Velvet

[Lavey29]

Not sure why I would feel the need to make up a story. I posted a video of the fish in her stages so find something better to do othe r than picking on people over nonsense.

Nothing like a cup of coffee and some fish bafoonery to start the day. I wish you very happy magical holidays season.

 

[fishgirljockey]

All joking aside, I'd certainly welcome a novel (but well-reasoned) proposal for the treatment of marine velvet. If it stands up to the scientific method, and produces real results, it would benefit a great many people indeed. At a minimum, I'd love to see the vet's step-by-step treatment plan.

AIRSTONE FOR ALL TREATMENT - I recommend a strong one - I used a 20 gallon pump for a 3 gallon bucket.

- Fresh Water bath to start right away; 4-6 minutes; monitor very closely (lowered temp to 68 degrees); Ruby did not handle this well. So keep a very close eye on them. The lower temp buys you time, this will slow down the parasite; these parasites can't reproduce under 59 degrees. Obviously, we can't drop it down that low, but we can drop it low enough that doesn't stress out the fish and enough to slow down the parasite. Raising the temp will alone allow the parasite to reproduce, attack more aggressively and kill your fish a whole lot faster.

If the fish wants to lay down, DO NOT let them! Keep them moving. This is extremely important. Encourage them and get them fighting. I used a turkey baster to poke her every time she was upside down and sideways. Yes, she was upside down ALOT. I didn't think she was making it at all. I had to do this vigorously.

- Peroxide! 30 minute bath (20 ml of 3% H2O2 per 1 gallon of saltwater) so I used 50 ml of 3% H202 for 2.5 gallon of saltwater in a bucket. (temp still at 68 degrees; salinity at 1.010... NOT 1.011..trust me, its that important).

- After the 30 minute bath she was placed into API General Cure for 2 days (salinity still at 1.010 - Now the temp can be 82-84

- After the general cure she had to be put in a Formalin bath (0.6ml per gallon) because she developed a secondary infection; her skin was coming off by the second). This helped stop it immediately to preserve it!

- After her formalin bath, I forgot to mention that I gave her a break. I filled a bucket with regular saltwater (very very VERY slight dose of melafix); gave her the day to relax.

After her rest when I saw that the dust/dots were not there anymore, she was put in methylene blue for 60 minutes (she was in a bucket of 2.5 gallons so I used 2.5ml of the MB).

-After the MB bath she was placed in a bucket with Kanaplex for 3 doses so 6 days. Keep the salinity at 1.010 at all times during any treatment! Every two days, new bucket with fresh saltwater.

Now, she's in regular salt water; regular salinity doing super well! I acclimated her to regular salinity over a weeks time. So I had her starting at 1.10 throughout all treatment. After treatment it was raised to 1.18 and then now I am currently making her 1.025. Now I just dose stress coat and some vitamins. Her fins are growing back. She is doing so well right now and I can't even believe she made it. Her turn around was unreal. This is the plan that worked for me. Every fish is going to be different in what they can handle so always monitor them very closely and always keep a second bucket ready at hand with no meds just incase they aren't handling whatever you have them in.

 

[davidcalgary29]

AIRSTONE FOR ALL TREATMENT - I recommend a strong one - I used a 20 gallon pump for a 3 gallon bucket.

- Fresh Water bath to start right away; 4-6 minutes; monitor very closely (lowered temp to 68 degrees); Ruby did not handle this well. So keep a very close eye on them. The lower temp buys you time, this will slow down the parasite; these parasites can't reproduce under 59 degrees. Obviously, we can't drop it down that low, but we can drop it low enough that doesn't stress out the fish and enough to slow down the parasite. Raising the temp will alone allow the parasite to reproduce, attack more aggressively and kill your fish a whole lot faster.

If the fish wants to lay down, DO NOT let them! Keep them moving. This is extremely important. Encourage them and get them fighting. I used a turkey baster to poke her every time she was upside down and sideways. Yes, she was upside down ALOT. I didn't think she was making it at all. I had to do this vigorously.

