Word of warning on live and fresh foods--parasite vector

[CrayolaViolence]

I have a fish only tank with four fish in it. All fish were QT'd and CP'd and wormed etc. The fish have been in the tank for 6 months to one month (depending on the fish). Anyhow, I feed my fish a variety of foods, mysis, to clams, to shrimp, to krill, to new spectrum foods, rods foods etc. The other day they were out of my usual mussels and the significant other brought home bags of live cherry stone clams. I crunched a few up and tossed them into the tank. Almost 14-16 days later, I wake up and find my emperor is covered in velvet, my Pakistan won't eat and the raccoon and puffer are off their foods. These fish ate voraciously last night.
The first few clams I dropped in were live, the others frozen, all refrigerated. I did a brief internet search and came up with one incidence of marine velvet surviving being frozen. I consider the evidence anecdotal but I have a friend who has been feeding the cherry stone clams from the same outlet for months and he's been battling outbreaks of velvet even when the fish have been through a full QT with CP and other meds.
Granted, I have no real *proof* this is where the velvet came from, however I had perfectly healthy fish until recently and I have not added or changed anything in my tank. I am unable to recall if I fed a live one to my reef tank but started those fish on ick shield pellets just in case I did. I have fed the plain black mussels for months without incident, and this happened after one bag of the cherry stone. Again, not proof, but an odd coincidence. There is just as much a possibility that the velvet survived full treatment with CP and quarantine (90 days on the emperor) and it's just now popping up. But considering the circumstances I figured I'd give others a word of warning just so you could be aware and vigilant. Now all I can do is hope they survive the treatment.

 

[SalinFL]

Are those clams and anything else the you feed farm raised? I personally wouldn't touch farm raised if it was given to me (or my fish). I work with exotic wildlife, there is extensive research underway on a specific species of feline that lives in Thailand. Its eats seafood as part of its regular diet and it's dying at alarming numbers and you know it has to be alarming for a study. Bottom line, the cats are eating out of fish farms. Not saying that your items came from there, but we all need to know where our food comes from and how it's processed. Our health and our tank mates health depend on it.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

Are those clams and anything else the you feed farm raised? I personally wouldn't touch farm raised if it was given to me (or my fish). I work with exotic wildlife, there is extensive research underway on a specific species of feline that lives in Thailand. Its eats seafood as part of its regular diet and it's dying at alarming numbers and you know it has to be alarming for a study. Bottom line, the cats are eating out of fish farms. Not saying that your items came from there, but we all need to know where our food comes from and how it's processed. Our health and our tank mates health depend on it.

No, these are harvested out of the ocean. And velvet and ick both are natural parts of the water column. Velvet, especially, doesn't need much water at all to transfer and the water in the clams would be more than enough.

It's the only possible vector that could have brought it in. Other than it surviving 3 months in QT with treatment and living up to six months in the fish only to come out now. Which is also possible--so I am not ruling that out at all.