velvet question again

[bear]

Oodinium/velvet?
Hi all I have a problem with 1 of my blue diamond Discus
I’m into my 4th day of treatment with maracyn and the fish seams to be responding
The maracyn directive recommends a 5 day treatment but does not say what to do after
that period,other than to repeat if necessary?
Now my question is; when the “velvet “ appears to be gone, how long b/4 I can return the fish to the community tank that it came from and should I do anything to the tank b/4 returning the fish?
I should mention that the fish showed a trace of white on its rt. Pectoral base when I bought it, but after 2 weeks in isolation it seamed O.K. but 1 week later it started getting that dreaded blue/white cast and 1 day after that had a full blown case of “Velvet”………..In case you hadn’t noticed, I am an newbie to Discus and have lost about 8 of them in the past 6 mnts. Or so. I’ve been lurking on this forum for a while to gleen what info I could but I need help b/4 I blow anymore loot on discus at about $35-$45 us a peace in my area and have to order them sight unseen through my lfs.
Needless to say I’d appreciate any advice y’all are willing to give me T.I.A.
My water stats. Are Ph 7.1 Gh 6.72 Kh 5.6 nitrates 5-7 ppm no amm or nitrites
Regards ART (bear)

[Merrilyn]

Hello Bear. Velvet is a real problem to treat. There are several posts in this section on various treatments for velvet. Have a look at the posts right at the top of the section.

Your water sounds fine for discus. How often do you do waterchanges. Our fish really do love their clean water, so changing water two or three times a week is essential.

I think the most important thing, in your case, is to get healthy fish in the first place. Sometimes it's better to order off breeders, even if they have to ship them to you, rather than sight unseen through the local fish shop.

[bear]

The safest and the best method is to use long bath with salt. The dose is 2 ppt(200gm per 100liter of water) for one month and by the next month, every one of the oodinium will be gone forever....believe me.
Whenever you change water, add back the same dose or concentration.

Hi Ladyred
Will the above be safe for a densely planted 90 gal.community tank ? It holds among other things 2 sailfin pleco's & 5 x3 in. cl. loaches. To answer your question on water changes, best I can do is 40% change every 3 weeks
I have to truck my water in from the city in 45 gal. drums on the back of a half tonn pickup
I'm starting day 5th of treatment today mon. sept. 12 and the fish looks good , breathing is back to normal and it is coloring is returning.
I would definitively like to treat my 90 gal. b/4 returning the now cured fish????????????? (I hope) please advise a.s.a.p. I have marlboro reds scheduled to come in this week on thursday and only the iso-tank with the recovering fish in it available I've been trying to get in touch with the supplyer to hold, but not receiving an answer T.I.A. :?:

[Merrilyn]

Bear, you certainly can't use the salt treatment in your planted tank, it will destroy all the plants, as well as probably kill your plecos and clownies. They are both classed as scaleless fish and salt is a huge irritant to their skin.

With your water situation, do you have well water or creek water of some kind. It might pay you to invest in an RO unit and treat the well water. 40% water change every three weeks is not a real good idea. If that's your only alternative, then make the changes about 15% every week, so there is not such a drastic build up of pollutants in the water. It's not ideal, but it's better than a huge change after three weeks.

The other thing you definately need, is a UV sterilizer unit on your tank. It will cut down the bacteria in your tank between water changes.

I would say, that the velvet has come in on one of your other fish. Most fish can fight off such diseases, but discus seem susceptible to just about every disease that's going around. That's why we like to keep them in a tank on their own.

If your fish is now looking recovered, you could put him back into the main tank, as you need the isolation tank for the new fish. Keep a careful eye on the fish, and watch for any signs of the velvet returning.

HTH

[bear]

Hi again Merrilyn. Wow it sure is hard to converse with a 14 hr. time difference you are right of cource on the water changes. My well-water however is liquid stone ond very sparce ruling out the R.O. option. I can however increase the frequency but heating the water each time makes it a lengty procedure but nessesary I gues. B.T.W. I managed to get past the automated order desk and spoke to a real live person who delayed delivery of the reds I ordered. Could you give me your views on using "coppersafe" in my 90 gal. comm. tank
Also can you tell me how I get into my profile EDIT to change the local time, I don't know how that got there and would like to change it Thanks

[bear]

[quote]
Also can you tell me how I get into my profile EDIT to change the local time, I don't know how that got there and would like to change it Thanks
_________________
Plse disregard this request I figured it out.