marine velvet or ich??

[Beemo]

I bought a porcupine puffer a few weeks back and he introduced some kind of parasite to my fish only tank.
after a few days of having the puffer he developed white spots which i assumed was ich. he then went on to becoming blind within 48 hours, rapid breathing and finally death. I only had him 6 days before he died.
other occupents were not effected until last week i noticed white speck on my maroon clown. i treated with quick cure and within a few days the spots went away.
then a few days ago i noticed my high-hat grunt started to rub against rocks. he started breathing rapidly and didnt want to eat anymore. my rainbow wrasse is experiencing the same problems now.
i saw a few white speckles on my grunt so i treated again with quick cure. the next day i noticed his gills were heavily infested with white specks, breathing was very rapid.
i found him dead this morning
now my rainbow wrasse is breathing heavier and doesnt want to eat anymore either.
maroon clown and yellow tailed damsel are fine.
i have a few hermits and a sally lightfoot crab so i didnt want to use copper or hyposalinity.
not sure if removing the fish to a QT will work since the tank is infected.
i started to wonder if this is marine velvet and not ich?? the spots are white not yellow, not sure if that matters, but ive never seen such a quick rapid death like this from ich.
fish that experience the gill trouble are dead within days
i dont know what to do

there is no live rock, just a few inverts that actually was meant to be food for the puffer.
ammonia is zero
nitrite zero
nirtrate 20 ppm
temp 79
ph 8.2
SG 1.024

 

[kevin2000]

Since copper will be effective against both ich and amylo (velvet) thats seems like the treatment that makes the best sense. Curpamine copper is considered one of the least harsh coppers and that would be my recommendation.

You will need to setup a QT .. leaving your tank without fish for about 8 weeks should clear up any residual parasites within the tank.

 

[snappedbigfoot]

i think its amblyo, can you only see it on them at certain angles. I'd also qt all them treat copper, and than leave st empty for 4-6 weeks

 

[Beemo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10083021#post10083021 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snappedbigfoot
i think its amblyo, can you only see it on them at certain angles. I'd also qt all them treat copper, and than leave st empty for 4-6 weeks

yes this sounds like it, i will double check later on, but it does appear to only be visible at a certain angle.

setting up another tank is not possible right now

i just bought mardel coppersafe for saltwater. it says safe with "some" inverts, may effect snails (which i dont have) and inverts without an ecoskeleton

i'll try this out tonight. it says treats ich and velvet along with various other parasites.

i only have three fish left, so if these three die then i will leave the tank without fish for many months just to make sure any parasite is truly dead and not lying dorment or something

i never heard of amblyo, i will google that now to see if it seems like thats it

 

[kevin2000]

You definitely don't want to put copper in your ST ... will ruin the tank for inverts in the future .. will be absorbed by your live rock and aragonite substrate (expensive to replace). Also .. all that "absorption" will make it very difficult to keep the proper concentration within the water column and if you don't have the right dose it the copper treatment won't work.

It doesn't cost that much to setup a small effective QT .. and if this tragedy has taught you anything it s/b that you should never put a fish into the tank w/o prior QT. Spend a few bucks to have dedicated QT .. will help now and when your ready to restock.

 

[Beemo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10083789#post10083789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kevin2000
You definitely don't want to put copper in your ST ... will ruin the tank for inverts in the future .. will be absorbed by your live rock and aragonite substrate (expensive too replace). Also .. all that "absorption" will make it very difficult to keep the proper concentration within the water column and if you don't have the right dose it the copper treatment won't work.

i dont have liverock, the sand is a thin layer, a dusting to 1/4" thick
the inverts were meant as food for the puffer, it was going to be an aggressive FO tank
i felt bad about killing the inverts with copper, at least as food source i feel its natural, but copper i feel im murdering them.
but this is probably the only way i can save my remaining fishes.
and when things get back to normal those inverts will be on the menu again anyway.
so if thats the only reason not to use copper then i dont think it applies to me

 

[CCall]

You will not be able to put shrimps in this tank if you use copper. If you ever decide to go into the reef side you won't be able to use this tank. Once you use copper all the equipement is also cantaminated. Therefore you could not use them on any other tank. If you decide to sell please tell them that it was medicated equipement.

 

[Beemo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10095473#post10095473 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CCall
You will not be able to put shrimps in this tank if you use copper. If you ever decide to go into the reef side you won't be able to use this tank. Once you use copper all the equipement is also cantaminated. Therefore you could not use them on any other tank. If you decide to sell please tell them that it was medicated equipement.

i dont want any shrimp in this tank, unless it would be used as a food source
i have reef tanks allready, and i dont mix equipment in anyway. i keep everything seperate at all times.
each tank even has their own mag float, and are labeled so i know which tank its for. nets also are kept seperate for certain tanks

 

[Beemo]

there is also a product that will remove copper if needed
http://www.petstore.com/ps_ViewItem...r_Media_Chemical_Copper_Removers-vendor-.html

i dont need it though since not only did i NOT use copper yet but even if i did its a FO tank and will be forever
the tank before this was a 55g reef, i threw away everthing including the tank. the only thing i kept was the stand.
so im not the type of person who reuses things..yeah im a waster guess i just like things brand new all the time

the reason why i havent used the coppersafe yet is because my fish dropped all the white spots and are acting normal again.
i guess the quick cure worked..although slowly
hopefully this will be the end to it, but i have a feeling another outbreak will occur within the next month
my wrasse has been saved and is back to eating. too bad i couldnt save my high-hat grunt he was a very special and friendly fish, he ate from my hand and was always begging
R.I.P Sawyer