Velvet infestation

[ericdoran34]

I recently lost all of my fish in my 125 gallon display tank to velvet. Not sure how it got introduced to the tank but now I am taking every precaution that I can. I will be starting the fallow period as soon as I figure out what I can leave in the tank. I do not have corral this was a fish only tank. Remaining is a black long spline urchin, a tuxedo urchin, a white urchin, various snails, sand sifting starfish, emerald crabs, and blue leg hermit crabs. I did not add copper or any other meds to the display tank.
Questions
1. Do I need to remove anything so the velvet cycle will die off.
2. If I don’t have to remove anything can I add more CUC to the tank now and have them go through quarantine during the fallow.
3. Do I need to do anything special with the tank itself (filtration, sand, live rock, power heads, or any of the equipment) besides the daily maintenance every week
4. Can I add more Dry rock to the tank to cycle it as the fallow is going to use in a quarantine tank for new fish in the future.

Any help is appreciated

 

[Fish Fan]

Sorry to hear about your velvet outbreak :crying-face:

Questions
1. Do I need to remove anything so the velvet cycle will die off.

No, without fish the velvet should die off in time. I think the shortest, trusted time is 45 days without fish, but I go about 60 days just to be sure.

2. If I don’t have to remove anything can I add more CUC to the tank now and have them go through quarantine during the fallow.

You can add anything that's not a fish. However, I'd suggest adding them now, and then letting your tank go fallow (fishless) for the 45-60 days. Technically, a parasite like velvet can come in on a snail or any invert. So if you fallow your tank for like 44 days and then add some new snails, technically you should fallow the tank again for 45-60 days from that day you add the new snails. Does everyone do this? Nope. But you've seen first hand how a parasite can wipe out your tank and fast. I try to be as "biosecure" as I can, not that I'm an expert here at all :)

3. Do I need to do anything special with the tank itself (filtration, sand, live rock, power heads, or any of the equipment) besides the daily maintenance every week

No. If you haven't treated with copper or anything else, simply let the tank run fallow for 45-60 days and you should be good. Just do regular maintenance during this time. Time without a fish-host to complete their life-cycle will kill off the fish parasites that necessarily need a fish to survive.

4. Can I add more Dry rock to the tank to cycle it as the fallow is going to use in a quarantine tank for new fish in the future.

I'm not sure I fully follow your question here, but you can add DRY rock to a system at any time and it should have no effect on your fallow or disease eradication. If you add LIVE rock, then you could potentially be adding a parasite, and I would advise letting the tank go fallow for 45-60 days after adding the live rock, or QT'ing the live rock in a separate tank.

If your plan was to put some dry rock in the tank so it would become seeded with bacteria, and then use that rock for a QT tank, that's possible, but only if it's a non-medicated QT tank, which to me isn't worth while. I'm a fan of medicated QT tanks for fish, and if you're going to medicate with copper, you do not want any rock or sand in the tank. The calcareous rock and sand can interact with the copper, making it less effective during the QT process, and then leaching it back out later, which is harm full to all inverts.

I hope that helps! It's hard coming back from a loss like that, but please post again if you have questions!

Best of luck!

 

[ericdoran34]

Thank you. Now to start over.

 

[Fish Fan]

Good luck!

 

[threebuoys]

You may be interested in these two threads from the "Fish Disease and Diagnosis Forum:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/45-day-fallow-periods.805213/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/

 

[ericdoran34]

This was a fish only tank. Would it be ok to add corral and nems to the tank during fallow period and treat this as there QT period. I am new to the reef side of things. I don’t like leaving a tank empty if I can add new things to it. I have a 32g biocube where I am experimenting with frags and just added a nem they seem to be doing great. Would like to turn the 125 into a complete DT. Also what Hanna checkers would you recommend having for a reef tank.

 

[Fish Fan]

I get that not many want to stare at an empty tank for 2 months, but going slowly is typically best in this hobby.

You can add corals and inverts and basically anything that’s not a fish. But best practice would be to restart the 45-60 day fallow period as these animals could potential bring in parasites as well.

And be careful with anemones, most require a stable, mature tank. Most members here don’t try to add an anemone in a tank that’s less that 6 or 8 months old.

 

[ericdoran34]

This tank is about 9 months old and was doing well. (Was) water tests are all perfect with only inverts in the tank right now. The 32g with the nem and frags is only 1month old and doing well. The only issue I have with this tank is the buttons ( sorry don’t know the technical name for them) only have of them come out. I am currently trying depth in the tank with a little more water flow. I don’t have a good pic of them but this is one of the other things I have in there.

 

[Fish Fan]

A 1 month old tank is extremely new for a ‘nem.

Are the pics above of your new 1 month bio cube, or your 9 month old tank? The rocks here look very, very new to me.

 

[ericdoran34]

A 1 month old tank is extremely new for a ‘nem.

Are the pics above of your new 1 month bio cube, or your 9 month old tank? The rocks here look very, very new to me.

This is the 32g biocube

 

[clarkreef2]

I recently lost all of my fish in my 125 gallon display tank to velvet. Not sure how it got introduced to the tank but now I am taking every precaution that I can. I will be starting the fallow period as soon as I figure out what I can leave in the tank. I do not have corral this was a fish only tank. Remaining is a black long spline urchin, a tuxedo urchin, a white urchin, various snails, sand sifting starfish, emerald crabs, and blue leg hermit crabs. I did not add copper or any other meds to the display tank.
Questions
1. Do I need to remove anything so the velvet cycle will die off.
2. If I don’t have to remove anything can I add more CUC to the tank now and have them go through quarantine during the fallow.
3. Do I need to do anything special with the tank itself (filtration, sand, live rock, power heads, or any of the equipment) besides the daily maintenance every week
4. Can I add more Dry rock to the tank to cycle it as the fallow is going to use in a quarantine tank for new fish in the future.

Any help is appreciated

Sorry to hear that! The only advice is you need a proper water change and double-check your water temperature, Yes you need good filtration as much as you can you need proper circulation of your water. If you have new water ready I rather half of your tank water change. Good luck

I love my bubble coral

 

[backbayreef]

Sorry for your loss. You're not alone. I've lost almost all my $$$ fish in a 450gal tank due to velvet. I've done a 70-day fallow with just corals and CUC - yes, it was very boring (yet serene) without fish.

Just make sure you QT everything going forward and reduce the stress for fish. IME, fish can fight off the outbreak if they're healthy. Once they start swimming against a wavemaker (gills infected), loss of appetite, and/or hiding, they're in serious trouble and need help.

Good luck!