Velvet

[Jeff1192]

So...I recently added a betta to my set-up, without a QT (I know stupid mistake) and now I'm pretty sure a couple of my female rams have velvet. They have grayish patches on their bodies (but only visible under certain light), their fins are often clamped and I've seen one of them rubbing itself on driftwood. They're still eating well however. So I fired up the UV sterilizer (don't know if this will help the spread of it or not) and now I'm trying to figure out my best course of action. It appears that copper sulphate is the best treatment but I have a number of shrimp in the tank and it would be pretty much impossible to catch them to get them out of the tank. So I'm thinking that my best bet is to take the affected fish out and put them in QT and treat them with copper sulphate.

Forgot to mention, the betta shows no signs of anything being wrong. I also just finished spot dosing excel in a number of spots to treat some BBA, I may have gone a bit heavy with the excel because I found a number of dead cherry shrimp in my tank, so I don't know if the overdose of excel could be the problem with the rams (just because I find that the grey patches don't really look much like velvet but the other symptoms fit). I did a 60% water change yesterday to be safe.

Is there a better plan or is this my best bet? Will the UV sterilizer help (I figured it would since it is a similar disease to ich)?

Thanks,

Jeff

[fischkopp]

Excel could be the reason. I assume you are also dosing ferts in your tank. I think it might be just a coincident with adding the betta. The real reason might be the water in your tank, the total dissolved solids (TDS), nitrate ... Rams prefer very low TDS - means the less is the water the better. Otherwise the become more susceptable to any desease, especially skin/slime deseases.

I had good success with API Pimafix and could cure an apisto within two weeks - his body was covered 2/3 by a fungal infection (which is what I would guess your rams have). This better be done in an hospital tank. Another way could be to add more tannins to your tank (peat, oak leaves, almond leaves, ...) as they are supposed to have an antifungal affect. I dont think the UV steralizer will help much if your rams are already infected (does not mean I know that for sure).

Hope your rams will do better soon!

[Jeff1192]

Yeah the more I look at the rams today the less I'm convinced it's velvet. They're not really clamping their fins much and the grayish patches are really hard to see unless they're sitting a certain way under the light. In fact I think they're harder to see now then when I first noticed them 2 days ago. I'm wondering if another 50% water change might be the answer.

On a side note, I started up my uv sterilizer last night for the first time and today my water is cloudy. It was crystal clear yesterday.....really strange. Any ideas?

Jeff

[fischkopp]

Water changes = clean water. This is the key for healthy fish. If you see an improvement dont start with any medical treatments.

The UV sterilizer has killed any live in the water column. Thats why your water becomes cloudy: more dead biomass and less bacteria to process it. Another WC will be the answer.

[Jeff1192]

Alright, so after the first large water change things got a little better. I did another 50% water change last night and everyone is back to normal....PHEW! I turned off the UV sterilizer and things were cleared up the next day....not sure what was going on there.

Jeff