is this velvet disease?

[seastaar88]

i had posted last week about my sunfish tha was experiencing scale loss. after two weeks of treating with melafix, the scales are back... BUT over the course of the two weeks, it has been getting gradually more dull along his dorsal side and on his head and it's almsot as if theres a greyish film covering him. his caudal tail is ratty and he is breathing more rapidly than usual. i've posted a few pics, unfortunatly it was really hard to capture teh "film." i wanted to know if this is velvet disease and what yall recommend for treatment. he's one of my favourites, so i'd hate to lose him.

 

[Lotus]

There are some pics of velvet here: http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#Velvet It's kind of hard to tell from your photos what the problem is. It almost looks like a problem with the slime coat. Have you noticed him scratching at all?

 

[Fish Friend]

eeesh looks nasty

 

[discus4everGrl]

That fish doesn't look like he has velvet to me. Velvet looks like a fish has been sprinkled with gold dust. Your fish looks like he has sliminess of the skin disease. The link below has a picture of a marine fish with it but it also affects fw fish. I would research it and see if the symptoms are the same for your fish as the pictures are hard to see.

My disease book says to initially treat fish with a white spot/ick remedy. If there is no improvement in 5-7 days do a 50% water change and use an antibiotic treatment with formalin in it.

Note* Be sure to follow the directions for anything that contains formalin carefully, it is dangerous to humans and has been shown to cause cancer so never allow it to come in contact with your skin. However, I believe the first white spot remedy should work.

http://www.aquariumpharm.com/disease/sliminess.html

 

[seastaar88]

i was reading up about slime diseases in my aquarium book and i looked at that site, discus.. and i think that is definitly what he has. his color is very dull and grey-ish and it looks like it's getting worst. i'll have to stop at the LFS after dinner to get a differnet med than melafix.

 

[discus4everGrl]

good deal, glad I could help