CrayolaViolence
New member
Even though I engage in pretty strict quarantine methods and medicate all fish for disease whether I see it or not, I had an out break of Marine Velvet in two separate tanks. The only connecting factor between the two (and I have 6 in all) were the fish were fed live fresh clams from the grocery store (normally I freeze them first, but decided to toss these in freshly crushed and live). I have no proof that was what did it. It could have very well been the disease just lay dormant in the fish for several months then for whatever reason broke out. The point is, my one tank is a fish only, which I promptly dosed with CP (I did lose one fish, the one that didn't even look ill in fact), the other tank was my reef tank.
Trust me, I was not looking forward to catching those fish and medicating them. I knew it would be a couple of days before I could have the help to do so, so I got out my ick shield pellets since the fish were eating.
These fish--every fish in the tank--were covered and I do mean COVERED in spots. Fins, body, eyes, all over. This came on sudden and without warning. No itchy fish, no weird behavior, just boom, total outbreak.
I have used ick shield before *in a quarantine tank*--there is no substitute for quarantining but when s**t happens it happens--in combination with CP in the water (both products use CP as the active medication.) Anyhow, since the fish were eating (key point here they were eating like pigs still) I decided to get this food into them.
Anyone who has tried this product has probably run into the issue of being able to get enough food into the fish. It comes in a pellet, sinks, and if it gets on corals or nems or shrimp get them they will most likely suffer and probably die. And in my honest opinion, you almost can't get a fish to eat enough to do any good. My attack on this problem was to crush the food up, mix it with mysis shrimp, clams (my fish go insane for clams), and oyster eggs, then let it set for a while. Through out the day (I work at home so this isn't possible for a lot of people) I would drop tiny bits into the tank. Just enough for the fish to snatch up as soon as it hit the water. I wound up feeding about 10-20 times a day. And no that's not an exaggeration. I mean it when I say tiny amounts, small pinches at a time so there was NO left over food floating in the tank.
Within 24 hours of the first feeding the spots were 95% gone. Now I'm not completely green, so I know this means jack crap, because of the lifecycle of the parasite, so I kept feeding, and kept feeding, and kept feeding. I'm on day 4 now of the food and still no new spots, no spots at all in fact. The fish that are in CP were slightly slower to show improvement. Their appetite is still off, and the emperor looked the worst of any of them and now he's already clear except for a few faded pigment areas. I am now feeding them the medicated food, and have seen a vast improvement in the last 24 hours.
Because the reef fish responded well to the food, I'm leaving them in the tank for treatment. I'd rather not have to rip my tank apart and try and cram 15 fish into a 40 gallon tank (talk about stress). I will if they have another outbreak, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
The reason I am sharing this is NOT to discourage quarantining new fish, but to offer hope to those who have an outbreak for whatever reason, that they may actually be able to deliver real medication to the fish without tearing apart the reef tank. And for those who absolutely can't quarantine, for whatever reason, it might be a good way to treat in tank as a precaution, when new fish are introduced.
The key things about this food are--some fish love it--some hate it--either way you're going to have a hard time getting them to ingest enough. Many, many, many, many small feedings are the only way.
Crushing this food into a powder then make a paste allows for you to get more medication into the fish and makes it more likely picky eaters will consume it. (Don't soak with water soak with actual food like oyster eggs or something) Then marinate the mysis or whatever you feed for a couple of ours, refrigerate the rest. The longer it marinates the more medication will soak into the food. (at least that's my theory.)
Anyhow, if the outbreak resurfaces I will post here to let you know it didn't work as hoped. But if it does work---well I'm not even going to get too hopeful. I would just love to not have to pull all my fish, mess up my tank, and try and pack them into a QT where they will be severely over crowded.
Trust me, I was not looking forward to catching those fish and medicating them. I knew it would be a couple of days before I could have the help to do so, so I got out my ick shield pellets since the fish were eating.
These fish--every fish in the tank--were covered and I do mean COVERED in spots. Fins, body, eyes, all over. This came on sudden and without warning. No itchy fish, no weird behavior, just boom, total outbreak.
I have used ick shield before *in a quarantine tank*--there is no substitute for quarantining but when s**t happens it happens--in combination with CP in the water (both products use CP as the active medication.) Anyhow, since the fish were eating (key point here they were eating like pigs still) I decided to get this food into them.
Anyone who has tried this product has probably run into the issue of being able to get enough food into the fish. It comes in a pellet, sinks, and if it gets on corals or nems or shrimp get them they will most likely suffer and probably die. And in my honest opinion, you almost can't get a fish to eat enough to do any good. My attack on this problem was to crush the food up, mix it with mysis shrimp, clams (my fish go insane for clams), and oyster eggs, then let it set for a while. Through out the day (I work at home so this isn't possible for a lot of people) I would drop tiny bits into the tank. Just enough for the fish to snatch up as soon as it hit the water. I wound up feeding about 10-20 times a day. And no that's not an exaggeration. I mean it when I say tiny amounts, small pinches at a time so there was NO left over food floating in the tank.
Within 24 hours of the first feeding the spots were 95% gone. Now I'm not completely green, so I know this means jack crap, because of the lifecycle of the parasite, so I kept feeding, and kept feeding, and kept feeding. I'm on day 4 now of the food and still no new spots, no spots at all in fact. The fish that are in CP were slightly slower to show improvement. Their appetite is still off, and the emperor looked the worst of any of them and now he's already clear except for a few faded pigment areas. I am now feeding them the medicated food, and have seen a vast improvement in the last 24 hours.
Because the reef fish responded well to the food, I'm leaving them in the tank for treatment. I'd rather not have to rip my tank apart and try and cram 15 fish into a 40 gallon tank (talk about stress). I will if they have another outbreak, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
The reason I am sharing this is NOT to discourage quarantining new fish, but to offer hope to those who have an outbreak for whatever reason, that they may actually be able to deliver real medication to the fish without tearing apart the reef tank. And for those who absolutely can't quarantine, for whatever reason, it might be a good way to treat in tank as a precaution, when new fish are introduced.
The key things about this food are--some fish love it--some hate it--either way you're going to have a hard time getting them to ingest enough. Many, many, many, many small feedings are the only way.
Crushing this food into a powder then make a paste allows for you to get more medication into the fish and makes it more likely picky eaters will consume it. (Don't soak with water soak with actual food like oyster eggs or something) Then marinate the mysis or whatever you feed for a couple of ours, refrigerate the rest. The longer it marinates the more medication will soak into the food. (at least that's my theory.)
Anyhow, if the outbreak resurfaces I will post here to let you know it didn't work as hoped. But if it does work---well I'm not even going to get too hopeful. I would just love to not have to pull all my fish, mess up my tank, and try and pack them into a QT where they will be severely over crowded.
