Need an expert opinion on my next move

[Tuffloud1]

At this point, I am going to assume that my DT has ich, velvet, flukes and any other parasite/illness under the sun.

I am filling my newly purchased 20 gallon quarantine tank as I type this.

I have lost a flame angel, fire fish and royal gramma within 2 days. Now one of my clowns are showing symptoms as well as my pj cardinal that I posted on this forum earlier.

I have read the sticky on the TTM. My plan is to go fish less for 13 weeks minimum.

I want to get the rest of my guys out of the DT asap and save them.

symptoms in fish are, receding battered looking fins, white specks, white veil of death and faded coloring.

If I want to eradicate everything off these fish when they are in the quarantine, what will kill all? I understand that the TTM works great for ich, but I am looking for something that will kill everything in one swoop. Time is of the essence and because I believe there is more of a problem than just the ich, I would like to get going on a treatment that will kill everything. I don't think they will survive the TTM because there are so many different things going on with them.

Once my quarantine tank is up and running, please let me know exactly what treatment to use for my multiple problems.

Please help!

[Tuffloud1]

What is driving me nuts is how to deal with the problem if I don't know for sure what exactly it is.

Do I do tank transfer method for the ich? Do I do freshwater dip and formalin bath for the velvet? Do I use copper? Do I skip the tank transfer and use really lethal stuff to get rid of everything and hope the fish doesn't die?

I have read through the stickies, but I am confused on how to go about treatment when there are multiple different symptoms and my fish are dropping dead.....

I set up the quarantine tank, I just need a little guidance on what to do.

[Newsmyrna80]

Just like in humans there is no one cure all medicine for fish. How fast are the fish dying after you notice symptoms? Based on your description and timeline I'm leaning towards velvet. I sure you read this: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2388424
I would give each fish a FW dip before moving into the QT. As you know time is of the essence. I lost all but 2 fish to velvet in a matter of days.

[Tuffloud1]

Just like in humans there is no one cure all medicine for fish. How fast are the fish dying after you notice symptoms? Based on your description and timeline I'm leaning towards velvet. I sure you read this: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2388424
I would give each fish a FW dip before moving into the QT. As you know time is of the essence. I lost all but 2 fish to velvet in a matter of days.

I believe it is a combination of ich, velvet and possibly flukes. I realize that trying to is visually is difficult, but the symptoms are all over the place.

Yellow tang had white specs, now he looks great, pj cardinal had white specs at one point, got better, then hazy eye and disintegrating fin, now his fin is almost entirely gone, firefish just died no visual symptoms, flame angel had white film and muted coloring gasping for air then died the next morning.

Not sure how to start treating for everything and in which order.

[Deinonych]

The timeline and symptoms stated above would be indicative of velvet or brooklynella, IMO. The white film and ragged fins would make me lean more toward brook, but it's hard to say without direct observation. Crypto does not kill that quickly.

[Tuffloud1]

The timeline and symptoms stated above would be indicative of velvet or brooklynella, IMO. The white film and ragged fins would make me lean more toward brook, but it's hard to say without direct observation. Crypto does not kill that quickly.

So how would you suggest I commence my treatment process? Thanks for your help!

[GroktheCube]

I'd do a FWD going into QT, and treat with formalin or chloroquine. A dip in tank water with formaldehyde dosed 1k ppm (1000mg/l), very well aerated could be used instead of FWD. Dip should help relieve velvet, brook, and flukes and maybe buy some time.

If you suspect a secondary bacterial infection, an antibiotic would be in order.

Under no circumstances combine formalin with copper. Double check formalin with any antibiotic you use.

Formaldehyde severely depletes O2, so VIGOROUSLY the QT if you use it.

[Tuffloud1]

At this point should I worry about the ich? Will formalin kill ich?

[Newsmyrna80]

Formalin will not kill ich completely. I'm sure you know that white spots are not proprietary to only ich. Brook and velvet can present with white spots as well with differences of size. I've had fish present with white spots and automatically thought ich and began treating as such only for it to turn out to be velvet. While I saved a couple one of them got an infection that took his tail. Another time while doing TT for ich it turned out to be brook.
Like Chris said ich is not an immediate killer. I would treat for either velvet or brook first.

[Tuffloud1]

I'd do a FWD going into QT, and treat with formalin or chloroquine. A dip in tank water with formaldehyde dosed 1k ppm (1000mg/l), very well aerated could be used instead of FWD. Dip should help relieve velvet, brook, and flukes and maybe buy some time.

If you suspect a secondary bacterial infection, an antibiotic would be in order.

Under no circumstances combine formalin with copper. Double check formalin with any antibiotic you use.

Formaldehyde severely depletes O2, so VIGOROUSLY the QT if you use it.

I setup a new QT with totally new uninfected water away from the DT.

Do you mean take fish out of DT, do a freshwater dip, and then put fish into my QT with Formalin added? Or do you mean do a seperate formalin "bath/dip" and then put into the unmediated QT?

[Tuffloud1]

Also, where can I get formalin? The lfs said they are not allowed to sell it in California?

[GroktheCube]

I setup a new QT with totally new uninfected water away from the DT.

Do you mean take fish out of DT, do a freshwater dip, and then put fish into my QT with Formalin added? Or do you mean do a seperate formalin "bath/dip" and then put into the unmediated QT?

I mean fresh water dip (pH and temp matched), and then into medicated QT.

Also, where can I get formalin? The lfs said they are not allowed to sell it in California?

Really? That's odd. When in doubt, Amazon.