disaster! velvet! now what?

[Always J]

ahhh! a few days ago, my biggest worry was some algae growing over some decoration . . . but then i bought a yellow tang, and chaos struck! (i NOW know, to QUARANTINE! Quarantine like crazy!) i believe it was velvet. This happend over a span of a few weeks, in which i only saw a few fish with white dots, which I figured was ich. I tried the garlic treatment, but i noticed the white spots increased a LOT, and parts of various fish's bodies became a bit hazy/cloudy (fish (clowns) that looked like this, i QTed in a 10 gal). then, fish (mainly damsels) in main tank started dying. . . i visisted my LFS, and hte guy talked me into buying this sort of brown, herbal medicine, saying that it was for parasites and was anemone/invert safe; didn't work!

in any case, (since i now have a fish-less main tank)just wanted to know: what should i do with my tank now? there are only inverts--anemones, shrimp and snails . . .and is still filled with the brown medication, which does not seem to be harming them

should i:

1. remove the inverts and do a 100% water change and fill it with a really low salinity--maybe even just use FW to kill the parasite? and wait a few months before buying any more fish)

2. leave all inverts in the tank, do a 25% water change eah day to get rid of the medication, and leave the inverts in there for a few months w/o adding fish? or will the inverts still be able to host the velvet in their other forms?

ANY advice would be appreciated . . .

oh! BTW, general info:

55 gal tank w/fluval 304 filter
nitrate/nitrite/ammonia/ph readings were all 0 (nitrate was about 10 though)

i apologize for this being so long!

jamie

 

[Juck]

Assuming it was ich, leave the main display tank fishless for at least 4 weeks (preferably 6),,, that should eradicate any remaining ich. Get any dead fish bodies that are visible out of the tank.

Do not fill your display tank with FW or you'll kill the biofilter and whatever is living in/on your sandbed and LR (assuming you have LR in there).

Not sure what medication you've used, but you should get it out according to the manufacturers instructions. If it's some kind of organic /herbal/hippy cure then I imagine normal skimming and/or a big bag of carbon should clear it right up. Some small daily water changes probably wouldn't hurt either.

Your nitrate reading is probably down to the cannister filter,,,it produces nitrates,, which is exactly what it's designed to do!

 

[Always J]

thanks for the reply, Juck. and meanwhile, I should continue leaving the inverts in the main tank during the 4 week fishless period, right? they won't harbor ich/velvet themselves?

thanks in advance!

jamie

 

[Juck]

Yup,, leaving the inverts is fine,,, the ich can't complete it's lifecycle without a fish in there.

 

[Always J]

hi, it has been about a week since i posted this (and one week since my aquarium has been fishless), but I have one more concern regarding my situation: is it ok to add a few more inverts to my tank right now? i was thinking of adding some coral, but I'm not sure if now's a good time, since i'm waiting for parasites to go away. . . (supposedly, i know, theyre not affected with ich/velvet) but just wanted to double check w/the board

thanks in advance!

 

[Juck]

If you add anything new to the tank then your fishless period should really start all over again. Though unlikely, it's possible that ich or other nasties could come in with the new arrivals.

I managed to bring ich into one of my tanks when I bought a new coral,,, so it can happen.

 

[Always J]

ok, then. better to be safe than sorry, i suppose!

 

[fireblade]

Keep in mind that if you are planning to add inverts, corals etc. after you wait it out for the ich to die off and start adding fish, you run the risk of reintroducing it again with the inverts. Maybey you should add them now and start your waiting period over.
Like Juck said its not very likly but it can/does happen.
I'm assuming that your lfs gave you this case of ich so its possible for them to do it again.
Anyone quarentine inverts?
Good luck