Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum)

[HotRocks]

@Arvind Arya

No risk of adding dry rock at anytime during the fallow period. You are good to go.

 

[Averhoeven]

Just keep the dry rock in there the whole fallow time. Nothing will encyst on it without fish in there as long as the fish have been out of the tank more than 5 days. However, knowing there's an active infection in there and how much water the rock can hold while transferring over... I dunno, seems like a risk to transfer it any earlier. It's not like a frag you can just flush water over.

 

[roberthu526]

@Humblefish ; @4FordFamily

Thank you for this great thread. I am currently treating my QT with copper. The residents include a 5" goldflake angel, a 3" regal angel, a 2" scribbled angel, and a velvet fairy wrasse. I use Seachem cupramine and the tank is a 40G breeder with a 20 long sump and a reef octopus 150 space saver skimmer.
I first noticed fine dust on the black tail and dorsal fin of the goldflake and since I have encountered marine velvet in the past, I didn't wait a second. I first dipped the goldflake in formalin solution for 30 minutes, then in methylene blue for 45 minutes, then fresh water for 5 minutes. I then put the fish back into the QT and dosed 20 drops of cupramine and after an hour I tested the water with Hanna H702 and got a reading of 0.22 ppm. The weird thing is I did not notice any rapid breathing or scratching. All fish have been in the QT for four days now and besides the regal everyone else seems to be eating just fine. The regal is a finicky eater anyway and even him picks at the oyster I put in the tank from time to time.

My question is: based on my research a range of 0.5 -0.6 ppm is required to eradicate velvet. Is this correct? I have another two juvenile regale angels (approximately 1.5") incoming and will arrive tomorrow. Can I add these two small regal angels into the QT and raise the copper level to 0.4 ppm? Or should I wait for a day before raise the level?

 

[HotRocks]

@Humblefish ; @4FordFamily

Thank you for this great thread. I am currently treating my QT with copper. The residents include a 5" goldflake angel, a 3" regal angel, a 2" scribbled angel, and a velvet fairy wrasse. I use Seachem cupramine and the tank is a 40G breeder with a 20 long sump and a reef octopus 150 space saver skimmer.
I first noticed fine dust on the black tail and dorsal fin of the goldflake and since I have encountered marine velvet in the past, I didn't wait a second. I first dipped the goldflake in formalin solution for 30 minutes, then in methylene blue for 45 minutes, then fresh water for 5 minutes. I then put the fish back into the QT and dosed 20 drops of cupramine and after an hour I tested the water with Hanna H702 and got a reading of 0.22 ppm. The weird thing is I did not notice any rapid breathing or scratching. All fish have been in the QT for four days now and besides the regal everyone else seems to be eating just fine. The regal is a finicky eater anyway and even him picks at the oyster I put in the tank from time to time.

My question is: based on my research a range of 0.5 -0.6 ppm is required to eradicate velvet. Is this correct? I have another two juvenile regale angels (approximately 1.5") incoming and will arrive tomorrow. Can I add these two small regal angels into the QT and raise the copper level to 0.4 ppm? Or should I wait for a day before raise the level?

The therapeutic range for cupramine is .4-.5ppm I would treat at .5ppm to be sure you erradicate the velvet.

I do acclimate fish directly into half strength copper using chelated copper all the time. So you should be fine to add the fish and then start increasing the Cu level.

 

[roberthu526]

The therapeutic range for cupramine is .4-.5ppm I would treat at .5ppm to be sure you erradicate the velvet.

I do acclimate fish directly into half strength copper using chelated copper all the time. So you should be fine to add the fish and then start increasing the Cu level.

Awesome! Thank you so much!

 

[roberthu526]

After 5 minutes freshwater dip the white spots remains on the fish. Does this mean it’s more likely ich than velvet? None of the fish breathes rapidly. Thanks

 

[roberthu526]

I just did a big water change in the QT and dropped the salinity to 1.011
I plan to do another water change tomorrow before the two juvi regal angel arrives and then dose cupramine accordingly. If it is truest ich then I will just use hyposalinity to deal with it. I have used this method in the past many times with great success so hopefully it is not velvet so I don’t have to keep dosing copper.

