Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum)

[Arvind Arya]

I mean wouldnt the tap water- full of chlorine etc and the cold temp actually kill a bunch of the velvet on contact? The cold water should kill them too?

 

[Brew12]

I mean wouldnt the tap water- full of chlorine etc and the cold temp actually kill a bunch of the velvet on contact? The cold water should kill them too?

The tap water is unlikely to have enough chlorine to a disinfectant at this point. If it did, we wouldn't bother with spray disinfectants!

Cold water may kill some of the free swimmers. It will not kill any that have encysted and are reproducing. It does slow down the rate at which they grow so delays the time it takes for them to release the next generation of parasites.

 

[Arvind Arya]

If my tank is going to cycle and
Spike ammonia at some point will that be also enough to kill the velvet on the rocks?

 

[Brew12]

If my tank is going to cycle and
Spike ammonia at some point will that be also enough to kill the velvet on the rocks?

If your ammonia spikes high enough to do that you would likely need to evacuate your house due to the fumes! ;Doctor

 

[Arvind Arya]

I mean I do use ammonia to cycle tanks. that stuff will kill fish and coral- also velvet?
I soaked the rocks in bleach last night... Ill let them air dry this weekend and add them to the tank.
Cold tap water, cold air temps, bleach and now getting doses of ammonia i hope does the trick. If not, this is not a parasite but a super parasite

 

[Brew12]

I mean I do use ammonia to cycle tanks. that stuff will kill fish and coral- also velvet?
I soaked the rocks in bleach last night... Ill let them air dry this weekend and add them to the tank.
Cold tap water, cold air temps, bleach and now getting doses of ammonia i hope does the trick. If not, this is not a parasite but a super parasite

Velvet is a dinoflagellate. Very similar to a bacteria. What you need to think of is approaching disinfectant levels which are much higher than what a fish or coral can survive. We don't use cold water or slightly chlorinated tap water to wash our counters after handling raw meat (at least I hope we don't!). We use scalding hot water or fairly concentrated bleach or vinegar to sanitize counters after we are done. That is the type of treatment we need to use on Velvet if we don't wait and let it starve itself out.

 

[Arvind Arya]

would you suggest baking the rocks for a short time in high heat?

 

[scuzy]

Do not bake the rocks. Bleach is enough. You never know where your rocks been it contains.

 

[Brew12]

Do not bake the rocks. Bleach is enough. You never know where your rocks been it contains.

+1 on this!

Never heat rocks! Some life that has died on it could release toxic fumes. It is also possible (albeit unlikely) that the rocks could blow apart.

 

[Arvind Arya]

ok no heating rocks

 

[Amps Reef Life]

Looks like I am going to battle this or not add any more fish ever. If I can pull all my fish for six weeks do eels also need to be removed? I am guessing yes?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i-need-help-with-id-on-fish-sickness.541025/

 

[HotRocks]

Yes the eel would need to be removed and treated as well since they can carry the parasite.

 

[Arvind Arya]

Does dosing copper give fish immediate relief from velvet? Do any of the attached spores fall off? I mean the fish is breathing copper into its gills, so to say they dont get any relief makes me wonder.... any thoughts

 

[HotRocks]

A 5 min FW dip will provide immediate relief by removing 90%+ of attached trophonts.

Copper doesn't remove trophonts. It is a shield against reinfection. It kills free swimmers, so as the parasites cycle it keeps the final stage looking for a fish to host from reaching the fish. They explode in copper as soon as they are released from a tomont.

 

[Arvind Arya]

I have had fish literally perish in a FW dip with good aeration.... some fish can take it others cannot. I had a Mimic tang literally die in front of me that seemed ok before

 

[Brad Vaughn]

Does anyone know if freezing temperature will kill velvet and/or ich? I have had some sand stored outside for a few weeks now. It has frozen a few times. The sand is damp but not wet. Also it's been rained on. I want to use it in a new tank set-up. What process can I do to be certain it's free of ich/velvet. Dry it?

 

[tastyfish]

Does anyone know if freezing temperature will kill velvet and/or ich? I have had some sand stored outside for a few weeks now. It has frozen a few times. The sand is damp but not wet. Also it's been rained on. I want to use it in a new tank set-up. What process can I do to be certain it's free of ich/velvet. Dry it?

I haven't read research which took them down to freezing point, however I would not rely on low temperature to kill cyrptocarton or amyloodinium.

The former has found to be viable and infective after 5 months at 12C (Dan et al. 2009).

A better course of action would be citric acid or bleach soaking. Not sure if @Humblefish knows of any research that contradicts this?

Edit: Found more research which took them down to 6C (44f) and resulted in viable tomont and theront release. (Journal of Fish Diseases volume 2 issue 2 on pages 93-97 of March of 1979.)

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Where does one get Chloroquine phosphate?

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

I have several questions with hopes that someone could answer them.

I have a qt tank setup and Quick Cure on hand... the rest of the meds will arrive on Monday unfortunately. Should I take any steps while waiting or wait to complete the treatment process all at once?
Fish are all still in the dt and only a few are showing symptoms. Should they all be moved to QT? Should I treat all fish whether they have signs or not?
Will it help in anyway to keep some of the lights lower?

@Humblefish #reefsquad

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Also, what about shrimp?