Anyone with experience with velvet/oodinium?

[Mephistopheles]

Some of you may recall I posted several months ago regarding some
puzzling fish deaths in my 165 gallon South American tank. First, my
prize Uaru died. It acted as if it had something stuck in its throat,
but my autopsy did not discover anything. Then a Severum died, and
various small white threads could be seen trailing from its gills. The
best guess then was gill flukes. But I was skeptical of this explanation
since only one fish seemed to be affected at a time.

After reading an article in the American Cichlid Association's recent
edition of "Buntbarsche Bulletin" about a researcher's struggles to
diagnose and treat a disease plaguing his wild caught Julidichromis, I
have deduced that my problem is definitely the dinoflagellate oodinium,
which is commonly known as velvet. Never thought of velvet because I
thought its classic symptom is supposed to be rust-colored velvety
patches. However, after consulting Baensch, I discovered that it can
also appear as bluish-gray patches on the size of the fish. I purchased
four small Uaru several months ago, and one of them had this patch on its
side (and still does). However, as I have also discovered now, the fish
can be affected by this parasite without ever showing anything on its
skin. In my case, the fish were essentially suffocated by a massive gill
infestation.

In any event, I am now treating as for ich -- QuickCure (formalin and
malachite green), raised temperature (around 87 degrees), salt, low
lights. No real progress so far, and looking over old posts this seems
to be a difficult disease to eradicate. Does anyone have any advice or
experiences to share regarding this nasty and sneaky parasite?

Meph

[rmc]

I had a similar "mysterious death syndrome" a year or so ago. It was
hitting one fish at a time and there were no visible external signs.
Like you, I tried the formalin/malachite green method with no luck. I
later tried "Fungus Eliminator" and it seemed to stop the deaths and
the fish have been healthy since. Your guess would be as good as mine
if it was the ingredients in the product or the fact that it is mostly
salt. It could be a combination of both but I did not follow the
directions and repeat after 4 days. Instead, I did 50% water changes
for the following 3 days.

Good Luck

--

Mark
http://www.cichliddomain.com


"Mephistopheles" > wrote in
message ink.net...
> Some of you may recall I posted several months ago regarding some
> puzzling fish deaths in my 165 gallon South American tank. First,
my
> prize Uaru died. It acted as if it had something stuck in its
throat,
> but my autopsy did not discover anything. Then a Severum died, and
> various small white threads could be seen trailing from its gills.
The
> best guess then was gill flukes. But I was skeptical of this
explanation
> since only one fish seemed to be affected at a time.
>
> After reading an article in the American Cichlid Association's
recent
> edition of "Buntbarsche Bulletin" about a researcher's struggles to
> diagnose and treat a disease plaguing his wild caught Julidichromis,
I
> have deduced that my problem is definitely the dinoflagellate
oodinium,
> which is commonly known as velvet. Never thought of velvet because
I
> thought its classic symptom is supposed to be rust-colored velvety
> patches. However, after consulting Baensch, I discovered that it
can
> also appear as bluish-gray patches on the size of the fish. I
purchased
> four small Uaru several months ago, and one of them had this patch
on its
> side (and still does). However, as I have also discovered now, the
fish
> can be affected by this parasite without ever showing anything on
its
> skin. In my case, the fish were essentially suffocated by a massive
gill
> infestation.
>
> In any event, I am now treating as for ich -- QuickCure (formalin
and
> malachite green), raised temperature (around 87 degrees), salt, low
> lights. No real progress so far, and looking over old posts this
seems
> to be a difficult disease to eradicate. Does anyone have any advice
or
> experiences to share regarding this nasty and sneaky parasite?
>
> Meph

[Racf]

