stuff coming Prime.

Today:
Heater
Airpump
Cupramine
Thermoeter

Tomorrow:
API Copper test

Friday:
Prazipro

Monday:
KanaPlex

Ruby Reef shows shipped but tracking has not updated yet. Just put stand together and will start filling the QT with some tank water for FW dip.

 

[Big G]

Do not use Cupramine on wrasses and anthias. Most of them do not do well with an "ionic" copper like Cupramine. Much easier on them with a "chelated" copper like Copper Power or Coppersafe.

Here's a chart that show which treatment methods/meds work the best - worst on most fish.

Fish and Treatment Guidelines (with chart)

Fish and Treatment Guidelines (with chart) The following chart is a quick reference guide on what QT protocol should be used according to which type of fish you are running through QT. It will give you an idea of which methods are generally safest with certain species but is not meant to be...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Nuuze]

Update:

I managed to catch the 4 tangs and 1 anthias.

Kole tang was swimming slowly when caught and 5 min FW dip. Saw some white dots and stringy things comes off. He's currently in QT with DT tank water on his side. Still breathing and swims up right when I check.

Gem tang appears fine in QT, very few white dots came off during 5 min FW dip.

Black hybrid tang appears fine in QT, very very few white dots came off during 5 min FW dip.

Purple tang appears fine in QT, did not see much of anything come off during 5 min FW dip. This one shows no symptoms.

Borbonius anthias appears fine in QT, did not see much of anything come off during 5 min FW dip. This one shows no symptoms.


I'll most likely have to remove the rest of rocks to get the blenny, goby, "dam"sels, 4 wrasse and remaing borbonius anthias. The second anthias has wedge himself inside of a hole in one of the shelf rocks.

 

[Big G]

Update:

I managed to catch the 4 tangs and 1 anthias.

Kole tang was swimming slowly when caught and 5 min FW dip. Saw some white dots and stringy things comes off. He's currently in QT with DT tank water on his side. Still breathing and swims up right when I check.

Gem tang appears fine in QT, very few white dots came off during 5 min FW dip.

Black hybrid tang appears fine in QT, very very few white dots came off during 5 min FW dip.

Purple tang appears fine in QT, did not see much of anything come off during 5 min FW dip. This one shows no symptoms.

Borbonius anthias appears fine in QT, did not see much of anything come off during 5 min FW dip. This one shows no symptoms.


I'll most likely have to remove the rest of rocks to get the blenny, goby, "dam"sels, 4 wrasse and remaing borbonius anthias. The second anthias has wedge himself inside of a hole in one of the shelf rocks.

Important: Please read the prior post. Do not use Cupramine on your wrasses and anthias.

 

[Nuuze]

Big G, thanks so much for catching that!!! I have not dosed any copper yet as Amazon is out for delivery. I will get the Fritz Mardel - Coppersafe for tomorrow delivery. Again, thanks!!!

 

[Big G]

Big G, thanks so much for catching that!!! I have not dosed any copper yet as Amazon is out for delivery. I will get the Fritz Mardel - Coppersafe for tomorrow delivery. Again, thanks!!!

When dosing copper, try to spread them out in small amounts instead of just a couple of big doses, especially with sensitive fish like wrasses and anthias. If you can small dose morning, noon, evening, that gets you up to therapeutic levels asap when dealing with velvet. The small doses allow you time to observe for the occasional copper-hyper sensitive fish.
Highly recommend a Hanna HL Copper Checker.

 

[Big G]

Big G, thanks so much for catching that!!! I have not dosed any copper yet as Amazon is out for delivery. I will get the Fritz Mardel - Coppersafe for tomorrow delivery. Again, thanks!!!

Copper Power is my go to copper. It's dosing is very reliable. We've seen problems with the strength of dosage in Coppersafe in the past.

 

[Nuuze]

Okay, I'll swap out the Coppersafe for Copper Power.

 

[Nuuze]

One question about what to do with brittle star, coral banded and pistol shrimp. Can Velvet and Ich host them?

 

[dwest]

One question about what to do with brittle star, coral banded and pistol shrimp. Can Velvet and Ich host them?

Your inverts are OK. You can leave them in the DT during the fallow period.

 

[dwest]

Okay, I'll swap out the Coppersafe for Copper Power.

Also, the Hanna high range copper checker is your best friend here.