This is a question I should have been asked a long time ago…is velvet really the scourge to softwater tanks that I have heard it is? How can I prevent it – or, if that fails, treat it? And is quarantining new paros a good idea even if the tank they are going into does not currently contain any other (macroscopic) animals?
I can’t say anything especially when it comes to velvet, other than the fact that it is a debility disease. But I would not take the chance of installing paros in a tank where there has ever been any disease. Apart from that, prevention is always the best way to go…good routines and healthy fish in healthy water works most of the time 🙂
I agree with Ghia. Definitely no reason to be concerned about it. I think the relation between softwater and oodinium would be hard to prove. I would assume these problems are closely related with badly handled tanks and unstable conditions + the fact that people do not know the life cycle of the parasite and therefore do not understand how to treat it well. I have kept many species of different fish in soft and acidic water and I never had one single problem with velvet. On the other hand, I have seen countless cases in shops, where the fish are kept in tap.