My fish are dieing! - suspected velvet

[Knereim]

my fish are dieing!!

I awoke this morning to feed my fish in my 65 and my sword tails and rainbow shark who seemed to be luring low lately have almost a fungus on them and are hardly moving the petsmart being the only store near me couldn't help at all

 

[Knereim]

Lost another one =\

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Glad it helped. I'm sorry you lost another. Did you get any closer to a diagnosis? I've never dealt with velvet myself so i wouldnt know where to start but many other members have.

 

[Knereim]

Sorry about all the posts but I was told by the aquarium shop that my nitrite levels are bad. My test strips read none but his said I had it in my tank. Could that cause it so fast

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Stress brings on disease. Elevated toxins (ammonia & nitrite) can cause stress. I'd suggest you purchase a liquid test kit so you have more accuse readings.

 

[Knereim]

I bought the style that stick in the tank. No ammonia just higher Ph.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Four threads merged together.

The dip sticks/test strips are known for being highly inaccurate. That's why I suggested the liquid test kit. It contains vials of test solution and test tubes.

Start by turning the temp slowly up to 86F and doing some water changes. Keep the lights of the tank off also.

 

[Knereim]

I did everything you said and added a small amount of aquarium salt (tblsp per 15g to be safe) lost another sword tail but nothing visually was wrong with him.other than having white gills.

 

[Knereim]

They seem stable this morning hope all is good while I'm at work.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

You can up the salt to one tablespoon per 10g, then tomorrow up it to one per 5g. You can try one of the meds mentioned in the article but make sure it's safe for all your fish.

 

[Knereim]

=„[ I added pimafix and came back hour and a half later to this

 

[daveho]

awwww thats a shame he was a good looking fellow please get another pleco after all this is over, not many will keep the BIG guys when they are nearing adulthood. sorry again about all this. however in future i would avoid the salt i dont think plecos like it..but there wherent really alot of options......is the higher heat helping at all?

 

[jrskater1999]

Looks like serious ick

 

[jlk]

It looks like a reaction to the pimafix combined with salt. I would do some big water changes with temperature matched, properly conditioned water to reduce the salinity & run new carbon for a few hours to try & remove the pimafix.

 

[librarygirl]

It looks like Velvet to me honestly, all the dense goldish dustings. I'm actually treating for velvet now, it can wipe out a tank if not treated properly. Coppersafe is the recommended med but not sure you can use it with the Pleco; also if you have snails or any other inverts you can't use it. I have COrys so I couldn't use Coppersafe either.

Here's what I'm doing to treat velvet:

First, remove any inverts you have to another tank or holding container, etc.

1) Do a large (70-80%) water change with gravel/sand vac. Refill with dechlorinated water.

2) Get some Maracide, PetSmart should carry it. It comes in small bottles though so you might need a few bottles at least to get through treatment (I have a 40 gal and go through 3-4 bottles in a week). Remove any snails and/or shrimp you have; put them in a separate small tank if you can with a heater and an air stone.

Dose as it says on the bottle (2 caps per ten gallons on days 1, 3 and 5).
3) Slowly raise the heat to 83 over a couple of days. This will quicken the life cycle. If you have an air stone, turn it up. The higher temps will cause less oxygen in the water for the fish.
4) Cover the tank with blankets so light does not get into the tank. Do not turn on the tank light and cover the tank to prevent ambient light coming in. Velvet needs light to multiply.

You can turn on the lights for a few minutes each day just to feed and check for dead fish (remove any dead fish ASAP) but that's it.

On day 6, do another large water change and vacuum the substrate thoroughly and start the process again. Do this for at least 2 weeks. Hopefully the treatment will work. You can use other meds in conjunction, like Maracyn, but meds like that often will affect your good bacteria in the tank so don't add anything else unless you really need to.

I'm on my 2nd week of this treatment and it seems to be working, but I think I caught it early (I only saw the dustings on 3 fish). Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[librarygirl]

Oops sorry I see the Pleco passed. Do you have another? If not you can try the coppersafe instead of the Maracide. Velvet is a parasite and Pimafix treats bacteria, so you want something like Coppersafe or Maracide. I hope your fish get better.

 

[Knereim]

okay ill check into that. Thanks a bunch and I'm hoping to get another big boy when I get this cleared up

 

[Knereim]

Although my 3rd sword tail is still doing okay (he was purchased at the same time as the others that died) and this is the third day of treatment with pimafix and pwc

 

[librarygirl]

Although my 3rd sword tail is still doing okay (he was purchased at the same time as the others that died) and this is the third day of treatment with pimafix and pwc

If the gold dustings are there though the PImafix won't treat it as the velvet is a parasite and pimafix is an antifungal. You might be able to use both in conjunction but not sure. You can use Maracyn with Maracide together but just watch your water parameters as there have been conflicting reports that Maracyn can wipe out your bacteria. The pics you showed look like Velvet and it's a highly contagious disease (the life-cycle is similar to Ich but worse) so it needs to be treated with meds that are made for it and it isn't always visible at first; it can start inside the gills before it becomes visible. Good luck. I hope your fish pull through.

 

[Knereim]

Okay so I should stop the pimafix and do pwc and get the meds for velvet? I am on my 4th day with no dead fishes. Although my Rosie barbs fin still looks a little frail on the end