Velvet on tang

[GSnake]

Hello, my tang had velvet last year but I didn't do anything cause it acted ok and recovered visually. I added ten fish during the year and it seemed ok. My last addition bimac anthias caused an outbreak and It was a disaster. I lost a few in display, setup a qt with copper , then lost a few more in qt.. my purp tang from last year remains but he doesn't look good and I'm worried. This is indeed velvet right? I'm currently on day 4 of cupramine therapeutic dose. It hasn't seem to have improved since getting to therapeutic, Infact maybe worse for this tang at least. He hardly eats mysis and algae is still in clip after one day, which never has happened with these little tang pigs.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello, my tang had velvet last year but I didn't do anything cause it acted ok and recovered visually. I added ten fish during the year and it seemed ok. My last addition bimac anthias caused an outbreak and It was a disaster. I lost a few in display, setup a qt with copper , then lost a few more in qt.. my purp tang from last year remains but he doesn't look good and I'm worried. This is indeed velvet right? I'm currently on day 4 of cupramine therapeutic dose. It hasn't seem to have improved since getting to therapeutic, Infact maybe worse for this tang at least. He hardly eats mysis and algae is still in clip after one day, which never has happened with these little tang pigs.

How long has this developed?
It does appear to be velvet. Is fish eating? How is it breathing- Normal or labored?
Treat the fish in the QT with a copper-based medication. Although many remedies contain the general name as ich or ick treatments, read the packaging to be sure it targets Oodinium. My choice is coppersafe or copper power at 2.25-2.5 therapuetic level at 80 degrees for a FULL 30 days monitored by a reliable copper test kit such as Hanna Brand (no api brand). Assure the medication you use states treats Oodinum.
Generally with velvet, fish will scratch body against hard objects, lethargic behavior, Loss of appetite and weight loss, Rapid, labored breathing, Fins clamped against the body, and typically stay at the surface of the water, or remain in a position where a steady flow of water is present in the aquarium.

 

[GSnake]

yes the tang is already in QT with cupramine, tested by salifert and at 80F. its been 4 days. theres 4 other fish in there, 2 of which seem immune or with minimal effects, candy hogfish, longnose hawkfish. it was hard enough to find cupramine in canada, since its banned now. but hopefully it works. when can i expect to see results for velvet? hes not eating much and is lethargic for most of the day. its only when im there he'll come say hi sort of thing and swim around a bit.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello, my tang had velvet last year but I didn't do anything cause it acted ok and recovered visually. I added ten fish during the year and it seemed ok. My last addition bimac anthias caused an outbreak and It was a disaster. I lost a few in display, setup a qt with copper , then lost a few more in qt.. my purp tang from last year remains but he doesn't look good and I'm worried. This is indeed velvet right? I'm currently on day 4 of cupramine therapeutic dose. It hasn't seem to have improved since getting to therapeutic, Infact maybe worse for this tang at least. He hardly eats mysis and algae is still in clip after one day, which never has happened with these little tang pigs.

Those spots are too large to be velvet. Is it breathing fast and not eating? If it is breathing mostly normally and still eating, it isn't velvet for sure.

What is the actual dose of Cupramine as tested? I see some calcareous sand in the picture and that will be lowering your dose through absorption.

I'd say, based just on the pictures, that either the copper is too low and this is advanced ich, or if the copper is high, then this may be mucus plugs/cones (but that would be one of the worst cases of that I've ever seen).

Jay


Jay

 

[GSnake]

Those spots are too large to be velvet. Is it breathing fast and not eating? If it is breathing mostly normally and still eating, it isn't velvet for sure.

What is the actual dose of Cupramine as tested? I see some calcareous sand in the picture and that will be lowering your dose through absorption.

I'd say, based just on the pictures, that either the copper is too low and this is advanced ich, or if the copper is high, then this may be mucus plugs/cones (but that would be one of the worst cases of that I've ever seen).

Jay


Jay

I think it's at .5 ? That's my sali test. There's not much sand. Maybe half cup in a bin for my wrasse. My goby threw it around everywhere. Breathing was rapid, has slown down. Doesn't eat much any more. It's cupramine. It did look like mucus . It was stringy but also spotted at same time

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I think it's at .5 ? That's my sali test. There's not much sand. Maybe half cup in a bin for my wrasse. My goby threw it around everywhere. Breathing was rapid, has slown down. Doesn't eat much any more. It's cupramine. It did look like mucus . It was stringy but also spotted at same time

Well, that’s a tough call then. If you pull the copper and it is a protozoan, it may die. On the other hand, it isn’t eating well, so staying the course with the copper could be risky!

Since the other fish look good, if it were my fish, I’d stay the course with the copper for now…..

Jay

 

[GSnake]

Well, that’s a tough call then. If you pull the copper and it is a protozoan, it may die. On the other hand, it isn’t eating well, so staying the course with the copper could be risky!

Since the other fish look good, if it were my fish, I’d stay the course with the copper for now…..

