I don't know what to do... i've been battling velvet for a long time now but it doesn't seem to matter what i do, i can't get rid of it.
I go and buy new fish (seemingly healthy) and put them in a clean quarantine tank. Within days they have the characteristics of velvet. So i assume that they must have brought it home with them from the store... (i've read that almost all fish carry these parasites, but stress it what causes them to have problems with them)
From what i know my water conditions are good... i make sure i have established filter media in my quarantine and keep the temperature at a stable 80 degrees. I test my parameters every couple of days and they are always fine(amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10, ph 8.2)
I only ever seem to have this problem with livebearers (mollies, platy's, etc.) I've had 5 tetras in my show tank for well over 6 months and they are all doing fine (they've even been exposed to the ones that i've brought home, before i knew to quarantine new fish...) but any livebearers i bring home eventually get velvet and die.
I've tried pretty much every med out there for velvet but using these seems to just stress the fish out more and make them die quicker. I've tried salt and heat with no decent results; they just seem to get stressed by the salt and heat.
I don't know what to do anymore... i've read that the only way to cure velvet with no meds is to bring the tank temp. up to at least 93... does anyone know if this is true??? i know that 90 won't do it... i've tried that already.
Please help me as i want to learn how to get fish from the store, successfully quarantine them, and then release them into my show tank.
I go and buy new fish (seemingly healthy) and put them in a clean quarantine tank. Within days they have the characteristics of velvet. So i assume that they must have brought it home with them from the store... (i've read that almost all fish carry these parasites, but stress it what causes them to have problems with them)
From what i know my water conditions are good... i make sure i have established filter media in my quarantine and keep the temperature at a stable 80 degrees. I test my parameters every couple of days and they are always fine(amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10, ph 8.2)
I only ever seem to have this problem with livebearers (mollies, platy's, etc.) I've had 5 tetras in my show tank for well over 6 months and they are all doing fine (they've even been exposed to the ones that i've brought home, before i knew to quarantine new fish...) but any livebearers i bring home eventually get velvet and die.
I've tried pretty much every med out there for velvet but using these seems to just stress the fish out more and make them die quicker. I've tried salt and heat with no decent results; they just seem to get stressed by the salt and heat.
I don't know what to do anymore... i've read that the only way to cure velvet with no meds is to bring the tank temp. up to at least 93... does anyone know if this is true??? i know that 90 won't do it... i've tried that already.
Please help me as i want to learn how to get fish from the store, successfully quarantine them, and then release them into my show tank.
