I purchased a Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish and Copperband Butterfly yesterday and put them both in a 10 gallon quarantine. This is my first attempt at qt. 26 hours later the CBB is lying on its side at the bottom of the tank, breathing rapidly. (I'm assuming it's a goner. It's late in the evening, and don't have many resources available) All of the water parameters are good. 0 Ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, ph right around 8, sg 1.023. Fish appears healthy other than breathing. Have a hob filter and power head moving water...
Fish died in QT. what did I do wrong?
- Thread starter Danny N
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melypr1985
totally addicted
How is the lion acting? Are you treating with any meds currently? How did you acclimate them?
I don't think trying to QT a lionfish and a CBB together is a good idea, especially in just a 10 gal. If the CBB wandered too close to the lion (say, at night) he might have gotten stung. It might not have been done on purpose, but as a defense reaction. Or I could definitely see a CBB trying to nip at one of the lion's pretty spines, thinking it was food. These are two fish I would never keep together in a DT, let alone a small QT.
IMO; It is best to QT Lionfish separately from other fish. @Lionfish Lair may have better input.
IMO; It is best to QT Lionfish separately from other fish. @Lionfish Lair may have better input.
Duke4Life
Just a crazy eel guy, LMAS
+1 but include anything with a poisonous spine/s like a foxface.
So I took CBB to fish store with water sample. Water checked out good. Nitrates were a tad elevated, nothing to be overly concerned with though. No visible signs of illness. I came home from work today and Lionfish was dead. I'm pretty sure it was something I did wrong, just not sure what...
I'm assuming ammonia was zero and pH was normal when they tested your water? Those two, along with temp & SG, are the only parameters you need to monitor in a fish QT. What is the temp of your QT, btw?
Also, what is the SG of the source water the fish came from? I know you said yours is 1.023 in QT. If the source water was significantly lower, a 30-45 drip acclimation may not have been long enough.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Sorry, I missed this.
One thing I will say, if you only have the one QT and it's either everyone in the "pool" or nothing at all.... throw them all in together. It's definitely better for there to be one fish per QT, but is it better for someone to have three (for example) uncycled QT tanks going? Which is there less chance for failure.... "the inappropriate community QT" or too many QT tanks at one time to handle?
Pros and cons....
Pro multiple tanks
- fish cooties aren't mixing
- if one fish needed treatment, an asymptomatic fish wouldn't have to endure unnecessary treatment. Treatments of any kind are tough on fish, so if they don't need it, avoid it.
- the best time to convert a lion to frozen food is during the QT period. That's a lot of "messing around" in the tank and can stress fish. The butterfly would have had to endure stress unnecessarily at a time when it too is trying to adjust.
- less bioload, better water quality.
Con multiple tanks
- it's multiple tanks!.... it can be difficult to handle, as something could be going wrong in each of them, instead of just one. Water quality could suffer.
- if multiple fish need the same treatment, there's greater expanse and labour to medicate multiple tanks.
It's easier to have a butterfly with the lion than another lion or scorp. But a 10g is not a place for training a lion, as that's a lot of bioload fluctuations.
I'm dealing with the con of a single QT tank right now. I need to remove one to treat the other. That means delays in treatment. Pooey.
