marine velvet in a reef

[new2us]

I need some education,please.
We have had a 90 gallon reef up for about a year and a 1/2 now. Fortunately up to this point, we have had no problems with bacterial or parasitic infections in the tank at all. Wouldn't you know it though - just when we got over-confident in our reef-keeping practices, we got the worst of them: marine velvet disease. Long story short, all our fish seemed tremendously healthy and happy before we introduced a new Mollie Blenny. First it died, then we lost 3 out of our original 7 fish.

The fish that died were the only ones who ever seemed affected at all.The last one passed about a week ago, yet the 4 remaining (two 6-lines, a LMB, and a hawkfish)are still doing great with still no signs or symptoms whatsoever. All inverts/corals are fine as well.
Yes, another testimonial about the QT as I have read on the boards while researching disease and treatment. I have not checked to see if there is a sticky thread for the "new hobbyist" section regarding the absolute necessity of a QT but, if there isn't, there should be. An ounce of prevention........
So, lesson learned and already have a quarantine tank set up for any future additions to be quarantined for 4 - 6 weeks prior to placing in the DT. I am now of the belief that a person cannot truly call him/herself a responsible fishkeeper without one.
My dilemma now is what to do for future prevention.
Do I need to catch the fish and put them in the QT for some type of treatment as a preventative, or just leave them alone for a few weeks and continue to watch them for signs of the disease?I do not want to over-treat, but certainly do not want to take any chances on new fish until I understand more about this disease and long-term effects on the tank. I will eventually re-stock but not until I am certain that my DT is in good shape again.
Will this disease stay in the water column waiting patiently for the next slightly stressed addition and then attack, or did it die with the last affected fish?
Specific gravity: 1.023
Ph : 8.1
Temp: 78
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: 12 (consistently - think I need more Chaeto in the refugium)
Normally, 15 percent water changes every 2 weeks. Twice as often since this happened.
What should I do now? :notsure:

 

[beth]

What makes you think your fish had velvet? Let me say this, if your fish had velvet, all would more likely than not be dead now.
Describe symptoms.
The FAQ Thread at the top of this forum has info on setting up a QT, and hopefully a lot of new hobbyists do see it.

 

[new2us]

Well, I had described this to some "senior" reefkeepers at a fish store in Longview, another in Tyler, and discussed it with one of the reps at Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and they all said the same thing. Also,when I researched it on the net, it seemed to fit. But, as I said before, I have had no experience up to this point with any type of parasite, bacteria, or disease with my fish so I am strictly going on recent advice. I certainly do not know enough to be able to diagnose it myself. I even thought it might be a parasitic primary and bacterial secondary, but I cannot figure why my other fish are doing so well. :notsure:
The day after the new fish was acclimated to our tank, he broke out in a mass of velvety sort of powder - not salty or grainy looking like ich, but more of an overall coat of white powdery looking substance that was mostly on the body, rather than the fins. He was breathing rapidly, very lethargic,and hiding a lot. He died the next night. Just a couple days later, the tomato clown started showing symptoms of the same, but a much much milder case. I started feeding garlic and B-vitamin enriched supplements. His appetite was very good and he was still quite active so I was hoping he would fight it off - whatever it was. He would dart slightly in the tank and scratch against a rock or the overflow box only occasionally, but the powdery substance got worse and so did his breathing. Then he went to the high current areas of the tank away from his frogspawn (way out of character). His color started fading in areas and his scales looked crusted over, almost as if he had a chemical burn, the day before he died. The Tang and the Eibli angel did not endure nearly as long as the clownfish although the clown was the first to show symptoms.
(The only reason I mentioned the QT info being in the new hobbyist thread is because I imagine there are others out there who get so caught up in trying to do the proper setups, equipment, doing water tests and picking livestock,
that they don't get around to the disease and treatment forum until after there is already a problem. )