Itchy GSPs, possible velvet, help.

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Post Reply
jlbyin
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2017 12:51 pm
Location (country): South Africa

Itchy GSPs, possible velvet, help.

Post by jlbyin »

Hi so my one GSP started jerking around while he was swimming but then I noticed he was purposely trying to rub into leaves and decor, I immediately realised that he was itchy. No white spots though. So I'm thinking it could be velvet? He isn't rusty yet though but maybe I just caught it early? Is there anything else it could be? I noticed it last night and this morning my other GSP has started to do the same thing. There is so much conflicting info online about what kind of medication is okay and what isn't, the last thing I want to do is more harm than good with the wrong meds. If it is velvet, what do I treat them with? They are in brackish water so the salt bath solutions some people do with FW puffers may not be effective?
Thank you all so much for any help given, its much appreciated!
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: Itchy GSPs, possible velvet, help.

Post by Pufferpunk »

Ich is actually a gill disease, so you won't see the spots until the gills are filled with the parasites & they spill over onto the skin. How salty is your BW? Did you also raise the temp to 85? I also suggest 80% water changes, while thoroughly stirring the substrate, to remove any free-swimming cysts.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28113
library/hospital/fwich/
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
jlbyin
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2017 12:51 pm
Location (country): South Africa

Re: Itchy GSPs, possible velvet, help.

Post by jlbyin »

Okay thank you so much I’ll increase the temp, I was just trying to make sure I was treating for the right thing. That’s some nifty info on Ick, Thank you so much! All the websites on the internet don’t explain the process or why properly so you’re just left with a bunch of symptoms where you have some but not all and you’re not quite sure if it’s in it’s early stages or you’re just freaking out. Thanks again :)
jlbyin
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2017 12:51 pm
Location (country): South Africa

Re: Itchy GSPs, possible velvet, help.

Post by jlbyin »

Also my BW is 1.009
Post Reply