Velvet in Planted Community Tank

[Leah S]

Help please!!!

 

I recently discovered I have a breakout of velvet in my community tank.

Major issues with trying to figure out plan of action:

1) Planted (blacking out tank may kill plants, right?)

2) Shrimp, snails, loaches and cories (I hear all sensitive, or worse, to medications/salt/temperature changes etc.)

3) The tank is 50 gallons (I live in Canada, so we can't buy meds - luckily I have 1 10 pack of Paracleanse, but that won't get far)

 

Please help me plan how to eradicate the parasites, while keeping my fish friends safe.

Thank you.

pH:  6.8
Nitrates:  20ppm
Hardness : 300
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
KH/Buffer: 80ppm
Water Temperature: 76
 

[Dwayne Brown]

Could you share some photos of the infected fish? You said you are unable to purchase medications? The best way to treat velvet is to Black-out the aquarium raise to temp to 82-86 degrees, dose aquarium salt, and then use an aquarium copper sulfate. however the copper sulfate will kill invertebrates, do you have another tank to house the shrimp and snails in? It is also toxic to the loaches so maybe you could house them in a quarantine setup and do everything except for the copper sulfate and use a much lower dose of aquarium salt? I have peppered cory's and use aquarium salt when I do water changes, so they should be fine but I'm not sure about how they respond to copper sulfate. Blacking out the tank should not kill the plants but it will make them die back some. I would really recommend a quarantine setup to treat the different types of aquarium life you have. it can be as simple as a plastic tote bag, heater and sponge filter, they are super cheap to throw together and can sustain them for awhile. 

[Dwayne Brown]

@Leah SIs your hardness 300 ppm? And what types of fish do you have in you aquarium? Sometimes environmental pressures can cause these outbreaks to occur.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Dwayne Brown

[Leah S]

You'll see in this pic of my black neon tetra, definitely seeing the "gold dust".

Exactly.  I did buy a few (small quantities) because my ex-boyfriend's dad used to go to the states.   But since we broke up, I have no access to medications.

I was wondering about moving the shrimp and snails temporarily - but they would have the parasites on them regardless (even if it might not effect them the same, right?)   That's my worry about, lets say the loaches.  If I don't fully treat them, then when I reintroduce them to the community tank, I don't want to have to start from scratch.

I saw on the box that Paracleanse kills velvet, so that's what I was hoping to use.  

As for the water hardness,  that's what my water naturally is.  I've had the tank set up for months with no issue - I got the velvet from a very rookie mistake... Not quarantining my new Swordtail. 

[Dwayne Brown]

@Leah S I mean it will "kill it" but it is by no way the best solution. I am so sorry I have no idea how rules up there work but do you have access to Copper sulfate meds? that is by far the best treatment. The shrimp can carry velvet so i'm not sure how you would deal with that. The only way to cure loaches is with medications, some people have luck with halving the dose of an ich med. I Know @Colu is very knowledgeable about this kind of thing.

 

And what other types of fish are in the tank besides the invertebrates, loaches corys, swordtails, and black neon tetras. 

Edited October 15, 2021 by Dwayne Brown

[Leah S]

Hm, alright, that's really good to know.  Looking into if Copper Sulfates are an option. 

Appreciate your insight, I've had a really hard time finding advice on this.

[Colu]

Ick x is what I would recommend treating with and shrimp and snail safe  

[Leah S]

Thanks for the reco!

[Colu]

You can also uses mardel copper safe I wouldn't use it with shrimp or snails in the tank he's some information on velvet

[Leah S]

Thanks Colu!  Over the last 5 hours, I've:

- Gradually increased the temperature, now about 80, maximum it will get 82

- Totally blacked out the aquarium, although I don't think I'll be able to for the full 7 days because I'm worried the plants will die and start leaking ammonia into the water (I think I'll remove the black sheet in 3 days, not put on the aquarium lights, but natural day light for a day, then back to black)

- Started the first dose of ParaCleanse (I know it isn't the most ideal, but I only have a very small bottle only of Ich X so I think it's more important to do the meds that I can do the full treatment.  But I may resort to using the Ich X too (I believe Cory mentioned he waits two weeks between meds)

[Colu]

You can use ick x and paracleanse together  I would also add one dose of ick x as well while treating with paracleanse

Edited October 16, 2021 by Colu

[Leah S]

Oh that's good to know! Thanks