Velvet outbreak!!!!

[mkara]

hey everyone! So i had dinos, velvet, green hair algae, brown hair algae in my tank. My fish died off, i saved the corals in my buddy’s holding tank for the time being.

Since then, i reset. I took everything out, cleaned the tank and equipment with fresh tap water and distilled vinegar and left overnight. The next day, i bought NEW rock, NEW live sand, NEW sump and made water and put it in the tank. I added Fritzzyme and left it for 2 days. My question is, is it safe to add fish after the cycle is complete?

Did the velvet die off with the fresh water and vinegar?

Please help!

 

[MiltonMMLN]

Hi mkara, how are you? I'm so sorry for your recent losses, and I hope your new journey is less complicated.

I know that for freshwater aquariums, here in Brazil, we typically disinfect them with hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar, or bleach—the latter only used in extreme cases and with careful dosage control, usually in 1:10 baths for ~30 minutes, followed by rinsing and chlorine neutralization. For saltwater, the logic is similar if the cleaning is done correctly. I've never needed to disinfect a reef, but the technique and effectiveness on surfaces should be similar; so it's unlikely you'll have a problem with algae from "remnants" from the previous setup—however, Amyloodinium (velvet) may still be a risk.

I could be wrong, but velvet cysts can remain encysted even after a good cleaning, and vinegar/freshwater doesn't guarantee the death of all cysts. They can remain in the plugs and crevices of some corals; Care is needed. If you can't "remount" the coral (discard the old plug), I recommend quarantining it before introducing it into the display; dips help with coral pests, but don't eliminate velvet cysts, so a fishless QT is ideal for corals/inverts.

Here, to truly prevent and be more certain that the velvet won't return, I would leave the main aquarium empty of fauna for 6–8 weeks and perform a complete nitrogen cycle, traditionally, monitoring ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests, especially during this phase.

For dinoflagellates, good diversity (e.g., a refugium with chaeto, pods, quality rock/rubble) and an adequate UV flow rate can help. Maintaining NO₃ levels between 5–15 ppm and PO₄ between 0.03–0.1 ppm tends to provide better initial stability against dinos and unwanted algae.

Anyway, I hope other members can help you better than I can, I know very little about the topic and I have had little experience with problems like this.

 

[Should I]

@Jay Hemdal

 

[akma]

hey everyone! So i had dinos, velvet, green hair algae, brown hair algae in my tank. My fish died off, i saved the corals in my buddy’s holding tank for the time being.

Since then, i reset. I took everything out, cleaned the tank and equipment with fresh tap water and distilled vinegar and left overnight. The next day, i bought NEW rock, NEW live sand, NEW sump and made water and put it in the tank. I added Fritzzyme and left it for 2 days. My question is, is it safe to add fish after the cycle is complete?

Did the velvet die off with the fresh water and vinegar?

Please help!

I believe for velvet need to keep tank fallow for minimum 6 weeks.

Are you testing ammonia and nitrates to see if the cycle is done?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

hey everyone! So i had dinos, velvet, green hair algae, brown hair algae in my tank. My fish died off, i saved the corals in my buddy’s holding tank for the time being.

Since then, i reset. I took everything out, cleaned the tank and equipment with fresh tap water and distilled vinegar and left overnight. The next day, i bought NEW rock, NEW live sand, NEW sump and made water and put it in the tank. I added Fritzzyme and left it for 2 days. My question is, is it safe to add fish after the cycle is complete?

Did the velvet die off with the fresh water and vinegar?

Please help!

Vinegar is not a good sterilizing agent. It inhibits bacterial growth at high concentrations, but at low levels, it doesn't do much. Freshwater can kill many marine parasites, but velvet (Amyloodinium) can live in brackish water conditions, so it is fairly resistant to freshwater.

I wouldn't trust Friztzyme to fully cycle a tank with one dose like that. You should challenge the tank with ammonium chloride additions until the bacteria can consume 1 ppm of ammonia in 24 hours.

Then, the weakest link in all this is going to be the new fish that you add to the tank - even if your tank is completely disease-free, if you add new, non-quarantined fish, they can often bring new diseases in with them.

 

[zheka757]

...but he also says, he got new everything inside the tank, sand, rock, (Sump!?) with this its telling me the tank was dry at one point, and since then filled with fresh water and vinegar, and most likely emptied again. so I honestly don't think there is anything possible carried over (alive) from old system.
With that, I agree with above, he is not guarantied from introducing velvet back into the system by bringing fish back. who ever you got the fish from most likely will have it again if not quarantined.
Also you are not guarantied by restarting the tank that you wont have algae problems with your new rock and new sand. Unless your (New) rock is live rock then you'll have less likely chance of having "ugly" stage of cycle. I also Agree to wait a little longer before introducing new fish, and maybe read up on quarantine and how to prevent such problems you had in the past.