- Peroxide! 30 minute bath (20 ml of 3% H2O2 per 1 gallon of saltwater) so I used 50 ml of 3% H202 for 2.5 gallon of saltwater in a bucket. (temp still at 68 degrees; salinity at 1.010... NOT 1.011..trust me, its that important).

- After the 30 minute bath she was placed into API General Cure for 2 days (salinity still at 1.010 - Now the temp can be 82-84

- After the general cure she had to be put in a Formalin bath (0.6ml per gallon) because she developed a secondary infection; her skin was coming off by the second). This helped stop it immediately to preserve it!

- After her formalin bath, I forgot to mention that I gave her a break. I filled a bucket with regular saltwater (very very VERY slight dose of melafix); gave her the day to relax.

After her rest when I saw that the dust/dots were not there anymore, she was put in methylene blue for 60 minutes (she was in a bucket of 2.5 gallons so I used 2.5ml of the MB).

-After the MB bath she was placed in a bucket with Kanaplex for 3 doses so 6 days. Keep the salinity at 1.010 at all times during any treatment! Every two days, new bucket with fresh saltwater.

Now, she's in regular salt water; regular salinity doing super well! I acclimated her to regular salinity over a weeks time. So I had her starting at 1.10 throughout all treatment. After treatment it was raised to 1.18 and then now I am currently making her 1.025. Now I just dose stress coat and some vitamins. Her fins are growing back. She is doing so well right now and I can't even believe she made it. Her turn around was unreal. This is the plan that worked for me. Every fish is going to be different in what they can handle so always monitor them very closely and always keep a second bucket ready at hand with no meds just incase they aren't handling whatever you have them in.

Thanks for the info. I've seen other, similar protocols (especially Humblefish's), but I've never seen any that attempt to correlate salinity directly with the efficacy of hydrogen peroxide dosing for the treatment of velvet. I wonder if someone else who has combined hypo with peroxide baths can provide their experience with this type of treatment?

 

[jaganshi066]

Sorry to hear. Copper and high dose hydrogen peroxide dips are the two methods that have some good background to them. The Polyp Lab Medic is a peroxide salt, so is related to a product shown to work in research, but I worry that the dose is too low so that it will remain safe for invertebrates (I'm not suggesting using it at a higher dose though!). The Paraguard has a poor track record treating marine ich, so I wouldn't expect it to work well on velvet.

Jay

Jay if one has velvet, does it always linger in the tank even after treatment?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Jay if one has velvet, does it always linger in the tank even after treatment?

Not after a full 30 day copper treatment. I can't speak to "reef safe" treatments or peroxide though.

Velvet typically does not reside in a chronic (hidden) condition on fish like marine ich often does. If it's in the tank, it is usually a full blown infection.

Jay

 

[Sharkbait19]

I’ll just add that it can survive for a bit without a host, but will eventually be starved out. After a velvet infection, be sure to keep the tank fishless for 6 weeks to ensure it has all starved out.

 

[fishgirljockey]

I’ll just add that it can survive for a bit without a host, but will eventually be starved out. After a velvet infection, be sure to keep the tank fishless for 6 weeks to ensure it has all starved out.

What a pain in the butt it is too! I just put my fish back in about 2 weeks ago I believe. And I still feel so traumatized. Im looking at the fish every second of the day cause I still feel like its in there even though I know its not lol It will take a while for me to feel comfortable again. This was just a very grueling experience!

This is the stages of what happened to Ruby; she had the velvet the worse, but she's almost fully recovered as far as her fins. The last pic is her today. The only thing is she lost a ton of weight throughout the experience. I have been feeding her a couple times a day and a lot of pellets. It looks like she has put on some, but not a lot. So, this is the one thing I am working on right now so she's back to her chunky red self!

 

[jaganshi066]

Not after a full 30 day copper treatment. I can't speak to "reef safe" treatments or peroxide though.

Velvet typically does not reside in a chronic (hidden) condition on fish like marine ich often does. If it's in the tank, it is usually a full blown infection.

Jay

Thank you.