Velvet Deaths, Now What To Do With Tank?

[fatfatfish]

I am somewhat new to this so any help would be appreciated. Recently I lost all but 2 of my fish. They have been in a pfully cycled, up and running for 2 1/2 months tank. One day I introduced two more fish... then it happened fairly quickly and I couldn't figure out what it was for awhile, thought it was ich...well it turned out to be velvet. As soon as fish started dying I quaranteened two of them that looked like they were doing alright. My question has to do with how to a clean the tank after? It is up and running still, the 2 survivors (well hopefully they will turn out okay, we will see) are in a seperate tank hospital tank, but what do I do with the main tank?
my questions....
Can I just let the tank run on its own for a week or two and all the velvet will die because there are no fish for it to attach to?
Do I need to change all of the water?
Do I need to clean the whole tank with bleach (or something less harsh??), including rocks, plants, etc?
I have a biowheel set up and if I clean the whole tank do I need to clean the biowheel too? Or is that going to be okay if I let it stay the way it is?
Is there anything I should do to help out the 2 guys in the hospital tank? Should I change the water completley every day? I had read somewhere to keep moving them to fresh water everyday and they parasites will drop off...I only have one hospital tank so I would have to put them in a container and change everything and then put them back in....any suggestions?

Thank you so so much for any help. I love fish, and want to get more, but I am scared right now because I dont want to go through this again with them all dying like that.

 

[WILDER]

Just a water change as the parasite won't survive without a host.
No need to strip the tank down and steralise it.
How are the fish you moved best to treat the whole tank and not move fish you are just infecting another tank.
Can you describe the velvet t make sure it was that.
http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/heal...thprotist.shtml

 

[CFC]

Just run the tank without any fish for a couple of weeks to allow the parasites life cycle to go full term without a host, you can add a tiny ammount of ammonia to the tank each day to keep any filter bacteria alive if you dont want to have to start again from scratch.

Keep the survivors in the dark for two weeks (cover the tank with a blanket if the room is bright) and treat the tank for velvet again, it is a real swine of a disease to destroy and can come back even when you think its beaten so take no risks.

 

[fatfatfish]

well, the fish just started dying at one point...and I looked at their bodies and couldnt see anything strange..so that is why I didnt know it was velvet. I initially thought it was ich because I saw a white spot on one of their tail fins but then that completley went away.
What it looked like on the last 4-5 that were dying was their black stripes (tiger barbs) had faded a lot...and they kind of looked metallic, but I thought that was just how the scales must look when the colors fade. I kept telling my bf that it was weird how they looked so metallic-y.
But I countinued my research because I strongly believed it was not ich, and found info on velvet. It said to turn off the lights and shine a flashlight on them..which I did, and holy cow, it looked like they were covered completley in tiny golden dust. So I immediatly started treating with Acriflavine, which I had read works on velvet. I also read copper works well, but there was so many people saying it was dangerous I am a little afraid to use it.
The two fish that I had moved to a hospital tank were adult green tiger barbs, and they looked like they were still healthy so I wanted to try to save them. Their was only one regular smaller tiger barb left in the main infected tank.....and even though I was treating with acriflavine, he was acting like all the others that had died and it looked like he wouldnt make it.
The green tiger barbs in the hospital tank, their colors hadnt faded at all, and that was usually a tell tale sign for me that they would die, so I thougth these two might not be infected. They are in a small hospital tank with a heater, covered with a blanket. I shined a flashlight on them, and they have a glimmer to them, but i can't tell if its a velvet glimmer or because of their color. It dosen't look anything as bad as the others did under the flashlight if it is velvet, but I can't tell so I feel like maybe I should treat them too.
Should I go by some copper treatment and treat them in the hospital tank?
And it seems like I should just let the main tank run for 2 weeks or so and then it will be safe? Should I be on the safe side and but copper (if I get it) in the main tank too even if I am letting it sit?

also the green ones aren't eatting..so maybe they are sick, even though they don't look it. They are very shy fish though, and when moved or when they dont have their cave to hide in to feel secure, they get scared. So I thought maybe they weren't eatting because they were stressed being in a different smaller hospital tank (5 gallons).

 

[WILDER]

Did you increase aeration in the tank and raise temp.
You could try half dose as alot of fish don't tolerate copper to well.

 

[fatfatfish]

yes, added another bubbler to the tank and the temp is 83F.
Should I raise it more?

 

[WILDER]

I would leave temp.
If you think the fish still have velvet I would treat, but maybe go in with half dose for now.
http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/heal...thprotist.shtml

 

[fatfatfish]

Thanks so much for your help! I'll let you know if the two make it...

 

[WILDER]

Good luck hope they make it bless them.