All the fish are dead or pretty much dead:(

[Salmon King]

It could be velvet.If it is once it gets in the gills its to late.The only other thing that makes a fish breath hard is amonia witch burns the gills.Garlic is a wise tale.Ask any marine bioligist

[findingnemo1]

Alright. We lost the regal
But here is the interesting part. With a little help from Alberta and the gang from Golds we might have figured it out. When we pulled the regal out he pretty much looked like he was bleeding from the inside out. Lateral line was literally through the skin on both sides and he had sores on him where the blood spots where.

So after Albert coming to the rescue this is what he came up with.
Vibrio
Sounds like pretty much what happened. Didn't matter how we treated them they all died anyways. Apparently we brought it in with some new frozen food that can get infected after packaging. As the water was and is perfect although the mag and alk are a little low.

Scarey thing is we can catch it and we have had our hands in the tank
So the plan is let the U.V run on the tank and leave it fishless for a long long time. I don't think i can watch helplessly as more fish die.

I do still have the flagfin but he is not looking so swift hot this morning so we will see.

Thanks to everyone for the support though it was nice to come and vent somwehere where people understand how attached we get to out little water friends

[fencer]

Might be better to teardown tank and wash it with bleach. BTW what was the cause...link did not work

[findingnemo1]

Ahhh of course it wouldn't work...lol

It was Vibrio:
I am hoping that after some solid research it will tell me exactly how to deal with this.

Hopefully i don't have to tear it all apart as i can't stand to lose anymore out of that tank. And due to the fact that of what it is i can't ship them out to be babysat

I guess i am just hoping for the best at this point.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

"In confined, heavily stocked, commercial systems, Vibrio disease outbreaks can proceed rapidly. Therefore, prevention is essential to any management scheme. As Vibrio species are believed to be opportunistic, conditions which favor a disease outbreak are often caused by environmental stress which can be avoided. Poor nutrition or water quality, improper handling, overcrowding, and the presence of other disease-causing agents will all increase your fish's chances of contracting a Vibrio infection. Parasites are of special concern, as they often cause damage to fish tissue, creating an ideal location for Vibrio infections to begin. Chemical treatments, including the use of copper compounds, can be harsh on fish and have been reported to precipitate Vibrio disease outbreaks.

Quarantine of new fish and good sanitation practices should be used at all times, and will minimize the spread of Vibrio infection from infected to uninfected fish, should a disease outbreak occur. New fish should always be kept away from existing fish. Tanks and culture facilities should be kept clean and free of any unnecessary wastes.

Treatment
Before any treatment with antibiotics, a thorough investigation of water quality and husbandry practices should be conducted. Removal of underlying problems is essential to successful resolution of the problem. Occasionally, removal of contributing factors (i.e., poor water quality) will be all that is required to control the infection, but in most cases it is prudent to treat an active Vibrio outbreak with antibiotic therapy." (taken from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA036)

[Aquattro]

And just in case it is vibrio, make sure you don't have any open cuts on your hands before touching the water, and wash well with anti-bacterial soap afterwards. I ended up having to treat myself with antibiotics a couple of years ago!

[findingnemo1]

The Crappy part is we didn't figure out what is was untill it was to late. And i kept feeding the food the whole time...

It wasn't a water quality issue as the water params were all good except the mag was low and so was the alk. But nothing that would start a nasty infection. Had to be the food as that was the only thing that was new.

And yes the gloves would have been great to know before as i kept putting my hands in there and the quarintine tank. Hope i don't get sick...That would just be the topping on the cake...lol

[hawk]

So the frozen food was contaminated when you bought it or somehow became contaminated once it was opened?

[whosinpower]

Thank you for sharing with us your problem. I am terribly sorry for your losses.
And I hope you don't end up getting ill as well!

As a newbie in this hobby, I greatly appreciate your willingness to share what must be terribly difficult to deal with. I would of never imagined that the food could possibly contaminate a closed system with disease. One more thing to be wary of!!!!!!

I know overfeeding leads to water quality issues which could stress our animals that would precipitate a disease outbreak - but it never occured to me that the food itself would be a carrier. Wow.

Thanks again Findingnemo1. And sorry for you troubles.