oodinium help please

Hello folks. I highly suspect oodinium in my guppy breeder tank, and could use any help and pointers folks might have. I recently noticed one of my larger females flashing a lot, and she seems to be increasing this action in the past week. I have a few other fish that occasionally flash as well. The tank has already been through an extended ich treatment, and no new life forms have been added from an outside source since the treatment. This tank had a major die off problem about 10 weeks ago, it appeared at the time to be fin and tail rot, but treatment made no difference and several fish that were fine when treatment began died off as well. It had me somewhat stumped at the time and therefore I have been doing a lot of research. The only fish that survived the die off were fry, now I am starting to get some fairly large females and have had several batches of fry, and suddenly my larger fish are showing signs of something wrong again. I read up on oodinium at the skepticle aquarist and a few other places, under a flashlight in a darkened tank, I do see some small "gold dust" looking areas, especially on the fins, but not around the gills that I can see. Does anyone know a surefire diagnosis, and more importantly, what treatment methods have been successful for others with this parasite. the tank is heavily loaded with snails and plants, I would prefer not to kill my snails, and would prefer not to move the plants if possible, but could do either if needed. my q-tank is also currently housing guppy fry, plants, and snails, and since the tanks aren't much different in size I figure it's easier to just leave the fish where they are and treat the tank. not to mention that the q-tank has fish transfere3d from this one and may need treatment as well.
Tank parramiters:
15g high
lots of guppies (6 female adults, 1 male adult, countless fry different sizes)
snails galore
ammonia= 0
ntrite= 0
nitrate= 5-10 at the high side
kh=4
gh=12
temp = 78 F
ph 7.6 give or take
penguin 125 with bio-wheel, and prefilter sponge
OERFUG with penguin 550 powerhead and prefilter sponge
small gravel substrate

Sorry for the long post but too much is hopefully better than not enough.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Dave

Thanks Blinky,
Thats helpfull. Still not sure with my diagnosis, but starting to get concerned.
dave

Anybody else with any thoughts. this is something I haven't had to deal with before. Thus far I have found reccomendations for about 10 different meds, most of which I can't find to purchase. The lights are off for a few days, and the fish aren't getting any worse as far as I can tell, I wil probably go with Formalin and Malechite green in combo unless someone has a better suggestion.
dave

Thanks Bigguppy,
There was some good info there as well, rather depressing info I might add, but some things are worth a try. I'll get some Malechite green and formalin both today, I also plan to check out Mardels velvet meds and see if they are snail safe. I do have a decent back-up stock of snails if they have to go, but have put considerable effort into cultivating these little guys and would hate to start over now. The more I read the more I am convinced that this is what killed my adult guppies before. They are exposed to a nitrite spike (bonehead move with my auto feeder) and a few days later every adult in the tank showed what appeared to be fungus, and fin and tail rot. none of them recovered even with treatment. This time I don't have an outbreak just some flashing and odd behavior that started me looking), or any fish in serious shape so I may get rid of it once and for all and not have to worry in the future.
Dave

Pictures would be rough unless things get out of hand again. I took the advice of the skepticle aquarist and used a flashlight to look for "gold dust " in the dark. it did show up, but fish won't hold still well in front of a flashlight, and nothing but white light makes it show up. The pictures of the fin spots on the link you gave me are really the best I have seen. And also allowed me to pretty much confirm my diagnosis. The big thing I haven't pinpointed is why the fish are getting it. if I understand correctly it only attacks a stressed fish. The tank I lost before did go through a severe (but short term) nitrite spike so it has an explanation, this tank has been steady with no problems and frequent water changes. the only thing I can surmise is stress from constant male attention, or stress from giving birth. the only fish that seem affected are the large females, I have 6 large females, and only one fully adult male. all of the other males are removed to a different tank as soon as they show signs of maturity. of the six females only two show signs of flashing frequently. I have the tank blacked out but with my plants I only intend to blackout for 4-5 days, but will be adding meds before I add light back in. I will keep everyone posted and if someone else finds a miracle cure please let me know.
dave

Thanks For the reply, I'll defiantely check out the Acriflavine. the blackout is in progress, and I have some MAracide which is the Mardel cure (malechite by the way) folks have mentioned. I haven't started using the maracide yet, The fish seem to be doing OK, and flashing has stopped ( seems odd but may just be the life cycle. and I really want to be positive of a diagnosis before I add meds. I am also considering moving my snails up to the main tank, and moving all guppies to the QT. Just because the qt tank is an ugly old scratched thing that I am not worried about stains in. and the guppy breeder is close to brand new glass. I am just hesitant with the meds, because I don't l;ike using them and don't want to do something unnecessary. Either way none of my fish seem to be bad off no clamped fins, no rapid breathing, no loss of appetite as of yet. If I understood this parasite correctly, it only attacks stressed fish, and doesn't like dark tanks at all so I may observe for a few more days before treating with meds.
Dave