How to treat velvet?

[Nat]

How does one successfully treat velvet? 

So far, I have tried IchX for a week with no success. (Thinking it was ich, before determining from pics and good local lfs employee that its actually velvet) 

Lfs has recommended copper safe (I have a cycled bare qt tank to use) set temp at 80F, cut the lights, and I’d add some aquarium salt too. Lfs said to dose the copper up to 1.5 ppm and just leave it. 

Can anyone who has successfully cured a fish of velvet provide any experience or advice? 

The fish in question are neon green rasboras and the school size that remains was still a significant investment and just feel sick that I might lose them all. I have a previous post titled “Ich or velvet? Neon green rasboras not doing well” if you want more background on my situation.

I can update that thread with what I try and if it works as well. (Still new to forums, so want to be sure I do it right 😅) 

Thanks in advance for any help! 

 

[Thatch]

Ich-X is usually my go to treatment, as they are not responding to that the next thing I would try is salt. But be careful as it will kill your live plants. Plants and salt do not mix.  In my experience the combo of salt and ich-x usually knocks it away in a couple of day. 
As how it is compared to copper I can't say, I avoid copper because it is harsher med and also not invertebrate safe. 
I have found some rasboras to be sensitive to velvet outbreaks, particularly when there are shifts in temperature. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Thatch

[Nat]

On 12/3/2020 at 1:42 AM, Thatch said:

Ich-X is usually my go to treatment, as they are not responding to that the next thing I would try is salt. But be careful as it will kill your live plants. Plants and salt do not mix.  In my experience the combo of salt and ich-x usually knocks it away in a couple of day. 
As how it is compared to copper I can't say, I avoid copper because it is harsher med and also not invertebrate safe. 
I have found some rasboras to be sensitive to velvet outbreaks, particularly when there are shifts in temperature. 

 

Thanks!

It seems a temp change of lowering temp by 2 degrees from 78 to 75 along with adding my two health schools together seems to have triggered it. 

I moved the group to a bare qt tank and dosed with both salt and copper and haven’t lost any more for the last couple days. Can’t say for sure if it was either the salt or copper as I did both since everyone was looking really bad/dying, but the combo seems to have worked. A few look pretty weak still, so trying to feed well and hopefully the rest will make it.

 

It sounds like you have experience with rasboras - any chance you can speak to their temperment as well? This is my first group of rasboras. The school I had (was 18 but now I’m down to 11) have seemed to be pretty aggressive both amongst themselves and against my ember tetras who were in the tank with them, and kept them chased into the plants and corners of the tank. Is constantly chasing each other normal? Or do I just have some particularly angsty fish? 

Thanks!