Is This Velvet?

[JourReve08]

I've never seen it before but I've heard gold flakes are a sign of velvet. I'm seeing them on two of my julii cory cats. They are active and acting totally normal, but could this be an early sign of illness, or might it just be their natural color developing as they mature? Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[sobersteve323]

It looks like its just the color of their scales coming out. If you're referring to the reflective gold I believe most if not all cories have it including mine. Are they flashing/itchy?

Maybe google images of your cories and compare to how yours look. I know I was worried about my panda cories when I first saw that too, along with some darker markings but then I saw google images and they all looked like mine.

 

[sobersteve323]

Oh and I've fought velvet too. I didn't have a very good battle with it so I hope your fish doesn't have it.

 

[JourReve08]

Good call with the Google search! Seems that juliis do sometimes have gold in their patterns like this one I found in a image search. I'm a bit concerned still because their gills seem pinker than they should be. Is that a sign of illness? I increased the water temp out of paranoia! It's been around 76 so I'm going to bring it closer to 80. Thanks for the help!

 

[sobersteve323]

Is this a mature tank or new one? If its a new one that's still cycling or recently finished cycling it could be just irritated from ammonia buildup. Depending on how bad it is it may heal on its own or could be permanent.

If its an old tank did you recently introduce anything new such as fish or even plants?

I actually have some bandit cories in a quarantine tank right now. My ammonia spiked while I was at work the first day I had them and some had pretty pink gills. Luckily it wasn't bad and water changes/good water quality cleared up the redness.

 

[JourReve08]

Here are a couple more pics of my juliis! Also, I did a 20% water change today and added a drop or two of Prime (ten gallon tank) so my water parameters are great at the moment. Everyone else is healthy with the exception of a betta and cherry barb both with slightly nipped fins (my pregnant platy was acting up today right before I did the water change. Unusual for her.) But no one is lethargic or hiding. I hope I'm just worrying over nothing. I've had such good luck with this tank so far.

 

[JourReve08]

Is this a mature tank or new one? If its a new one that's still cycling or recently finished cycling it could be just irritated from ammonia buildup. Depending on how bad it is it may heal on its own or could be permanent.

If its an old tank did you recently introduce anything new such as fish or even plants?

I actually have some bandit cories in a quarantine tank right now. My ammonia spiked while I was at work the first day I had them and some had pretty pink gills. Luckily it wasn't bad and water changes/good water quality cleared up the redness.

This tank is about 2 months old. I got the juliis and a few cherry barbs about 2 weeks ago. About a week after that I moved the betta in from a quarantine tank. A few days ago a reintroduced the platy who gave birth in what used to be my quarantine tank. Now it's filled with fry so I'm really hoping nothing is wrong with the juliis because I have no where to put them! Guess I need more tanks...

 

[sobersteve323]

Good looking fish! I used to have julii cories and they looked awesome.

If you have a reliable water test kit and the results are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and low nitrates then I would just keep an eye on it. Are any other fish showing the same symptoms? If they are then you may want to start trying to figure it out.

 

[sobersteve323]

Actually looking at your stocking list it does seem like a high bio load (not exactly sure just eyeballing it). Maybe do a water test and see what the ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are at.

Right now I have an overstocked quarantine tank running and I have to do multiple water changes daily to keep everything low/zeroed out.

 

[JourReve08]

Thanks! Yeah, they are really lovely! I've been using API Master test kit and everything looks good. The other fish seem totally fine, so I guess I'll do another water change tomorrow and test again and keep my fingers crossed! I'm also doing daily water changes in the fry tank. This hobby is turning into a lot of work haha! Thanks for the advice!!!

 

[sobersteve323]

Thanks! Yeah, they are really lovely! I've been using API Master test kit and everything looks good. The other fish seem totally fine, so I guess I'll do another water change tomorrow and test again and keep my fingers crossed! I'm also doing daily water changes in the fry tank. This hobby is turning into a lot of work haha! Thanks for the advice!!!

Yeah I'm hoping for you it's just related to water quality and nothing more serious but keep an eye on it just in case. I had goldfish most of my life but when I started up my community tank a couple of years ago I ran into so many problems and hiccups. Mostly due to me being impatient and and also buying poor quality stock from a few local stores because I didn't want to wait for other cleaner stores to get fish in.

Once you have the initial hard work out of the way it gets waaaay more enjoyable! Even the routine maintenance can be fun if you have the right mindset. Like right now I've had the tv on but I've just been starring at the tank the entire time enjoying the pruning I did earlier today lol.

 

[librarygirl]

I've had fish with Velvet before and maybe it's the pics but I don't see any dustings on the fish. Best way to tell is to turn the lights off in the tank and in the room and shine a flashlight on the fish; if it looks like it's covered in gold dust, then it could be Velvet.

 

[sobersteve323]

Any updates? Everyone looking good??

 

[JourReve08]

There gills are still a little pink but they are very active and have stopped scratching. I think water changes and temp increase are really helping!

 

[JourReve08]

Thanks for asking

 

[Keke89]

Hi there jourreve

So what was the golden green shine to the cory julli? 4 if mine have it too and only one has started to flash. Not sure what to be looking out for?

Advise will be greatly appreciated !!