Jay

tough for sure, im going to continue for now, ill post an update after the 30 days !

copper treatment seems to be the only option right now, he would likely infect new fish as its happened this past year.

 

[GSnake]

Not quite 30 days yet but is this hole in the head? What should I do at this point. I'm 7 days into cupramine. The spots seem less but he's developed this lesion also fins are not great. Swimming around, to me, has increased slightly

 

[punchy7080]

Looks like a secondary bacterial infection. Treat with kanaplex and Nitrofurazone.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Not quite 30 days yet but is this hole in the head? What should I do at this point. I'm 7 days into cupramine. The spots seem less but he's developed this lesion also fins are not great. Swimming around, to me, has increased slightly

Is that only on the one side of its head? If so, it isn't HLLE.

That looks like a strike injury to me - did it show up suddenly? Has it grown larger? Any ideas as to what might have spooked it and caused it to injure itself?

Jay

 

[GSnake]

Thought it was a start to fungal but here are some front and other side pics. There's nothing in the tank that's sharp. Just PVC, heater and airstone, haven't seen him trying to injure himself or scratch. He's quite lethargic. Could my candy hogfish have caused this? Saw him trying to pick at parasites or something the other day. Like a cleaner wrasse would do

 

[GSnake]

I didn't notice it much before, maybe it was smaller. He did have a partly cloudy upper part of eye too, if Im not mistaken. But as you can see that has cleared since

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

External fungal infections of marine fish are very rare. This is more likely an bacterial infection. I thought it was just an injury, but with multiple locations on the fish, that is much less likely.

Can you treat it in a quarantine tank with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic? If so, I would try Kanamycin or Neomycin.

Jay

 

[GSnake]

Looks like a secondary bacterial infection. Treat with kanaplex and Nitrofurazone.

Great!

External fungal infections of marine fish are very rare. This is more likely an bacterial infection. I thought it was just an injury, but with multiple locations on the fish, that is much less likely.

Can you treat it in a quarantine tank with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic? If so, I would try Kanamycin or Neomycin.

Jay

Thanks for confirmation. I have seachem kanaplex on hand. Can I use this in conjuction with the copper? I might be able to get nitro if that's preferable. Whatever is ok with cupramine.

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Update ?

 

[GSnake]

Update. It's now 44 days today that I started copper. And I plan to put fish back in DT next week. I don't want to rush ending the fallow too early but signs of flagellates, slimy stuff on glass, are also gone from DT at around 3-4 week point.

The tang is doing great. He has done discoloration but all tissue and fins have healed to normal. You can see the dark circle of hyperpigmentation near his head which I believe to be some scar tissue that's healed, no other abnormalities. He's eating like normal.

My adorned wrasse which I don't believe I mentioned was swimming upside down for a week, didn't eat and stayed near surface for air. He's fully recovered and you see him in one of the pics with the tang.
Other fish seemed mostly unaffected. Chromis had dark scar like patterns, but look normal now.

I'm concerned about adding a regal angel to qt. Knowing they won't do well with copper. They are expensive too. Would you recommend doing hyposalinity for 30 days instead for the angelfish, anthias and wrasse I plan on adding? What's the risk on putting a healthy looking sensitive species into cupramine? If it looks like it's struggling I can always take it out, it should recover from that?

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Update. It's now 44 days today that I started copper. And I plan to put fish back in DT next week. I don't want to rush ending the fallow too early but signs of flagellates, slimy stuff on glass, are also gone from DT at around 3-4 week point.

The tang is doing great. He has done discoloration but all tissue and fins have healed to normal. You can see the dark circle of hyperpigmentation near his head which I believe to be some scar tissue that's healed, no other abnormalities. He's eating like normal.

My adorned wrasse which I don't believe I mentioned was swimming upside down for a week, didn't eat and stayed near surface for air. He's fully recovered and you see him in one of the pics with the tang.
Other fish seemed mostly unaffected. Chromis had dark scar like patterns, but look normal now.

I'm concerned about adding a regal angel to qt. Knowing they won't do well with copper. They are expensive too. Would you recommend doing hyposalinity for 30 days instead for the angelfish, anthias and wrasse I plan on adding? What's the risk on putting a healthy looking sensitive species into cupramine? If it looks like it's struggling I can always take it out, it should recover from that?

He looks better ! Seems like the copper is helping out

I don’t have experience with hyposalinity, I’d suggest someone else to chime in ?

Personally I’ve only ever QT a pair of clowns in copper, for 30 days. I currently do not have a tank (new build in the progress)

I

 

[GSnake]

@Jay Hemdal what do you think jay?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal what do you think jay?

Personally, I’d skip the regal angel - just too delicate. If you get one from the Red Sea or Australia, they tend to do better, but still not super sturdy. Be sure you see that it eats well before you buy it!
If you do go ahead with one, I would not put them in with the fish that you just recovered, it should be quarantined by itself or with other new fish. Coppersafe or copper power is safe for these, the trouble with hyposalinity is that it doesn’t help with velvet.
Jay