Velvet Outbreak??

[Dolelo96]

September 4th noticed my Whitetail Bristletooth Tang had spots on his fins and my my Black Ice Snowflake clown was swimming at top of tank. Looking closer at the looked like he was dusted in powder. Tang was still eating/swimming fine but clown stopped eating. Sent video to LFS and he said looked like ich and sent me PolypLabs Reef Medic. After treating for a week there was no change. He came out and said it looked more like velvet and to continue with the ReefMedic but to up the dose. He took the clown with him to put in their hospital tank (I don’t have quarantine). Tang stayed because he was eating and swimming normal. Fast forward to today, Tang still looks the same but he’s eating great, breathing and swimming fine. Everything I’ve read makes it sound like my Tang should be gone by now. I have a Reefer 425xl, mixed reef tank. Other inhabitants are Melanarus Wrasse, Mccokser Wrasse, male Lyretail Anthias and juvenile Black Ice Snowflake Clown...they’re all eating/swimming fine too (maybe because of Reef Medic) Never needed a quarantine tank, because I never put anything in my tank unless it came from my LFS. I know their system with their new fish & coral. Of course, the first time I add a coral from somewhere else, this happens. I did dip the coral not realizing it does nothing to kill any eggs. Do I need to remove fish from tank? If so, how quickly can you set one up? Also, how do you eradicate parasite from main tank? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Does your LFS quarantine? Very rare that they do for all coral, inverts and fish, but if so that is awesome.

As for your outbreak, it looks a lot more like ich to me and your timeline suggests it too. Typically velvet kills a lot quicker and it seems these fish have had it for more than a week.

This is a good read and will help guide you to a solution that is best for you.. Ich management vs eradication

 

[HotRocks]

Hard to tell from that pic. It looks like a combination of ich and velvet to me. As mentioned above it may just be a really severe case of ich based on the fact that it has been present this long and fish are surviving. The fact that you are dosing reef medic may be hindering the parasites a bit. I would still act with urgency and treat this as velvet if it were me.

I would move all of your fish to QT. Setting one up is pretty easy. Just use a powerhead/airstone, Heater, and a HOB filter. Grab a bottle of biospira or Dr tims to seed biofilter. a piece of media from your DT may also help.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

QT will need treated with copper or Chloroquine Phosphate to get the fish clean.

Your DT will just need to sit fallow (Fishless) for 76 days and it will be parasite free.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fallow-periods-going-fishless.190324/

Also for future reference: Corals can carry tomonts that are encysted to the plug/rock they are attached to etc. Tomonts release the free swimming stage of the parasite looking for a fish host to complete the cycle. There is not a dip that can remove them. This is probably what happened when you added the coral.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

 

[Dolelo96]

Thank! Great article. I’m still having a hard time telling the difference between the two other than velvet seems to kill faster. There is no scratching, rapid respiration etc. If it was t for the spots, you wouldn’t know anything is wrong

 

[HotRocks]

Thank! Great article. I’m still having a hard time telling the difference between the two other than velvet seems to kill faster. There is no scratching, rapid respiration etc. If it was t for the spots, you wouldn’t know anything is wrong

Velvet is fine almost like powdered sugar dusting. Here is an idol I had in QT a couple weeks ago with velvet.

If you can get some side view pics of the Kole and post them it may be easier to tell.

 

[kswan]

I lost a Kole Tang and several others to velvet recently. That is what this looks like to me. I struggled to identify the disease due to having some fish looking bad then better for almost a month before it hit hard. I believe if you read the velvet thread by humblefish he also recommends a bath prior to copper. Here is a link to my thread when I was trying to get an ID.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thought-i-had-ich-now-i’m-not-sure.421368/

 

[HotRocks]

I lost a Kole Tang and several others to velvet recently. That is what this looks like to me. I struggled to identify the disease due to having some fish looking bad then better for almost a month before it hit hard. I believe if you read the velvet thread by humblefish he also recommends a bath prior to copper. Here is a link to my thread when I was trying to get an ID.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thought-i-had-ich-now-i’m-not-sure.421368/

Yes, @Humblefish's 1,2,3 punch for velvet is:

1. 5 min FW dip to provide immediate relief and remove 90+% of the afflicting parasites.

2. 90 min bath in acriflavine.

3. Therapuetic CP or copper within 48 hours.

 

[Dolelo96]

Velvet is fine almost like powdered sugar dusting. Here is an idol I had in QT a couple weeks ago with velvet.

