eels and velvet parasite

[jaredDD]

I had a die off of all my fish, I believe due to velvet parasite. I have a zebra eel that survived. Can the zebra contaminate any future fish? What can I do if I want to add fish in the future? Do I need to start all over?

 

[SlugSnorter]

yes, there is likely velvet in there, you will need to treat the eel and fallow the tank to 100% remove it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had a die off of all my fish, I believe due to velvet parasite. I have a zebra eel that survived. Can the zebra contaminate any future fish? What can I do if I want to add fish in the future? Do I need to start all over?

Yes it can as velvet is a flagellate that needs to little to survive BUT is also short lived.
Before moving onto to velvet, can you provide a pic or two of the eel and velvet and also describe what symptoms you saw (other than appearance) with eel and other fish ?

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello and welcome to the channel. Use a Quarantine tank

 

[Bucs20fan]

The good news is that eels are incredibly resistant to disease and parasites if healthy, which is undoubtedly why it is still alive.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I had a die off of all my fish, I believe due to velvet parasite. I have a zebra eel that survived. Can the zebra contaminate any future fish? What can I do if I want to add fish in the future? Do I need to start all over?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Morays are pretty resistant to both ich and velvet. However, I can't tell you if they might or might not harbor a chronic infection that then could reinfect new fish. Safest thing would be to treat the eel in a quarantine tank and let your display tank run fishless for 45 to 60 days (longer is safer).

Treating zebra eels is a bit of an issue. While most morays can be dosed with Coppersafe, zebra's are more sensitive and may stop feeding. You can't use hyposalinity for velvet, so that leaves chloroquine, or risking it with Coppersafe.

Jay