"Mephistopheles" > wrote in
message ink.net...
> Some of you may recall I posted several months ago regarding some
> puzzling fish deaths in my 165 gallon South American tank. First, my
> prize Uaru died. It acted as if it had something stuck in its throat,
> but my autopsy did not discover anything. Then a Severum died, and
> various small white threads could be seen trailing from its gills.
The
> best guess then was gill flukes. But I was skeptical of this
explanation
> since only one fish seemed to be affected at a time.
>
> After reading an article in the American Cichlid Association's recent
> edition of "Buntbarsche Bulletin" about a researcher's struggles to
> diagnose and treat a disease plaguing his wild caught Julidichromis, I
> have deduced that my problem is definitely the dinoflagellate
oodinium,
> which is commonly known as velvet. Never thought of velvet because I
> thought its classic symptom is supposed to be rust-colored velvety
> patches. However, after consulting Baensch, I discovered that it can
> also appear as bluish-gray patches on the size of the fish. I
purchased
> four small Uaru several months ago, and one of them had this patch on
its
> side (and still does). However, as I have also discovered now, the
fish
> can be affected by this parasite without ever showing anything on its
> skin. In my case, the fish were essentially suffocated by a massive
gill
> infestation.
>
> In any event, I am now treating as for ich -- QuickCure (formalin and
> malachite green), raised temperature (around 87 degrees), salt, low
> lights. No real progress so far, and looking over old posts this
seems
> to be a difficult disease to eradicate. Does anyone have any advice
or
> experiences to share regarding this nasty and sneaky parasite?
>
> Meph

You should ask Frank....he hangs over at alt.aquaria....I will crosspost
this. I wish Frank would hang on a few other groups too...like this
one...He is fairly good on ailments and treatments....

[Mephistopheles]

"Racf" > wrote in
ink.net:

>
> "Mephistopheles" > wrote in
> message ink.net...
>> Some of you may recall I posted several months ago regarding some
>> puzzling fish deaths in my 165 gallon South American tank. First, my
>> prize Uaru died. It acted as if it had something stuck in its
>> throat, but my autopsy did not discover anything. Then a Severum
>> died, and various small white threads could be seen trailing from its
>> gills. The best guess then was gill flukes. But I was skeptical of
>> this explanation since only one fish seemed to be affected at a time.
>>
>> After reading an article in the American Cichlid Association's recent
>> edition of "Buntbarsche Bulletin" about a researcher's struggles to
>> diagnose and treat a disease plaguing his wild caught Julidichromis,
>> I have deduced that my problem is definitely the dinoflagellate
>> oodinium, which is commonly known as velvet. Never thought of velvet
>> because I thought its classic symptom is supposed to be rust-colored
>> velvety patches. However, after consulting Baensch, I discovered
>> that it can also appear as bluish-gray patches on the size of the
>> fish. I purchased four small Uaru several months ago, and one of
>> them had this patch on its side (and still does). However, as I have
>> also discovered now, the fish can be affected by this parasite
>> without ever showing anything on its skin. In my case, the fish were
>> essentially suffocated by a massive gill infestation.
>>
>> In any event, I am now treating as for ich -- QuickCure (formalin and
>> malachite green), raised temperature (around 87 degrees), salt, low
>> lights. No real progress so far, and looking over old posts this
>> seems to be a difficult disease to eradicate. Does anyone have any
>> advice or experiences to share regarding this nasty and sneaky
>> parasite?
>>
>> Meph
>
> You should ask Frank....he hangs over at alt.aquaria....I will
> crosspost this. I wish Frank would hang on a few other groups
> too...like this one...He is fairly good on ailments and treatments....
>
>
Racf,

Thanks. Thought your name choice was a variant on the abbreviation for
this group (rafc), but I see from your other post that that is just a
coincidence.

