Velvet (fish disease)

Regular monitoring, attentive care, and preventive measures collectively contribute to keeping fish healthy and velvet-free.

Initially, infected fish are known to "flash", or sporadically dart from one end of an aquarium to another, scratching against objects in order to relieve their discomfort.

In the most advanced stages, fish will have difficulty respiring, will often refuse food, and will eventually die of hypoxia due to necrosis of their gill tissue.

[3] Sodium chloride (table/sea salt) is believed to mitigate the reproduction of velvet in freshwater fish, however this treatment is not itself sufficient for the complete eradication of an outbreak.

Additionally, because velvet parasites derive a portion of their energy from photosynthesis, leaving a tank in total darkness for seven days provides a helpful supplement to chemical curatives.