Feeling sad & frustrated

[ZoWhat]

You're not alone....

I would say 90+% of us have had massive fish deaths. Fish are very sensitive unlike most house pets that are hardy when taken good care of, like dogs, cats.... Fish you can take good care of and still be 10x more likely to accidentally kill them

In 20 yrs I recall twice when I found all fish lying dead on the bottom. most likely due to massive O2 depletion overnight

Sorry for your losses but we all have gone thru them. Just apart of the hobby

.

 

[Punchanello]

Sorry to hear that. I'm struggling with this part of the hobby also. I'm someone who does everything I can to reduce stress, suffering and illness.

I do a full 6 week quarantine and observe. Even with apparently healthy fish I have lost them in quarantine and also shortly after they are added to the main tank. This week I found my tang in the DT with a small amount of ich. Somehow it got through and I didn't catch it. I'm not very experienced so I question my ability to treat/medicate safely even if I do observe ich or another disease or parasite.

The whole question of quarantine is enough to cause anyone anxiety.

 

[maroun.c]

Can you reference this? Do you mean QT directly from the Ocean? Do you mean QT/observation? Do you mean QT/Medication? What size QT tank makes a 25 % water change a must? (what if you have a 100 gallon QT tank for 5 chromes, for example). What you're saying doesn't make sense (IMHO)

That was meant for when treating with Antibiotics as they all affect your filter bacteria (more or less for some) so whenever I treat with antibiotics its 25-50% every other day and in severe cases when I add more antibiotics its 50% daily. No references just personal experience, I do run 5 Quarantines mostly full since years and learned the hard way.

 

[MnFish1]

That was meant for when treating with Antibiotics as they all affect your filter bacteria (more or less for some) so whenever I treat with antibiotics its 25-50% every other day and in severe cases when I add more antibiotics its 50% daily. No references just personal experience, I do run 5 Quarantines mostly full since years and learned the hard way.

Hey - thanks - I was referring to when you said "QT claims a higher death rate". I was wondering if you meant that. Im not sure it's true?

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I added prime and stability. I would have added right away but missed the spike due to a missed day of checking.

You do not want to add Prime with copper or Cupramine. The combination of these can create a potentially toxic issue.

https://www.seachem.com/support/for...sion/1707-cupramine-and-prime?p=9212#post9212

However when cycling a new tank that does not have copper in it you can add Stability and Prime at the same time. SeaChem recommends doing this when dosing Stability daily for 7 days, to add Prime every 48 hours to boost the effectiveness of the seeding the bacterial colonies. Prime converts the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates into a less toxic form that the bacteria strains in Stability can process more easily and helps boost the colonization in your tank.

https://www.seachem.com/support/for...le-with-prime-and-stability?p=10168#post10168

I used this method when setting up my 75g as well as my 20G frag tank, and it worked beautifully. For my QT tank I only used Stability since it had Cupramine in it as well.

 

[MnFish1]

You do not want to add Prime with copper or Cupramine. The combination of these can create a potentially toxic issue.

https://www.seachem.com/support/for...sion/1707-cupramine-and-prime?p=9212#post9212

However when cycling a new tank that does not have copper in it you can add Stability and Prime at the same time. SeaChem recommends doing this when dosing Stability daily for 7 days, to add Prime every 48 hours to boost the effectiveness of the seeding the bacterial colonies. Prime converts the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates into a less toxic form that the bacteria strains in Stability can process more easily and helps boost the colonization in your tank.

https://www.seachem.com/support/for...le-with-prime-and-stability?p=10168#post10168

I used this method when setting up my 75g as well as my 20G frag tank, and it worked beautifully. For my QT tank I only used Stability since it had Cupramine in it as well.

I read the article from seachem and it says to only add prime if nitrites or ammonia is present and there are fish in the tank. The article says you don’t need to add prime if you are doing a fishless cycle

 

[maroun.c]

Hey - thanks - I was referring to when you said "QT claims a higher death rate". I was wondering if you meant that. Im not sure it's true?