Meph

[Racf]

"Mephistopheles" > wrote in
message ink.net...
> "Racf" > wrote in
> ink.net:
>
> >
> > "Mephistopheles" > wrote
in
> > message ink.net...
> >> Some of you may recall I posted several months ago regarding some
> >> puzzling fish deaths in my 165 gallon South American tank. First,
my
> >> prize Uaru died. It acted as if it had something stuck in its
> >> throat, but my autopsy did not discover anything. Then a Severum
> >> died, and various small white threads could be seen trailing from
its
> >> gills. The best guess then was gill flukes. But I was skeptical of
> >> this explanation since only one fish seemed to be affected at a
time.
> >>
> >> After reading an article in the American Cichlid Association's
recent
> >> edition of "Buntbarsche Bulletin" about a researcher's struggles to
> >> diagnose and treat a disease plaguing his wild caught
Julidichromis,
> >> I have deduced that my problem is definitely the dinoflagellate
> >> oodinium, which is commonly known as velvet. Never thought of
velvet
> >> because I thought its classic symptom is supposed to be
rust-colored
> >> velvety patches. However, after consulting Baensch, I discovered
> >> that it can also appear as bluish-gray patches on the size of the
> >> fish. I purchased four small Uaru several months ago, and one of
> >> them had this patch on its side (and still does). However, as I
have
> >> also discovered now, the fish can be affected by this parasite
> >> without ever showing anything on its skin. In my case, the fish
were
> >> essentially suffocated by a massive gill infestation.
> >>
> >> In any event, I am now treating as for ich -- QuickCure (formalin
and
> >> malachite green), raised temperature (around 87 degrees), salt, low
> >> lights. No real progress so far, and looking over old posts this
> >> seems to be a difficult disease to eradicate. Does anyone have any
> >> advice or experiences to share regarding this nasty and sneaky
> >> parasite?
> >>
> >> Meph
> >
> > You should ask Frank....he hangs over at alt.aquaria....I will
> > crosspost this. I wish Frank would hang on a few other groups
> > too...like this one...He is fairly good on ailments and
treatments....
> >
> >
> Racf,
>
> Thanks. Thought your name choice was a variant on the abbreviation
for
> this group (rafc), but I see from your other post that that is just a
> coincidence.
>
> Meph

Not sure what rafc is, but I started using RACF as an IRC handle in
computer security groups back in like 1996 or so, where it made a lot
more sense....than in aquaria groups. I used to use my real name in
Usenet, but I quickly learned that it was a bad idea....I wish the
Internet was not so .......... so as to use my real name again.....it
works fairly well...

[rmc]

Any luck yet?

--

Mark
http://www.cichliddomain.com


"Mephistopheles" > wrote in
message ink.net...
> Some of you may recall I posted several months ago regarding some
> puzzling fish deaths in my 165 gallon South American tank. First,
my
> prize Uaru died. It acted as if it had something stuck in its
throat,
> but my autopsy did not discover anything. Then a Severum died, and
> various small white threads could be seen trailing from its gills.
The
> best guess then was gill flukes. But I was skeptical of this
explanation
> since only one fish seemed to be affected at a time.
>
> After reading an article in the American Cichlid Association's
recent
> edition of "Buntbarsche Bulletin" about a researcher's struggles to
> diagnose and treat a disease plaguing his wild caught Julidichromis,
I
> have deduced that my problem is definitely the dinoflagellate
oodinium,
> which is commonly known as velvet. Never thought of velvet because
I
> thought its classic symptom is supposed to be rust-colored velvety
> patches. However, after consulting Baensch, I discovered that it
can
> also appear as bluish-gray patches on the size of the fish. I
purchased
> four small Uaru several months ago, and one of them had this patch
on its
> side (and still does). However, as I have also discovered now, the
fish
> can be affected by this parasite without ever showing anything on
its
> skin. In my case, the fish were essentially suffocated by a massive
gill
> infestation.
>
> In any event, I am now treating as for ich -- QuickCure (formalin
and
> malachite green), raised temperature (around 87 degrees), salt, low
> lights. No real progress so far, and looking over old posts this
seems
> to be a difficult disease to eradicate. Does anyone have any advice
or
> experiences to share regarding this nasty and sneaky parasite?
>
> Meph