Marine Velvet & Hyposalinity

[johnkristie]

Can I treat Marine Velvet with hyposalinity??

 

[buddha_red]

A hyposalinity treatment does not kill Marine Velvet

 

[Innovator]

Chloroquine if you can get your hands on it or copper (Cupramine).

 

[johnkristie]

Since the last post I've looked at several articles and links to see if that is truely what I have going on, but not 100% sure. I got a blue hippo tang about 2 weeks ago and soon noticed white spots on his body and fins and he was scraping the rocks. Then about a week later my Passer angel and naso tang started doing the same, but I haven't seen the white spots on them yet and did notice the color of the angel had gotten pale and blotchy, but during feeding time his color comes right back to normal. So, I saw from reading that Velvet attacks the gills first and then the body and that's why I thought I wasn't seeing the spots yet. All seem to be eating fine and I have many other fish in the tank that seem to be unaffected as of yet. The angel is still scraping and acts like he is irritated all the time. NO lethargy, clamping of fins, lack of appetite or heavy breathing at the surface. The blue tang is behaving normally also except for the scraping and white spots. Since the blue tang is still hanging in there more than two weeks lsince I first noticed it and reading that Velvet acts quickly, I am confused on the diagnosis now.

Any help?

 

[CaptainAhab]

sure sounds like classic ich symptoms to me. You can start your hypo questions again.. and the answer is yes.. IMO

 

[Innovator]

Here are a couple websites with pictures and information to help identify what you have. The second link doesn't have marine velvet listed, surprisingly, but you can compare against that of brook and crypt.

Marine Fish Diseases and Parasites
Diseased Fish - Saltwaterfish.com Message Boards

 

[johnkristie]

The symptoms for Velvet and Marine Ich are so similar. What is the best way to get a correct diagnosis? From what I read, given that Velvet is so quick to kill (48-72 hrs), I hesitate to say that I have it since my new Hippo Tang is still alive after almost 2 weeks and my Passer Angel has had symptoms for at least 3 days now. Yet some of the things the angel is doing like darting around, scraping, and going over to the airstone to hang out for a minute (which she normally doesn't do) sound like some of the Velvet symptoms. Yet, when I come over to the tank she quickly comes right to the front over to me looking for food. And I still don't really see any white spots like a symptom of Ich.

I have had to use Hyposalinity once before about 3 years ago when I introduced my former Hippo Tang (I see a trend here ) and it worked great! So hopefully I can just do that this time.

 

[melosu58]

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

CRYPTOCARYON IRRITANS

 

[johnkristie]

Is it possible for one of my fish to come down with Velvet and the others to remain unaffected?

 

[johnkristie]

Well I guess its not velvet. My fish are still alive. Started a hyposalinity treatment on my tank about a week ago and the fish seem to be doing much better, no more scratching or irritation. Just 4 more weeks in hypo and I should be in the clear. Last time I did this on my main tank it cleared it up completely until the latest episode of new fish additions. Big fan of hypo!

I do have one concern however. Back in November 2004 I posted this thread:
"Can all fish handle hyposalinity treatments? I've had two bad experiences with hyposalinity treatments and Royal Grammas. The first time was in my main, when I noticed that two of my tangs and an angel had ich. I started the hypo treatment and about one week into it my Royal Gramma died for no apparent reason. It didn't have any signs of ich. All of the other fish did fine and the hypo treatment did its job. I performed the treatment by lowering the salinity from 32ppt to 14ppt over a week. The second experience just happened last week. I had bought a new gramma and had it in quarantine for about four days when I noticed the first signs of ich appearing. I started hypo treatment and the next day it was dead. Do basslets or just Grammas have any special sensitivity to low salinities?"

No one really knew the answer. I know the treatments then and now were done correctly as far as bringing the salinity down slow enough. Well, now the same thing seems to be happening again! My Royal Gramma who I've had for about 1.5 years and was always an extremely aggressive eater and always out swimming in the current, has now gone into hiding and stopped eating when the salinity got down to 1.012 SG. Has no signs of Ick. All other fish seem to be handling it great. I want to take him out to my quarantine and treat him in a different manner after raising his salinity back up to normal. This is my third experience with this. I am really starting to think that Basslets (at least Gramma loreto) cannot handle lower salinities.

Any thought?

 

[Innovator]

I've performed hypo on quite a few basslets and have yet to lose a single one, but every fish handles the scnenario differently. You always have the Cupramine (copper) route or purchase the quite expensive Chloroquine.