Ich or marine velvet?

Question

Hi All, Well i got a few fish from my pet store this past weekend all clown fish, A looked them over closly before i got them and they seemed ok, I got up this morning to a few dead fish and my others looking kinda slimy with like a white coating all over them , Will i know i need to treat the tank but i`m not sure if its ich or marne velvet, If its marine velvet i was told they will all die, What should i do and how should i do it , I dont think i can catch all these fish in my tank since i have alot of rock and its 160 gallon tank, As there something i can use to get rid of it and better my fish without killing all my coral and fish , Or should i try to catch all my fish and put them in a medican tank then treat it with a coper based treatment

Answer 1

I agree with tikitiki - excess slime coat is not a sign of marine ich or marine velvet (it's freshwater velvet that has the gold iridescence). This is presenting more like Brooklynella, also called clownfish disease (although species other than clowns may get it). I've been answering several questions along this line recently (I hope you aren't all getting your fish at the same place!). This is caused by a parasite, and is fast-acting if you don't treat it quickly.

Best treatments for this are copper-based, so it would be advisable to treat the fish in a quarantine tank (and I can sympathize here with trying to catch them in the rockwork in a tank). Copper would affect your corals, as would lowering the salinity.

I would suggest confirming your diagnosis first. I'll provide two links so you can view the previous questions I've answered and you can look at the descriptions and photos of the diseases mentioned:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiDZqCKtoqtDOj4K8EgTqRfty6IX?qid=20070402213225AA2ZxiX&show=7#profile-info-ECRHTUOWaa

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Am.XTZRWt0kwAbTgMdouDO3ty6IX?qid=20070402090921AAFaxTB&show=7#profile-info-NqULjPhFaa

It could also help if you could photograph your fish and post the photo in the question as "additional details - I'll check back on the question later.

Answer 2

First I'm not a marine expert, but that doesn't sound like ich, and velvet usually has a gold dusting appearance to it. You're saying it's a white coating on them. I think it sounds more like brooklynella. Here's a link with symptoms and treatments, it's the third one, ich and velvet are the first two.

http://www.pets-warehouse.com/marinefishdisease.htm

As for whether to use a QT tank for treatment, or what, can't help there. That's a tough one. Not sure if the diseases/parasites will be rampant in the tank. Good luck!!