Is this Velvet?
- Thread starter GT350pwns
- Start date
That's not Velvet. It could be: cut/abrasion, coral sting, bacterial infection or even possibly Uronema. How long have you had him? Any aggression towards him from other fish? That will help determine what it may or may not be.
angelfish7
New member
I agree, thats not velvet. it wouldve been all over the fish and he wouldve been breathing heavily, scratching against objest and no eating!
Awesome that it isn't velvet.
I have had him a week (i know, i know. Didn't QT him, have decided to play Russian roulette. But, with the feeling I got after seeing this I think I'm going to start gathering items for a small QT) and all has been great up until this morning when I saw this spot. I've noticed him darting across the sand on his side a time or two, but I'm unsure if that's related or not. Only other occupants are a pair of clowns and they don't pay any attention to him at all that I've noticed.
No corals in the tank so I don't think it's a sting. I think I have a fulgida worm, but the one I suspect is fulgida isn't near large enough to start attacking fish. I haven't seen any sign of any other predatory worms or any large worms at all.
If it's bacterial, can I just dump some sort of antibiotic into the tank once or twice a day?
I have had him a week (i know, i know. Didn't QT him, have decided to play Russian roulette. But, with the feeling I got after seeing this I think I'm going to start gathering items for a small QT) and all has been great up until this morning when I saw this spot. I've noticed him darting across the sand on his side a time or two, but I'm unsure if that's related or not. Only other occupants are a pair of clowns and they don't pay any attention to him at all that I've noticed.
No corals in the tank so I don't think it's a sting. I think I have a fulgida worm, but the one I suspect is fulgida isn't near large enough to start attacking fish. I haven't seen any sign of any other predatory worms or any large worms at all.
If it's bacterial, can I just dump some sort of antibiotic into the tank once or twice a day?
The only antibiotic I'd feel comfortable using in a DT is erythromycin, as that is the active ingredient used in many cyano eradication chemicals. But even that is not 100% safe.
The problem with erythromycin is it is mainly effective against mild gram positive infections. If this happens to be a gram negative infection (impossible to tell without a microscope), then erythromycin probably isn't going to help.
Yes, very possible - if what you are dealing with is a gram positive bacterial infection. Gram negatives are much more lethal and almost always require aggressive antibiotic treatment. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to differentiate between the two without a culture sample under a microscope. Also unfortunate... if this is a gram negative infection he will likely be dead (without treatment) in a day or two.
As a very general rule of thumb, if it's a new fish the likelihood of gram negative increases. With existing/established fish, it's almost always gram positive.
Are there any signs of decline? if he's not doing as well in the AM I will probably go into panic mode and set up a small, cheapo QT.
Really hoping he cut himself on a rock or got into it with a bristle worm last night lol. He's actually a TON more active today than I've seen him any other day since I got him. He's still doing normal goby things, but he was actually fairly open about coming out for food today and didn't seem reluctant to stay out into the open until he was full.
Not really. From my own experience and from helping others, I've seen infections that looked like no big deal, fish is still eating, acting fine, etc. And then the very next day the fish is dead. My "pet theory" is that gram negative bacterium doesn't really affect the fish negatively until probably hours before it kills. On a positive note, most gram positive bacterium can be dealt with by the fish's natural immune system, and gram positive infections are more the "norm"... more likely to occur.
