A few of my platy's have white spots that are more moldy looking than ich spots. I googled it and what I found is that it might be velvet. Supposedly the characteristics and treatments are almost identical to ich. Can anyone give me a little more info on velvet so I can start treating my tank?
Velvet
- Thread starter ccross
- Start date
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Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
I'm sorry for your loss but no need to be like that.
Velvet is a silver or gold shimmer on the fish seen when you sine a torch on them. Does it look like that?
White, moldy looking growth is most likely a bacterial infection. If its moving fast its most likely columnaris.
What you need to do is decrease the temp of the tank to 70-72F and add 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water. Add it slowly dissolved in a cup of tank water. If you are America you will need a gram negative antibiotic to treat. Maracyn 2 should be available at your LFS. If your in the UK or Australia antibiotics aren't available over the counter.
Disinfect everything that's come into contact with the tank. It's easily transferred to other tanks.
Are any fish showing symptoms now?
Velvet is a silver or gold shimmer on the fish seen when you sine a torch on them. Does it look like that?
White, moldy looking growth is most likely a bacterial infection. If its moving fast its most likely columnaris.
What you need to do is decrease the temp of the tank to 70-72F and add 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water. Add it slowly dissolved in a cup of tank water. If you are America you will need a gram negative antibiotic to treat. Maracyn 2 should be available at your LFS. If your in the UK or Australia antibiotics aren't available over the counter.
Disinfect everything that's come into contact with the tank. It's easily transferred to other tanks.
Are any fish showing symptoms now?
I am like this because I posted 2 different threads in 3 days and noone wanted to help me out, and now I've lost fish. That aside, I still have 2 fish lying on the bottom of the tank. They get up and move as soon as I get near the tank or feed them. I increased the temperature to 80 last night because I also noticed some ich spots on a few of them. Once the temperature increased, they seemed to get more active. Alot of them keep doing this thing that looks like thier whole body is wagging. 2 of the fish have patches of what looks like mold on thier side close to thier tails. My pleco who wasnt showing any symptoms was one of the dead this morning,
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
ccross said:
Sometimes people just don't know the answers so don't post. That's all.
What are your parameters like? Stable? Any new fish?
Ich is the last of your worries at the moment. Your first priority will be to treat the bacterial infection. By turning the heat down you will slow the ich right down and it won't pose a threat while you treat the infection. Turning the temperature down will also slow the bacteria down giving you valuable time to treat.
What country are you in?
I'm in the US.
Ammonia is .25ppm
Nitrite and Nitrate are both at 0
No new fish. Unfortunately the last 2 that were added were from walmart and both subsequently died within 2 days of what I thought was ich. My wife had added them to my tank without quarantine....
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
ccross said:
Ok. I'd suggest a large water change to remove ammonia and any bacteria that maybe in the water. Followed by reducing the temperature and adding salt. If you can get some maracyn 2, treat the tank as per instructions. Time is of the essence so the sooner you can treat the better. I'm not going to lie to you. You are probably going to loose a few more of the weakest but hopefully save the rest. If you can, remove any with visible signs and quarantine or cull (sounds awful I know) them it will help protect the others.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
Any salt that has no iodine or anticaking agents is fine to use. You want to have 1 flat tablespoon per 5 gallons of tank water. Dissolve it in a container of tank water and add 1/4 of the solution. Add 1/4 every 3-6 hours until you reach the full dosage. When doing a water change you need to replace what has been taken out. If you do a 50% water change you need to add a half dose of salt back in with the new water.
No problem
No problem
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
ccross said:
Not usually. It will probably have additives. You want pure salt. Anticaking is exactly that. It stops the salt clumping together. Kosher salt is exactly the same as aquarium salt except cheaper.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
It's almost 11:30pm here so I'm off to bed. I'll check your thread in the morning.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
How's it going today?
Only lost 1 fish over night. Ran the tank with no heater and it is at 72*. Could not find kosher salt ANYWHERE. Everyone was sold out. I went to walmart for the antibiotic and all they had was melafix, but it says it treats bacterial infections. Please tell me this will work so I can save my fish
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
ccross said:Only lost 1 fish over night. Ran the tank with no heater and it is at 72*. Could not find kosher salt ANYWHERE. Everyone was sold out. I went to walmart for the antibiotic and all they had was melafix, but it says it treats bacterial infections. Please tell me this will work so I can save my fish
IMO melafix won't do anything in this situation. I'm glad to hear you've only lost one more (I'm sorry you still lost one!!). Salt, low temps and plenty of clean water can be enough to beat it if you cant find the correct antibiotics. Any pure sea salt will work (without iodine and anticaking).
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
IME melafix is pretty much snake oil. You can give it a go since you've got it but finding some salt will really help. Do you have any gouramis or bettas in the tank?
No. Its just platy's. Down to 8 now. My filter has a bio scrubber and a charcoal bag in it. I know I need to remove the charcoal, but what can I do with it in the mean time while I try the Melaflex. I dont want it to dry out do I?
