Electric Blue Acara with Velvet.

[Ozzie Boss]

Okay on my last thread I asked what was causing my Acara to flash so much hitting himself on the bottom of the tank. There was nothing wrong with him. No ick, no internal parasites, he was acting normal, he ate, and was swimming all around the tank. After a few days of this I took a flashlight and looked at his sides (where he was hitting himself on) and finally found the cause. I think he has Velvet. There is a type of rusty gold color he has on the sides of him. I could not see this without the flashlight due to the tank’s poor lighting. I will post pictures to see if anyone can confirm this is Velvet.

The fish himself is active and eats, however he only eats omega one Cichlid pellets. He is lethargic to any other foods. Which can be caused by the Velvet.

So with that being said. How do I treat this? I have the tank completely “blacked out” I have all the lights off and put a towel over the tank. Can I add salt? Will ick med help? Keep in mind I have 4 otos in this QT. Water perimeters are ideal. Thank you.

 

[Colin_T]

Velvet (Oodinium) can be treated in the same way as whitespot, either by copper sulphate, malachite green or heat. Heat is safer and you simply raise the temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks.

Do a 75% water change, gravel clean the substrate, and clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever you raise the temperature or add chemicals to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.

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The fish also appears to have something hanging out of its butt. It might have round/ thread worms (camallanus) but you can treat that after the velvet is dealt with.

Camallanus and Capillaria will sometimes hang out of a fish's butt and look like thin red or white hairs. They are most noticeable when the fish is relaxed.

 

[Ozzie Boss]

Okay I just did an 80 percent water change. And cleaned the bottom of the tank. I added some salt and ick med to the tank. Plus dimmed the tank of all light. As of right now he still eats which is good. How long does it typically take to get rid of the velvet? How do I know its gone? And can my otos catch it?
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And yes there is something by the fish's butt. I have no idea what it is. After getting rid of the velvet can I dose general cure to treat it?

 

[Colin_T]

You need to continue treating the fish until all the gold sheen is gone. It normally takes about 1 week but I treat for 10-14 days. You continue treatment for at least 3 days after the gold sheen is gone so all the parasites on the fish and in the tank have been killed.

If the gold sheen does not change (has not reduced or gone) after 2 weeks of treatment, either the medication is expired, or you are not adding enough, or the fish doesn't have velvet. But the gold sheen is a dead give away for velvet. Some fish actually have a gold sheen to their scales that is not velvet and they were working on making a gold blue acara that had gold reflective scales instead of blue. But if the fish has a gold sheen and is rubbing, then it's usually velvet.

Heat treatment is the safest form of medication for tropical fish and you raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks. The heat kills the parasites and you don't need to add chemicals.

Increase aeration whenever raising the water temperature or using chemicals because they reduce the oxygen levels in the water.

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All the fish that have been in the tank with the acara will probably have it too. It's a protozoan parasite that will infect any fish in the tank.

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Do not use API General Cure because it contains Metronidazole, which is an anti-biotic that will wipe out the filter bacteria and is not needed in this case. Look for a medication that contains Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes, and Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms.

Wait until after the velvet treatment and then treat for worms. Do not use the medications together. I would treat with Levamisole first because thread worms tend to hang out the fish's butt, whereas tapeworm don't.

When you treat the fish for intestinal worms you treat them once a week for 3 weeks and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 24-48hours after treatment. You should treat all the tanks at the same time when treating for intestinal worms because if they are in one tank, they will be in all the tanks.

If you want to treat the worms simultaneously, treat with Praziquantel, wait 24 hours and then do a 75% water change each day for the next 2 days. Then treat with Levamisole, wait 24 hours and do a 75% water change each day for the next 3 days. Then treat with Praziquantel again.

Remove carbon from the filter when treating.

Praziquantel and Levamisole are safe for all fishes including baby fish and scaleless fish, and neither affect filter bacteria or plants.

 

[Ozzie Boss]

Thanks Colin. I can’t change the temp on the QT because it has a set temp for 78°F. I do have an adjustable heater in the main tank. It is used for 50+ gallons and this is a 10. Can I rinse the heater in the QT and add that in the main tank temporarily and rinse the adjustable heater and maybe put it in the QT sideways? It won’t fit in the tank being vertical. Will this be safe? Also will an air stone be fine to increase circulation? I don’t have any on hand but can easily go and buy one. (I have the pump on me)

 

[Colin_T]

Yes you can wash the non adjustable heater and use it in the main tank. I would just wash it with warm soapy water, then rinse it, wash it, rinse it, wash it and rinse it really well. Then put it in the main tank.
Use a perfume free soap and do not use disinfectant soaps. Just use a plain old boring non scented soap and rinse well after washing.

The temperature in the main tank will probably be less than 78F because it is a small heater in a big tank but it should be in a safe temperature range. The smaller heater will probably run a lot more in the bigger tank too so if the light stays on for a minute or so, its because of the small heater in the big tank.

Insulating the big tank with cover glass on top and polystyrene foam on the back will help keep the water warm and reduce the amount of time the heater will need to be on.

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The higher wattage heater from the bigger tank might warm the smaller tank up to more than 86F so set it on about 80F and have a thermometer in the water. See what the temperature is after 24 hours and adjust it if you need to.

You want the tank water on 86F but just be careful with the bigger heater in the small tank because they sometimes go higher than what they are set on, in the smaller volume of water.

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Aquarium heaters should be put in the tank on a 45 degree angle with the cord higher than the bottom of the heater. This provides a bigger area for the heat to mix with the water compared to heaters that are installed vertically.

The only exception to this is heaters that are not completely submersible. Some of the cheaper brands of aquarium heater leak around the top if they are put under water. These will have "not submersible" or "non submersible" on the packaging.

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An airstone is fine for aerating the water. There are numerous types available but I prefer the multi-coloured plastic airstones that can be taken apart and cleaned. They usually have a small lead weight in the bottom section so the airstone stays on the bottom. If you can't get the multi-coloured plastic stones then just get a normal airstone.

 

[Ozzie Boss]

Okay hopefully the pictures come through but here he is when I first diagnosed the problem of “velvet” about a week ago.

 

[Ozzie Boss]

And this is him currently. He still flashes. Not as much however. And still only eats tilapia.
I have the heat at around 30°C and dose ick med and salt. Is there any improvement in the velvet? If so should I keep treating? If not what could I do differently?

 

[Colin_T]

It's a bit hard to tell with the camera flash bouncing back onto the lens but the colour of the fish looks more green now compared to the yellow it was a week ago, so I would say there is an improvement.

If you have the camera on a slight angle to the tank, the camera flash should bounce away from the lens and you won't get the big white blur on the pictures.

What medication are you adding to the tank?

Keep treating for at least 1 more week. Make sure you have lots of aeration because the high temperature, salt and the medication will reduce the oxygen levels in the water.

 

[Ozzie Boss]

Yeah that flash was getting annoying I will try getting it at an angel so that flash won't get in the way. I use the "Jungle" ick med that contains victoria green and nitromersol. Victoria green being malachite green. This is what I had at the moment but I am running out. Should I switch to Ick-X or keep buying this med.

 

[Colin_T]

Stay with what you are using.

Malachite Green kills all protozoans but is carcinogenic so avoid getting it on your skin and wash your hands and arms with soapy water after working in the tank.