Velvet or advance ich?

shookONES · Oct 26, 2020

Figures the final fish addition brings the plague in. Shame on me for not QT’ing!

My gut tells me velvet, but he’s eating like a champ and aside from aesthetics, acting pretty normal. Either way, I’m going to pull the rock and begin the FW dip, Rally bath, and copper process tonight.

So I guess the question is, is this velvet or advanced ich? He’s been here for about a week. All other fish seem fine so far.

AcanthurusRex · Oct 26, 2020

Based on the “too many too count “ rule of thumb, velvet.
I treated with metro while the copper levels were brought up to therapeutic levels. Seemed to clear the fish quickly but since I quarantine my experience with an actual disease is limited.

Jay Hemdal · Oct 26, 2020

Based on the fact that it is still feeding and acting essentially normal, I would say ich. Velvet would show rapid breathing and anorexia at this stage. That said, ich is very serious at this point because copper takes a few days to start to really work, and the geometric reproduction rate is going to hit this fish pretty hard...IMO you should pick either a FW dip or rally, but not both right after each other. Also, ramp the copper up fast....and use a test kit or Hanna checker to ensure an accurate dose.

Jay