MadReefer Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 It didn't look like ich to me in the pictures. Sorry for your loss. I had a new fish bring in junk that spread to all my fish. My only loss was when I tried to treat. I think treatment is stressful and fish selection is important. Nano tanks are tough, QTs are tougher. I have more to say and a better way to explain my thoughts but my battery is going to die so I have to go now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 thanks for the input Madreefer, sorry about the battery. hope to see more when you have charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I wouldn't get out of reefing that's for sure. I had this same thing happen to me. I lost every fish I had slowly. I couldn't put a placement on where it came from exactly. I don't use a QT tank now either. I did once and it seemed to be a big hassle and not much benefit out of it. If I get a large system someday I will run a QT just to save what I hope to be expensive fish. I think QT now would do some good for your fish but before when you got the new ones I wouldn't have used one either. It's a hard situation because if infection gets into small tanks it's almost always lethal. I would hope the store would either hold the fish till it was totally cured, but that isn't always the case. If they did let it go with the disease knowingly they should have told you. Hopefully you can salvage the rest of your tank and rebuild whatever you have lost so far.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Eric, I'm glad you're not getting out - I think you would have regretted it. We all think of throwing the towel in once in a while when things go bad - and we all go through bad phases. You managed to set up a very nice tank in a fairly short period of time. But I think you fell into a trap that a lot of people - especially new-to-salt people fall into. You spent a fair amount of money of things that gave you a lot of visual return, but didn't follow the basics - like a QT. It's a very common thing - and I did the exact same thing when I first set up my tank. Then I got ich and learned a lesson. You can set up a fine QT for less than $50 - probably much less than that. My QT is a 10 gal, a cheapy hang on filter (for water circulation, no actual filter), and a heater - less than $40. I've quarantined every fish I have in that set-up with no problem. Toss in some coffee mugs so the fish can hide and reduce stress. Keep in mind, the fish can seem perfectly fine in a LFS and then get ich when transferred to your tank. The fish likely had ich the whole time and just didn't show symptoms. Not the LFS fault. They take what precautions they can and keep healthy tanks. Some stores run copper in their systems to prevent ich and such, but most don't - and generally, we don't want them to. That's why you have to QT. Also, your tank was a little over stocked. I have a 29gal myself, and I know the temptation to put in just one more fish. But having too many fish leads to all kinds of things - chemical fluctuations and stress, that lead to big problems like disease and tank crashes. Been there, too. The bottom line is that we are usually our worst enemy and you are learning the lesson than many of us have learned... the same way most of us learned it. Hang in there. Go slow. Follow the basics. And like Lowman said, if you do shut down, keep your equipment... 'cause you'll be back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 lol. Thank you for the advice. I do believe that you are correct in what you say. I am taking this as a chance to rebuild. I am going to try and save the fish I have left. But this will give me some time to work out QT and so on. I am working on getting this UV in hopes to reduce future issues. At least my corals are safe. That is where a majority of my money has gone and I would trully be devestated if I experienced with my corals what I am going through with my fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Eric, You were pretty ticked at the LFS for giving you Ich. I noticed that you have a post in the WTB section about trading someone. Make sure to let them know you are currently fighting Ich in your tank before they put anything from your tank in their tank. Ich has a free swimming stage and you can get it from just putting water from one tank into another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelhead77 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Here is a 10 gallon tank on Craigslist. He's even in Beaverton. I bet he'd make you an even better deal than what he's offering. You can pick this up tomorrow morning and set up by noon and have a very inexpensive QT/Hospital tank for less than you paid for your last frag. Even if you don't quarantine any fish, at least set it up and leave it running so that you have a hospital tank ready to go just in case. I believe that having a hospital tank already set up is what saved my Perc. Even tho I don't quarantine any new fish (my bad) at least I had it ready to go and just did what needed to be done and did it quickly in order to save the fish. http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/for/1052505648.html P.S. Looking at your pics, I don't think your fish has ich. It either has Brooklynella (sp?) or Velvet, but not ich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miniwhinny Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 ok so I was over reacting when I said I was probably going to get out of reefing. Now that I have had time to cool down I know I am not. I'm so glad that you're