Marine velvet(Amyloodinium ocellatum) in microscope

mattcoug

New member
My Brooklynella videos appeared popular so here is my take on Marine Velvet.

I got in a passer anglefish that came down with velvet after a couple weeks in QT. Here are his symptoms:

1. hiding from light in back corner
2. loss of appitite
3. pale/washed out color
4. very rapid breathing(gilling)

Yesterday I performed a 5 minute freshwater dip with RODI plus baking soda, temperature adjusted to match the QT at 77f. I then placed the fish back in the same QT and dosed CP at 12.5 mg/l. This morning he was out swimming and almost looked fully back to normal. I'll update this thread as his condition changes.

As part of the diagnostic, I carefully checked the dip water and found the 'snow' that is frequently described for velvet. I then used a dropper to capture a few 'snows' to inspect under the microscope and get video of the parasite.

The video is captured using an iPhone camera held to a microscope at 800x. The first half of the video shows a group of dinospores(free swimming stage) and the second half shows what appears to be an early tomont or mature trophont that fell off the fish.

!!As a warning to fellow fish-keepers, this video was take more than 6 hours after the slide was prepared, so the live dinospores are able to live in pure freshwater for a significant time and I can easily imagine them reinfecting fish if dip water is used twice, or allowed in any way to get back into the system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHUJCmdBfJo
 
I am sorry to read about your passer angel. It reminded me when I snorkeled in Panama and saw many beautiful passer angels.

Wow, cool video and great idea! I am surprised there are not many videos documenting post bath organism survival, death, and drop off from fish. It would be helpful to document what works best. If I have the time, I will consider buying and treating sick fish and document what the organisms look like after bath treatments.
 
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