By that I meant that mishaps are more common in a qt:
Typically smaller setup
Not as good filtration is DT
Frequent restarts between fish
Medications hitting filtration and stressing out the fish.....
Yet the outcome is healthier fish and added safety to the fish in ur DT as well as for the outcome of fish that pass QT.

 

[vetteguy53081]

While copper is a good cleanser of parasite, unless you have a bare bottom/no rock QT tank, I would try a lower salinity along with natural herbals such as melafix and similar. As an alternative, you can give copper bath in a separate bucket but return them to the QT tank with tank water.
Fresh water dip also very effective prior to intro

 

[WhiteRaven]

You do not want to add Prime with copper or Cupramine. The combination of these can create a potentially toxic issue.

https://www.seachem.com/support/for...sion/1707-cupramine-and-prime?p=9212#post9212

However when cycling a new tank that does not have copper in it you can add Stability and Prime at the same time. SeaChem recommends doing this when dosing Stability daily for 7 days, to add Prime every 48 hours to boost the effectiveness of the seeding the bacterial colonies. Prime converts the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates into a less toxic form that the bacteria strains in Stability can process more easily and helps boost the colonization in your tank.

https://www.seachem.com/support/for...le-with-prime-and-stability?p=10168#post10168

I used this method when setting up my 75g as well as my 20G frag tank, and it worked beautifully. For my QT tank I only used Stability since it had Cupramine in it as well.

Thanks. It's a good reminder. I have started any copper treatment yet. I did a methylene blue bath to start, observed and feed for a week, then prazi & metro. I was doing WC and carbon in prep for copper.
Reviewing the QT thread here, humblefish only uses prazi and not metro unless specifically treating for a disease. I think the metro antibiotic did me in by messing with my bio filter.
I was coached on the metro by another reefer with years of success and no fish disease. The difference is that they have time to check their QT multiple times a day. I will miss a day every once and while.

 

[WhiteRaven]

Thanks. It's a good reminder. I have started any copper treatment yet. I did a methylene blue bath to start, observed and feed for a week, then prazi & metro. I was doing WC and carbon in prep for copper.
Reviewing the QT thread here, humblefish only uses prazi and not metro unless specifically treating for a disease. I think the metro antibiotic did me in by messing with my bio filter.
I was coached on the metro by another reefer with years of success and no fish disease. The difference is that they have time to check their QT multiple times a day. I will miss a day every once and while.

Correction -> I have NOT started copper

 

[Forsaken77]

An fyi... You can test a Seachem badge before use to see if it works. You dip a Q-tip in ammonia and put it near the yellow sensor in the middle. The odor alone should change the color. It can take up to 2 hours to reset back to zero. Sounds like you got a dud, unfortunately.

I have never cycled a QT tank ever. I also use a small tank and only treat a single fish (two tops) at a time and do almost a 100% water change ever other day because of ammonia, but my Seachem badges seem to work. You have to watch the fish as well though.

How big was this tank with 4 fish in it? Because Prazi depletes oxygen very fast and requires a small power head, and a bubbler if possible. Were meds combined?

Also an fyi, you cannot add water conditioner, like Prime, with copper.

It sucks to lose fish like that. Try way more than a 25% water change on an uncycled tank in the future. I find on average that a single fish in a 10 gallon needs a 75-100% change every 2 days with fresh filter pad. So expand off that if it helps. Just my advice and hasn't failed me yet.

 

[Forsaken77]

Thanks. It's a good reminder. I have started any copper treatment yet. I did a methylene blue bath to start, observed and feed for a week, then prazi & metro. I was doing WC and carbon in prep for copper.
Reviewing the QT thread here, humblefish only uses prazi and not metro unless specifically treating for a disease. I think the metro antibiotic did me in by messing with my bio filter.
I was coached on the metro by another reefer with years of success and no fish disease. The difference is that they have time to check their QT multiple times a day. I will miss a day every once and while.

You can do the metro for intestinal stuff if you see white poop. Feed it in the food with Focus to bind it. I find Kanaplex works better for fish, ime. Regardless of which one, those meds are better not dosed into the water column, but fed.

 

[mcarroll]

What do you do about velvet?