 

[HotRocks]

After 5 minutes freshwater dip the white spots remains on the fish. Does this mean it’s more likely ich than velvet? None of the fish breathes rapidly. Thanks

The spots are entrance wounds from parasites. The spots take a few days to heal just like us scraping ourselves.

Parasites head for the gills. Can you upload pics?

 

[roberthu526]

The spots are entrance wounds from parasites. The spots take a few days to heal just like us scraping ourselves.

Parasites head for the gills. Can you upload pics?

The lights just went off. I will try to take photos tomorrow. But it's going to be hard since the spots are pretty small. If it doesn't get better tomorrow night I will use Safety Stop to do the formalin and methylene blue dip.

 

[roberthu526]

I woke up this morning and things are way worse. The goldflake was in much worse situation than last night so it is definitely velvet. I raised the copper level to 0.44 in three dosages in three hours. I know it is still very fast but I really had no options. Then I did a fresh water sip on all fish. The goldflake and regal handlers it well because they are in decent size fat. The scribbled angel and the fairy wrasse didn’t take it well. Both are not responding in the QT right now.

 

[roberthu526]

After the dip the Goldflake is visually much better. Hopefully it pulls through. The regal is also acting normal although he’s hiding behind rocks mostly. The scribbled angel and the fairy wrasse looks like dead on the other hand...

 

[roberthu526]

Just checked with a flashlight and the Goldflake is covered in velvet again. I checked the copper level and it is at 0.44 ppm. Do I have to keep the level at 0.5 ppm for it to work? I am not sure if the fish is going to make through tonight...

 

[Maritimer]

Therapeutic level for ionic copper, such as Cupramine, is 0.4 - 0.5. You're certainly in that ballpark! If you wanted to raise it a tad ... say, above 0.45, that would likely be OK, but wouldn't want to go above 0.5.

~Bruce, who uses chelated copper

 

[roberthu526]

Therapeutic level for ionic copper, such as Cupramine, is 0.4 - 0.5. You're certainly in that ballpark! If you wanted to raise it a tad ... say, above 0.45, that would likely be OK, but wouldn't want to go above 0.5.

~Bruce, who uses chelated copper

Thank you! I am testing copper ten times a day to make sure it stays in the range because I have live rock in the QT. I am doing formalin and methylene blue bath right now. If I wake up tomorrow morning without white stuff on the fish I think I may have a shot. Fingers crossed!

 

[roberthu526]

Okay both fish are still alive but the regal is not looking good. Hiding in the corner and breathing rapidly. But it has little to no sign of velvet. The Goldflake on the other hand has white stuff on him but it is responsive to me approaching the tank. The white fluffy stuff on him doesn’t look as bad as last night. The copper level is still at 0.5 ppm so there should be no re-infection.

 

[Maritimer]

Got my fingers crossed for you today . . .

~Bruce

 

[roberthu526]

Got my fingers crossed for you today . . .

~Bruce

I really appreciate it! The Goldflake ate some clam on half shell. I am afraid the regal is a goner...

 

[Maritimer]

Sorry to hear that about the regal ... they're one of my favorite angels.

~Bruce

 

[roberthu526]

Sorry to hear that about the regal ... they're one of my favorite angels.

~Bruce

Thank you for your reply!
Surprisingly the regal is still alive today. Still hiding but I don't see any signs of velvet on it. So maybe it's just the copper making it uncomfortable and not want to eat.
The goldflake is visually much better. No fluffy stuff anymore just some small white spots. It is actually eating, clam and mysis. I also saw him picking on the rocks. It is much more active than the regal for sure. So maybe I got it right?

 

[roberthu526]

The Goldflake is almost free of white spots. The problem now is it is not eating. I guess it’s mainly due to the copper in the water. I am going to try soak food in garlic. The regal is not eating neither but that is not news anymore.