# How to treat velvet disease with invertebrates in the tank?



## FishAddict99 (Nov 5, 2007)

I think I might have an outbreak of velvet in 3 of my 5 fish tanks. The infected tanks include 2 community tanks and 1 nursery fry tank. The other two tanks that are healthy have a betta in each. Well I'm buying medication today but the only prolem is that I have two ghost shrimp and two freshwater clams in my community tanks. I know that ghost shrimp are very sensitive to any medications, especially those with copper. The medications I'm going to buy are Mardel Labs Copper Safe and Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Melafix. Also, I've read up on the disease and they say that adding aquarium salt to your tank helps, but I have two leopard corys which I believe are sensitive to salt. Ahhh, it seems as if nothing will work right. I just hope that I don't harm any of my fish by the end of this. : ( So my question is, how can I treat all three of my tanks without harming my shrimp, clams and corys?


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## The-Wolf (Mar 15, 2007)

ok velvet needs light to stay healthy and reproduce,
so the first course of action is a tank blackout.
this can be achieved by wrapping the tank in a heavy blanket or duvet, so that no external light can can get in. Obviously any tank lights should be turned off. In addition to that darken the room, if possible, by drawing the curtains and leaving them drawn. that way when you open the tank to treat you are not suddenly flooding the tank with light.

no the best treatment is a copper based one, however it is not suitable for your set up, in this case I would use FMG (Formalin and Malachite Green).
FMG is available, in the UK, from any LFS that deals with pond fish, it is made by NTlabs.
the dosage is 5ml per 35ltr and treat for 5 consecutive days.
if the treatment is unsuccessful then a further course at the same dosage can be applied for another 5 days, however do a 50% water change before treating for the second course.

when treatment is finished, or you have cured the problem unwrap the tank but don't put the lighting on that day. IE let the fish just have ambient room light for the first day.

if you have healthy plants they should last a 5 day blackout, however I'd be more concerned with the fish than plants at this stage. 

HTH


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