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RE: Killie Fry and velvet & Copper
Hi Tyrone,
I have had a case of very stubborn velvet with RAC that acriflavine just
would not cure. When I added it the fish stopped dying but when I stopped
adding it or tried removing it the fish started dying again.
In desperation I added two drops per gallon of copper-formalin
"organi-cure). I repeated the process for an additional two days. Then I
found my salt water copper test kit. The copper level was way too high, by a
factor of recommended treatment level times three and lethal times two.
Unlike salt water where the coral and dolomite "absorb" the copper it just
builds up in bare bottom tanks. The good news is that it cured the velvet.
The bad news is that it did eventually kill most of the Nothos. On the other
hand some did survive the copper level which should kill most fish
instantly. I also used it with Fp.s and Aphys. They too have a high
tolerance for copper. By the was so do the Malaysian live bearing snails
which survived it.
I suspect that the truth about copper is that it can be used on Nothos with
velvet very effectively. But most of all VERY CAREFULLY! And preferably with
a copper test kit. The copper level has to be high enough to kill the velvet
but not high enough to kill the fish. This is not a treatment of choice for
beginners. Acriflavine is much safer and should be tried first where
possible.
Best regards,
-RJ-
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-killietalk at aka_org [mailto:owner-killietalk at aka_org]On
Behalf Of Tyrone Genade
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2001 5:41 AM
To: killietalk at aka_org
Subject: Re: Killie Fry and velvet
On 29 Jun 2001, at 1:07, getsmart at teleport_com wrote:
> I have a few tanks full of Notho fry that are about 3 weeks old...
> but being nothos it must be velvet.
Oh dear!
> I have added salt to their water as recommended, question on the proper
> dose, I have done 3 tsp per 5 gallons at this time. Is there anything else
I
> should add or use instead, for the babies?
Step 1: up the pH. Add some sodium bicarb to get the pH
above 7.
step 2: up the salinity to 3 tsp of slat/gallon. Table
or course it doesn't matter... at least not with me.
if the velvet still doesn't vanish...
step 3: add acriflavine according to the manufactures
instructions. Any other velvet cure would be just as
well except anything with copper! Never add copper to a
notho tank, it will kill them out right. Even traces of
copper are no good. You can try formaldehyde too. I
found it worked well at the concentration suggested to
kill hydra (I discoverred this by accident...). It works
best in conjunction with salt.
The velve may be strong enough to resist 1 particular
treatment but combining 2 may be too much for it.
If you can get hold of quinine that would be great. It
is the best alround cure for velvet. I forget the
dosage... I rarely get velvet nowdays. I find keeping
the pH above 7 does the trick for most nothos.
Also, feed more generously. Velvet is far from a
terminal desease. I've had fish that spawned fantasticly
for the duration of their lives with velvet. The trick
was to keep them well fed so that the velvet wouldn't
suck them dry. I wouldn't suggest putting this to the
test though as velvet can suck the life out of a brood
over night if you are not careful.
Good luck
Tyrone Genade
Southern African Killifish Society Coastal & Offshore Coordinator
AKA 08248
tyronegenade at yahoo_com
http://www.geocities.com/tyronegenade
*************************************************************
P450 Lab, Biochemistry Department
University of Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa
Ph: +27-021-808-5876, fax: +27-021-808-5863
**********************************************************
In God I trust,
but in all others I must have irrefutable proof!
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