If I'm wrong and I didn't have velvet but ich. What are my odds at waiting 60 days?
Still like 97%?
fallow peroid
- Thread starter expo703
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Still like 97%?
ThRoewer
New member
All fish dying within a week sounds like velvet or even brook (same fallow period).
With ich it usually takes weeks and your chances are good that at least a few of your fish have enough immunity to go through it unaffected.
When ich kills, it is not quick rather it overwhelms over time.
My fish did have small white dots, but I'm pretty sure it was velvet or Brook because I lost 7 of them within a couple of weeks. I even lost my clowns. That made me very upset. All of them were breathing heavy, stopped eating, had cloudy eyes, etc. I have actually had fish beat marine ich in the past, but I would much rather treat it. The fish are just miserable with it, especially tangs and angels.
yeah sounds like I had velvet almost 99% sure.... basically all fish expect 3 died within 2 weeks.. but didn't see the "gold coating" on their body that I have seen in pictures just looked like ich on most all fish.. my purple tang looked super covered in white spots though and it NEVER went away (like it seemed never to fall off or get better)...Same with my achillies.. both tangs @ night were swimming into the power head current..at the water surface.. soo i think that is pretty good giveaway + fact my madrian goby was first to die.
ThRoewer
New member
Covered in white that never went away sounds more like Brooklynella. It can mimic ich with white lumps that can be mistaken for ich nodules.
ThRoewer
New member
Well, that looks like ich.
Does "never went away" mean that the exact same spots never went away or that the fish in total never cleared up?
The individual spots staying unchanged would speak against ich.
The fish never clearing up on the other hand would fit the later stage of an ich infection in a confined system.
Keep in mind that not all cysts hatch at the same time.
The first ich waves generally are more defined, but each following wave will get less defined, until you reach a point where more new parasites settle on the fish each day than leave it. This will make the fish look worse every day without ever clearing up.
At this stage an immediate tank transfer would be required to give the fish a break and to interrupt the cycle.
Does "never went away" mean that the exact same spots never went away or that the fish in total never cleared up?
The individual spots staying unchanged would speak against ich.
The fish never clearing up on the other hand would fit the later stage of an ich infection in a confined system.
Keep in mind that not all cysts hatch at the same time.
The first ich waves generally are more defined, but each following wave will get less defined, until you reach a point where more new parasites settle on the fish each day than leave it. This will make the fish look worse every day without ever clearing up.
At this stage an immediate tank transfer would be required to give the fish a break and to interrupt the cycle.
No I went to bed, woke up he looked like that for about 1-2 weeks while my other fish had spots too and eventually died..It seemed like I lost a fish every other day..The purple stayed looking like that even in QT (which had copper in it) till eventually dieing =[ He was in QT for like over a week and thought maybe he would pull through till one day he was just laying on his side for about 8 hours but didn't make it.. I never once saw him clear up or even get worse he was just constantly covered like in that picture. Same with my Achilles. I used ich attack and even have a UV on my tank...guess that didn't help much.
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ThRoewer
New member
I know there are diseases that can look like ich but may not be ich, but I would need to dig through my books to find which those could be.
There was a case here a while ago, where somebody couldn't clear up 2 clownfish despite doing TTM (and even if TTM isn't done perfectly right you should see some degree of clearing up)
But it cleared up once he treated them with CP (NLS Ick-Shield).
I think I may have had myself a similar case with a blue spotted jawfish. Unfortunately I got it already at such an advanced level of infection that it died only a few days after I got it.
BTW, copper is likely to make things worse if it isn't ich - it is the one "medication" I have completely banned from my fish medicine cabinet.
There was a case here a while ago, where somebody couldn't clear up 2 clownfish despite doing TTM (and even if TTM isn't done perfectly right you should see some degree of clearing up)
But it cleared up once he treated them with CP (NLS Ick-Shield).
I think I may have had myself a similar case with a blue spotted jawfish. Unfortunately I got it already at such an advanced level of infection that it died only a few days after I got it.
BTW, copper is likely to make things worse if it isn't ich - it is the one "medication" I have completely banned from my fish medicine cabinet.
ah good to know thanks well I thought I had velvet and was told that or CP was only thing that could cure velvet. Thanks for the the helpful responses though learning something new everyday =D
krullshards
New member
I had heard for velvet and ich, that copper is the medicine of choice. I hadn't previously been aware of CP. Now I have ordered CP and it is on its way.
ThRoewer, does your ban on copper include Seachem's cupramine? I'd heard that it was much safer than regular copper.
So alternatives for copper are hypo & TTM for ich and CP for velvet? I'm not sure what other things copper is supposed to be good for.
Yes, indeed. Btw, it is not a "ban" on copper, it is just not the treatment most effective.
krullshards
New member
Sounds good. I'm trying to keep on hand the treatments I'm most likely to need. Don't want to be in a position that I need something for a fish in distress and it takes forever to get the right meds/chemicals.
Deinonych
New member
FWIW, here's what I keep on hand in my "fish medicine cabinet." Covers the most common problems IME.
Antibiotics - Nitrofurazone, kanamycin
Formalin-MS (Brooklynella)
Chloroquine Phosphate (Amyloodinium, aka velvet)
Prazipro (helminths)
Prime (ammonia control during TTM)
krullshards
New member
I also have Methylene Blue and Cupramine although I've never used cupramine yet. I was trying to avoid it. I also picked up Melafix because I thought my dottyback had fin rot, but it turns out it was just being picked on by other fish. I put a separator in the hospital tank as well as smaller pvc and it recovered without any medication needed.
I was dubious about melafix though. It reads "all-natural". That reminds me about the homeopathic crap my mom kept trying to force on me for a while. hah.