Related Question Answers
Symptoms
- Scratching against hard objects.
- Lethargy.
- Loss of appetite and weight.
- Loss of color.
- Rapid, labored breathing.
- Fins clamped against the body.
- Fine yellow or rusty colored film on the skin.
- In advanced stages, skin peels off.
Velvet Symptoms
How many symptoms and which symptoms a fish has depended heavily on the species and the severity of the outbreak but, in general, here’s what you might see: Gold or brownish “dusting” on the fish. Itching and scratching against surfaces. Bloody streaks on the body or fins.
The disease is highly contagious and can prove fatal to fish.
Fish can have repeated ich outbreaks, build immunity, outbreak again, recover again – and be just fine. Though, if the ich parasite infiltrates the gills, the fish will die. This can realistically happen at any time, if ich is present in your system. UV sterilizers don’t cause ich to fall off a fish.
Yes; ich, velvet, brook & uronema all have a tomont stage. You can also bring in flukes/worms on a coral, as those lay eggs which invariably fall out of a fish and settle elsewhere.
The range of time can be anywhere from a few days all the way up to months of survival without treatment. Velvet cycles very fast, so the presence of free swimmers increases every 48 hours.
Despite its fancy name, Velvet is a common fish disease that can cause serious issues. Velvet is caused by a small parasite known as Oodinium which can latch onto the body, gills and fins of fish. It is sometimes also referred to as rust disease or gold dust disease.
Although these cysts may appear as tiny white dots the size of a grain of salt, like the first sign of Saltwater Ich or White Spot Disease, what sets Oodinium apart from other types of ich is that at this point the fish have the appearance of being coated with what looks like a whitish or tan to golden colored, velvet–
With bettas being a tropical species, you shouldn’t need to medicate the aquarium for too long. Velvet is vulnerable at a higher temperatures, so this makes it quicker to cure in a betta aquarium than it would in a cold water aquarium. You shouldn’t need to medicate for Velvet for longer than 10 days.
Velvet trophonts (and the correlating dots) are much smaller than ich. It has been said that velvet makes a fish look like it has been dusted with a fine powder, whereas ich is more like salt grains. If you can count the number of white dots on your fish, then you are probably dealing with ich.
Cleaner shrimp will try to eat ickand the fish that has it will try to make itself available for the shrimp to eat itbut don’t count on the shrimp to be successful.
Common Fish Diseases Treatable with ParaGuard
Ich is among the most common infections of fish, and is entirely treatable with diligence and attention to water quality. Velvet is less common than Ich, but the treatment is almost identical.
Ich parasites can attach themselves to inverts but they don’t get what they need from them to survive – food. Without a host (fish) the Ich will be starved out after 8 weeks. You can keep your inverts in. Ich parasites can attach themselves to inverts but they don’t get what they need from them to survive – food.
Skin: ICH infections are usually visible as one or sever
al characteristic white spots on the body or fins of the fish. The white spots are single cells called trophonts, which feed on host cells (epidermal cells and leukocytes attracted to the site) and may grow to 1 mm in diameter.
Mechanically filter over floss or a sponge. Do not use ozone or UV sterilizers or protein skimmer. Ultraviolet radiation can kill the infectious, free-swimming dinospores of Amyloodinium ocellatum (Noga, 2000), but its use as a cure here has the same drawbacks as when used against Cryptocaryon irritans.
Gen Cure has only Praziquantel and Metronidazole and neither of them is a specific cure for velvet. Raise temperature to 82F. Take out carbon if the filter has any.
To keep velvet looking its best, practice proper care including:
- Don’t apply pressure to it when wet.
- Hang in well-ventilated area after wearing.
- Don’t blot spills, shake excess moisture and then air-dry.
- Never iron.
- Use steam to remove wrinkles.
- Clean garments promptly after wearing.
On the other hand, I do not think prazipro would effect velvet. In most cases meds that you use for ick will work on velvet, they are similar diseases. Do not use and of the “fix” meds on bettas, it will gunk up their breathing labyrinth and cause more harm than good.
Like all animals, fish may carry germs that make people sick. These germs can also contaminate the water in which fish live. Although fish and aquarium water can spread germs to people, illness due to keeping fish is rare.
How can I tell if my betta is dying? If he is hanging out at the bottom of the tank and has no appetite, the betta is probably sick or dying. You can treat it with betta medicine. As you may not know there is gene in some bettas that will cause them to change colors, or lose them completely from time to time.
Marine Velvet is one of the two most important biological diseases of coral reef and marine aquariums. Its host incidence and importance is of critical concern to the marine aquarium industry. Hyperplasia and filament adhesion, with the feeding stage burrowing deep into the fish host’s subcutaneous skin layer.
API® AQUARIUM SALT is made from evaporated sea salt and is a must-have for your aquarium! AQUARIUM SALT promotes fish health by improving gill function, making it easier for fish to breathe. Care should be taken when using salt in aquariums with live plants, as some plants may be sensitive.
BettaZing and BettaFix are anti-parasitic, anti-fungal and anti-protozoan medications that are great when used as a preventative medication to prevent the development of clamped fins or velvet fins.
If a fish in a tank has ich, you must assume that the entire tank is now contaminated with ich and must be treated. Another way to get ich out of a tank is to remove all of the fish. But remember, you will need to treat the tank that the fish are moved to, otherwise, fish entering that tank could become infected.
Instead, make up a brine solution in warm water with 2 to 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon; so, if you are treating a 20-gallon aquarium, dissolve 40 to 60 teaspoons of salt into a jug of warm water.
Decapitation. While too grisly for most aquarists, stunning a fish, decapitating it and then pithing it (physically destroying the brain with a metal rod) is a humane way to euthanize a fish. Because fish can remain conscious for some time after decapitation, the pithing step is essential.
Copper sulfate is toxic to very few fish. Some species that you can’t use copper with are Koi, goldfish and trout all of which are listed on the label. Pond owners that have experienced a fish kill after using a copper sulfate algaecide most likely treated too large of an area.
Add 1 tablespoon (Tbsp) of salt per 3 gallons of water. You can pour the salt directly into the aquarium or hospital tank, but some people like to dissolve the salt in a small cup of water first.
Treatment for cotton wool disease in freshwater fish includes salt baths using Freshwater Aquarium Salt or commercially available antifungal treatments for aquarium use. In some instances, the entire tank is treated, but if individual infections are present, treating the fish in a separate hospital tank is preferable.
When treating external parasites, a dip is the method of choice. Place four teaspoons of salt in a clean bucket, then slowly add one gallon of water from the aquarium, while swirling the bucket to dissolve the salt. Once the salt is completely dissolved, place the fish in this bucket for five to 30 minutes.
Change one-third of the water and dose the aquarium again at the same concentration of 5 ml of Ich-X per 10 gallons of water. Remember to add enough medication to treat the total water volume of the aquarium, not just the volume of the water removed. Repeat Step 3 every 24 hours until you don’t see any signs of ich.
Ich is considered the common cold of fish.
When your fish becomes “stressed‘ its immune system breaks down and the Ich parasite is able to make your fish sick. There are 3 common causes of ”stress” for your fish. Ammonia. High ammonia levels is the #1 cause of “stress”, Ich and death.