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firewill65
09/29/2013, 01:11 PM
Background: I've had my 180 tank up for over a year, the fish are 2 clowns, 1 blue hippo tang, 1 yellow tang, 1 banner fish, 1 diamond goby, 1 royal gamma and 1 flasher wrasse which died recently. The fish were never quarantined but have never shown any signs of disease or parasites till recently.

3 weeks ago my flasher wrasse looked to have a bacterial infection, the skin got greyish in color and it died. I recently ordered a 18 watt UV sterilizer which I was running about 6 hours a day just to polish the water.

2 days ago my bannerfish's black stripes were very dull, it was gasping for air, appeared to have velvet, and was swimming into the power head. At this point I figured it was going to die but I decided to let my 18 watt UV run 24/7 and make sure the fish were fed very well.

The bannerfish has made a recovery. I no longer see any signs of velvet, its stripes are brightly colored as they should be, and fish is acting normal.

The only changes that were recent were the addition of a red bubble tip anemone and multiple frag corals which were soaked in revive prior to making it in the tank. I normally run only my actenics, but started running all lighting since I now have an anemone. No new fish were added. I'm wondering if the stress of the RBTA caused the velvet to appear in my bannerfish as it's been in the tank over a year with no issues. No other signs of problems are noted.

Is this just the calm before the storm with velvet? is Velvet what killed my wrasse and is not making it's way from fish to fish? Will the UV keep it in control? Will the bannerfish develop resistance to it? Did the velvet multiply since I started running all lighting?

Any input to this scenario is greatly appreciated.

firewill65
09/29/2013, 07:33 PM
...I'm beginning to wonder since no other fish was affected if maybe it was uronema or brooklynella. I did see a red ulcer looking spot starting to develop. Also, noted were torn fins.