hanging around. It's a really hard "bug" to cure . Sorry about what's happenend. I know things like that are disheartening but it sounds like there are a lot of folks here trying to help. I hope everything works out for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Thank you all for your advice and input so far. I lost the second clown this morning, found him when I went to try and take him out to go to Dsoz. I will still be getting chromie's out and to him for QT. Steelhead: thanks for posting that. I am going to hit them up and get a QT setup to avoid future issues. I also went out and bought a UV sterilizer today, it is a "Turbo Twist" ranked for a 125g after I found the other clown dead. Chromie's are showing no sign of infection that I can see but then again it is hard to see on them due to skin tone and the fact that they hide all the time. I have noticed them allowing the cleaner shrimp to clean them now so that may be the sign. Took some new pic's of corals today to compare to previous pic's in an attempt to see if I could notice anything going south with them. Actually looks like corals are happy. Is there anything I should be looking for to see what affect UV has on my tank? Some have told me that my water should get really clear like it "polishes your water" is this true? Downhill_Biker: sorry man I felt I needed to take immediate action after finding my latest freezer fish. I may still entertain trade with you and posted new images of Duncan's for you in the UV thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 To all who have advised or recommended anything I thank you. No recommendations or offers were overlooked as I plan to act on all of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downhill_biker Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 if the last fish does die, let the tank run with no fish for 8 weeks. this will kill the ich parasite. then you can slowly start over restocking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 That is the plan. Should give UV plenty of time don't you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Sorry Jason missed your post. I will be informing any and all about this issue should I get trades. Once I knew problem was present I immediately sent R-3 message as he was last to trade with me. Dont want to pass issues or create problems in other people's tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 eric sorry for your lost, hopefully you can get the last 2 out to dennis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-3 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Yeah Eric was good about letting me know. I figured it when I showed up and saw the fish in bad shape. I just took precautionary measures and dipped. Good luck with the treatment Eric! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 thanks R-3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Here are some shots from today that I took to compare with. Too bad there isn't anyway to see what is affecting my fish with these pic's. These are taller than ever and from top view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 in addition I changed my carbon out today. Added poly filter to check for toxins, and brought up temp in tank to 81 due to temp drop when I removed and forgot to put heater back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 2, 2009 Author Share Posted March 2, 2009 Considering doing a thourough scrub on tank and sand on wed with another 50% tank change. Will this help at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwsemaphore Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Hope all is going well. Charging my skimmer with Ozone has worked for me in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadReefer Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Considering doing a thourough scrub on tank and sand on wed with another 50% tank change. Will this help at all? I wouldn't mess with the sand too much. Just the top layer or small parts at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I wouldn't mess with the sand too much. Just the top layer or small parts at a time. i would not mess with the sand. You could release Hydrogen Sulphate, which would be bad. I think now Eric that you are over thinking this. Just let things be in your tank for at least 8 weeks. Don't add anymore fish until that time period is up. Then slowly start again.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Yeah, Lowman is right. I understand the feeling - that you just want to do something... anything. But if it was ich, there is nothing to do but treat any affected fish and leave your display fish-less for at least 30 days (and 6-8 weeks is best). None of the things you're at will fix the ich problem - large water changes, filter options. Just be patient. Continue to feed small amounts of food for your hermits and to keep some bateria cycle up. Add fish back to the tank slowly (not all at once) so you don't get a chemical spike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 i would not mess with the sand. You could release Hydrogen Sulphate' date=' which would be bad. [/quote'] Not to disrespect you Bob, but it is hydrogen sulfide, not hydrogen sulfate. The sulfide is what causes the black discoloration and the rotten egg odor. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I stand corrected. The point was that mixing up the sand bed can have bad results. Thanks for the correction. No disrespect taken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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