Treating Ich (or velvet)

[saltydog]

I have some very active fish (5 pacus) who are constantly banging into the heaters in the tank. The tank is situated in front of a large window & the last couple of nights have been very cold.  When I checked the water temperature today it had plummeted & when I checked my submersible heaters it seems that the one with the long knob sticking out of the top was turned way down. I didn't do it. It must have been the fish! In any case, they are all sick with the following symptoms:
1) no appetite;
2) very little activity;
3) lolling around near the top of the tank, instead of the bottom;
4) clamped fins;
5) occasional shimmying;
6) darker colour than normal;
7) appear to be covered with a milky velvet coating made up of tiny specks;
some fish have patchy areas on their skin (rubbing? haven't seen it).

Here is what I have done so far:
1) changed 25 % of the water:
2) raised the temperature to 80 degrees;
3) added 18 Tbs. of aquarium salt; (1 Tbs/5 gal.)

Here are my questions:
1) I know that they are probably suffering from ich but how can I be sure that it is not velvet?
2) If I treat using ridIch or quickCure (malachite green
& formaldahyde ingredients) will it stain the silicone in the tank? I have purchased used tanks in the past where the silicone was permanently an "ichy" blue colour.
3) Does anyone have any other suggestions? These fish appear to be very sick.

Thanks
Roger

[saltydog]

Update:
This morning the pacus are no better. There seems to be a cloudy 'film' over the fish which also covers the eyes. These fish were very active (now they never move), ate voraciously, & seemed perfectly healthy 2-3 days ago. I notice that the Giant Danios in the tank appear to have the more typical signs of ich (ie. white 'salt' spots & erratic swimming). If the Pacus have ich they seem to be literally coated with the little buggers.

I do have some empty tanks available.  What should I try next?

[dpatte]

QuickCure works great for ich. Add the recommended dosage the first and second days then each 3 days after that until there have been no spots for a week. Then a water change.

But this sounds like velvet to me, but Im not sure what is the best medication for that.

[Marc]

This page seems to have some good information on Velvet:
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/velvet.htm

Marc

[saltydog]

Thanks, Marc, for the link. It appears that I will be successful in saving 3 of the 5 Pacus & all of the rest of the fish. I transferred all inhabitants to a hospital tank at 80+ degrees F. with 1 TBLS of salt per 5 gal. Then I medicated with copper (copper sulfate) as per directions. Apparently copper is extremely effective & works on velvet, ich, & other parasites. It is not safe for plants or invertebrates (snails, etc.) (There are other remedies which are safe to use in a planted community tank.)

What I might try next time is to also add a fungicide to the water  since velvet quickly causes the fish to lose its skin &, without any slime, fungus soon sets in as well.

I would strongly advice all aquarists to buy general remedies BEFORE tragedy strikes. I believe that if I had had these on hand at the time of noticing the ailment that I could have avoided all fatalities.

[Marc]

Roger,  I'm glad you could save some of them.

Marc