Marine Velvet Disease
Amyloodinium ocellatum, ordinarily spoken as “velvet,” could be a single celled flagellate protozoan. it's generally spoken as a hybrid, having characteristics of each plants and animals. However, for marine aquarists it's a feared infectious agent with a name for being capable of wiping out a complete fish population in barely a matter of days.
Velvet features a lifecycle (more information here: http://www.ultimatereef.com/articles/marinevelvet/) like that of Cryptocaryon irritans (ich). Even the nomenclature used is usually a similar - except velvet “free swimmers” area unit spoken as dinospores rather than theronts. Velvet’s lifecycle is usually quicker (completed in four days on average), and therefore the assaultive free swimmers area unit a lot of varied than ich. Also, velvet dinospores will stay infective for up to fifteen days, whereas with ich theronts it’s solely forty eight hours. this can be as a result of velvet tomonts and dinospores area unit each capable of exploitation chemical process as a method of getting nutrients (remember it's a dinoflagellate).
Symptoms - Velvet dinospores can typically invade the gills 1st and generally kill the fish right then as a result of asphyxiation. If this happens, you will ne'er see physical proof of velvet on the skin & fins. Therefore, it's necessary to watch for these key activity symptoms of velvet:
Reduced or complete loss of appetence.
serious respiration, rubbing, flashing, head spasm, erratic swimming behavior (unfortunately velvet shares of these same symptoms with ich & gill flukes.)
Swimming into the flow of a powerhead (unique to velvet).
Acting reclusive (velvet causes fish to be sensitive to light).
If visible physical symptoms do manifest:
Velvet might begin} start out wanting a bit like ich, with salt or sugar-like “sprinkles” visible totally on the fins.
among days or generally simply hours, these little white dots can unfold everywhere the fish’s body, covering it in “dust.” This mud might look grey-gold coloured if viewed at the correct angle and below the correct spectrum of sunshine. For this reason, it should be tough to check velvet on a yellow or lightweight coloured fish (look from AN angle, ultimately from the side). However, generally a fish’s body can look “dirty” or show “dark areas” simply before velvet seems.
There area unit 2 ways that to differentiate velvet from ich:
Velvet trophonts (and the correlating dots) area unit abundant smaller than ich. they vary in size from 10-80 micrometers in diameter. they're additionally dead spherical. Ich trophonts area unit a lot of oval formed and point size from forty eight x twenty seven to 452 x 360 micrometers. each take off tiny on the other hand grow in size before dropping off. it's been aforesaid that velvet makes a fish seem like it's been dusted with a fine powder, whereas ich is a lot of like salt grains.
If you'll be able to count the amount of white dots on your fish, then you're in all probability managing ich. If they're too varied to count, it's presumably velvet.
The importance of recognizing key activity symptoms of velvet so starting treatment now can not be stressed enough. this can be as a result of once velvet has unfold to the body, the fish is heavily infected and prognosis is bleak. However, i'll demonstrate below that this can be not perpetually the case. Velvet cannot typically be managed, as ich generally is, as a result of its sheer overwhelming numbers. Survivors of velvet area unit typically clownfish or different fish with thick mucous secretion coats. it's additionally thought a awfully tiny proportion of fish area unit capable of build up either natural or temporary immunity (usually vi months max) to velvet.
Treatment choices - antimalarial drug phosphate is that the treatment of alternative for velvet, however copper additionally works if symptoms area unit caught ahead of time. These additionally work on ich, thus if doubtful treating with CP or copper can have you ever lined each ways that. Tank transfer and hyposalinity don't work with velvet. A fresh dip and/or chemical tub (discussed in additional detail below) is usually recommended either before or throughout treatment, as a result of the severity of this disease; but these would solely give temporary relief and can not eradicate velvet.
Fallow amount - vi weeks if you're sure it's velvet. However, if you think ich or the other disease(s) is also lingering in your show tank, then it's best to travel fallow for seventy six days.
