API fungus cure safe for shrimp?

[Gotfins]

After doing more research I'm pretty convinced that I have velvet in the tank. Others have used API fungus cure to solve the issue, however, I am not finding definitive information that tells me it's safe for use with amano shrimp and snails. Does anyone have experience with this? Thank you

 

[Retired Viking]

Does it list copper as an ingredient? if so do not use it with shrimp or snails.

 

[Colin_T]

Fungus treatment will not treat protozoan parasites like velvet (Oodinium).

What makes you think the fish have velvet?

If you turn the tank lights off and shine a torch on the fish, velvet will show up as a gold or yellow sheen over part or all of the body. This is most noticeable on dark coloured fish like black mollies, but can also be seen on lighter fish.

Fish with velvet will also rub on objects in the tank.

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You can treat velvet by raising the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keeping it there for 2 weeks. Then reduce the temperature to whatever it normally is.

Do a huge (75-90%) water change and gravel clean the substrate before raising the temperature. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres of tank water.

Reduce the lighting on the tank while treating.

 

[Gotfins]

Fungus treatment will not treat protozoan parasites like velvet (Oodinium).

What makes you think the fish have velvet?

If you turn the tank lights off and shine a torch on the fish, velvet will show up as a gold or yellow sheen over part or all of the body. This is most noticeable on dark coloured fish like black mollies, but can also be seen on lighter fish.

Fish with velvet will also rub on objects in the tank.

-------------------
You can treat velvet by raising the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keeping it there for 2 weeks. Then reduce the temperature to whatever it normally is.

Do a huge (75-90%) water change and gravel clean the substrate before raising the temperature. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres of tank water.

Reduce the lighting on the tank while treating.

Fungus treatment will not treat protozoan parasites like velvet (Oodinium).

What makes you think the fish have velvet?

If you turn the tank lights off and shine a torch on the fish, velvet will show up as a gold or yellow sheen over part or all of the body. This is most noticeable on dark coloured fish like black mollies, but can also be seen on lighter fish.

Fish with velvet will also rub on objects in the tank.

-------------------
You can treat velvet by raising the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keeping it there for 2 weeks. Then reduce the temperature to whatever it normally is.

Do a huge (75-90%) water change and gravel clean the substrate before raising the temperature. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres of tank water.

Reduce the lighting on the tank while treating.

Thank you. here's a pic. How are my plants going to do with the salt?

 

[Gotfins]

 

[Colin_T]

The plants will be fine with 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

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If you are worried about the harlequin rasbora in the middle of the picture, the fish with the pale yellow orange body, it is not velvet. That looks more like a microsporidian infection in the muscle tissue. The parasite damages the muscle tissue and makes it look white or milky in colour. Fish can be like this for a few weeks to several months but eventually they die from it.

The only success I have had treating this infection is by increasing the salt level in the tank to about half strength seawater for a couple of weeks. I used this to treat rainbowfish, which are fine with some salt. However, harlequin rasboras never evolved to deal with salt so it would be risky.

The extra salt would kill the plants so you should move the plants out and treat the tank or move the fish out and treat them separately.

Because it's only 1 harlequin at this stage, you would be better off moving it into a quarantine tank for a few weeks and treating it there. If it survives then put it back in the main tank. If it doesn't, then don't treat the others.

You could try a lower dose rate of salt and it might help. 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres of water would be the minimum salt level. Keep the fish in this for 2 weeks and see how they look. This level of salt will affect some plants.

If it is a microsporidian infection, the parasites will be in the tank and could infect other fish further down the track.

 

[Gotfins]

The plants will be fine with 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

--------------------
If you are worried about the harlequin rasbora in the middle of the picture, the fish with the pale yellow orange body, it is not velvet. That looks more like a microsporidian infection in the muscle tissue. The parasite damages the muscle tissue and makes it look white or milky in colour. Fish can be like this for a few weeks to several months but eventually they die from it.

The only success I have had treating this infection is by increasing the salt level in the tank to about half strength seawater for a couple of weeks. I used this to treat rainbowfish, which are fine with some salt. However, harlequin rasboras never evolved to deal with salt so it would be risky.

The extra salt would kill the plants so you should move the plants out and treat the tank or move the fish out and treat them separately.

Because it's only 1 harlequin at this stage, you would be better off moving it into a quarantine tank for a few weeks and treating it there. If it survives then put it back in the main tank. If it doesn't, then don't treat the others.

You could try a lower dose rate of salt and it might help. 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres of water would be the minimum salt level. Keep the fish in this for 2 weeks and see how they look. This level of salt will affect some plants.

If it is a microsporidian infection, the parasites will be in the tank and could infect other fish further down the track.

Thank you