If you can get some side view pics of the Kole and post them it may be easier to tell.

Tried to get under different light. Not an easy task..he is always moving[emoji4]

 

[Neo Jeo]

Looks like velvet Unfortunately. I hope everything works out.

 

[jp_75]

You need to QT ASAP!!!

 

[HotRocks]

Tried to get under different light. Not an easy task..he is always moving[emoji4]

Definitely velvet.

I would all fish moved to QT ASAP, following the above protocol for treatment.

 

[Dolelo96]

I don’t have a quarantine. Friends with LFS and know their procedures. Dummy me bought some coral online, acclimate/dipped and in the tank it went..not thinking about eggs. Is there a fast way to set one up?
Is the reef medic keeping slowing it? I saw it on the 4th? Thought it moved faster than that.

 

[Dolelo96]

Hard to tell from that pic. It looks like a combination of ich and velvet to me. As mentioned above it may just be a really severe case of ich based on the fact that it has been present this long and fish are surviving. The fact that you are dosing reef medic may be hindering the parasites a bit. I would still act with urgency and treat this as velvet if it were me.

I would move all of your fish to QT. Setting one up is pretty easy. Just use a powerhead/airstone, Heater, and a HOB filter. Grab a bottle of biospira or Dr tims to seed biofilter. a piece of media from your DT may also help.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

QT will need treated with copper or Chloroquine Phosphate to get the fish clean.

Your DT will just need to sit fallow (Fishless) for 76 days and it will be parasite free.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fallow-periods-going-fishless.190324/

Also for future reference: Corals can carry tomonts that are encysted to the plug/rock they are attached to etc. Tomonts release the free swimming stage of the parasite looking for a fish host to complete the cycle. There is not a dip that can remove them. This is probably what happened when you added the coral.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

Won’t it contaminate the quarantine tank if I use media from the DT?

 

[HotRocks]

Won’t it contaminate the quarantine tank if I use media from the DT?

It's important to have a quickly established biofilter. The fact you can bring some parasites isn't a huge downfall since you are treating for them anyway and they are already on the fish.

I don’t have a quarantine. Friends with LFS and know their procedures. Dummy me bought some coral online, acclimate/dipped and in the tank it went..not thinking about eggs. Is there a fast way to set one up?
Is the reef medic keeping slowing it? I saw it on the 4th? Thought it moved faster than that.

Reef medic likely slowing it. But it's progressed to a point that it's not going to end well IMO, if it goes untreated.

 

[mitch91175]

Yeah looks like velvet to me too. Unfortunately there isn't anything that you can do in your display unless you want to treat it with copper and never add another coral. I went through velvet and ich in my tank. Had to break it down to catch the fish and treat with Copper Power and hypo salinity. I know that people say you need to do it for 76 days, but I only did mine for 3 weeks. I am not suggesting that you DO NOT do the whole 76 days. Just speaking from my experience.

I know for a fact that since I run both ozone and a UV sterilizer and have a bare bottom tank that all 3 helped me eradicate both the ich and velvet in my tank. I know for a fact it's all gone because I have both a Powder Blue and Achilles Tang in my tank and neither of them have ich or velvet (they chase each other a lot and the Achilles is always stressed and those guys are ich magnets). Wish you the best, but you'll loose everything if you do not do something fast for sure.

 

[Dolelo96]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Going to see if I can get my LFS to put the Tang in their hospital tank tomorrow. They already have my clown...give me a chance to get the quarantine set up. Just broke a toe on the foot the I had surgery on twice in the last 6 months. This is not my week. I’ll post back with an update. Thanks again!

 

[4FordFamily]

Most definitely velvet and the advice here is sound. @HotRocks has you in good shape.

Here’s an article on LFS and quarantine (why it’s not feasible) you may find helpful!

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/lfs-fish-“treatment”-the-“sudden”-need-for-quarantine.308/

 

[drstardust]

Velvet indeed. Godspeed, and keep us updated on how it goes! This is a disease that can be beaten with prompt treatment!

 

[Dolelo96]

Small update..caught the Tang (he seems to be the sickest). My LFS put him in their hospital tank, giving me time to get a quarantine tank set up this weekend. Pulled 20 gallon out of DT to put in new tank, hopefully set up by Sunday. Remaining fish aren’t showing symptoms yet, probably because of the medic. Hoping that will continue until I can get new tank set up.

Thanks again for all the great advice

 

[HotRocks]

Good luck treating your fish. Hoping for the best!