After about a decade away from the hobby, about six months ago I finally got back in a big way- with a Reefer 650 Peninsula tank. This time I wanted to do everything right and spared no expense doing so. While the tank itself is running great with thriving SPS and LPS corals, I have been unable to get nearly any fish through quarantine and added to the tank.
My quarantine setup consists of two 10g tanks with a cobalt 50w heaters and Aquaclear 30 HOB filters with sponges seeded from the refugium of my main aquarium. Each tank has an ammonia alert badge. After significant reading on this site and others, the plan was to treat for two weeks with Copper Power at 1.75 ppm (using Hanna Checker) before a transfer to the other tank at 0ppm copper for two weeks.
Here is my experience so far:
As you can see, I am now up to three fish that had acclimated well and were eating fine for weeks, until suddenly refusing to eat and dying hours later. The deceased fish has no sores or apparent diseases, and their tankmates (sometimes identical) appeared completely unaffected. I am at a loss for what I did wrong. Could the copper be causing this, despite being increased slowly and never getting anywhere near toxic levels?
This episode has been really difficult for my wife and I. We are now at less than a 50% survival rate, and haven't successfully introduced a new fish to the DT in over a month (and, with the opeful exception of the YWG, will not be doing so for at least a month more). What was once an enjoyable exercise of feeding and watching the quarantine tanks is now something I dread, and my wife, a vegetarian animal lover, is quickly becoming disenfranchised with the hobby. I also struggle with the morality of taking fish from the (already stressed) ocean only to endure such dreadful outcomes.
What am I doing wrong?
My quarantine setup consists of two 10g tanks with a cobalt 50w heaters and Aquaclear 30 HOB filters with sponges seeded from the refugium of my main aquarium. Each tank has an ammonia alert badge. After significant reading on this site and others, the plan was to treat for two weeks with Copper Power at 1.75 ppm (using Hanna Checker) before a transfer to the other tank at 0ppm copper for two weeks.
Here is my experience so far:
- March 9: Pair of ocellaris clowns added directly to the tank without quarantine. Risky I know, but at this point they were the only livestock in the tank and they were sourced directly from a local breeder
- March 14: Pair of captive-bred radial filefish (Divers Den). Acclimated successfully to quarantine, increased copper to 1.75ppm over three days. Two weeks later, the smaller, previously healthy, good-eating filefish stopped eating and appeared lethargic one evening. He was dead by the next morning. The other filefish spend two more weeks in copper and was introduced into the DT in mid-April. He continues to thrive there.
- April 7: Yellow watchman goby (Bluezoo). Acclimated successfully, increased copper to 1.75ppm over three days. After two weeks, transferred to another tank without copper, and is still there because...
- April 25: McCosker's Flasher Wrasse (Bluezoo). Acclimated using the drip method (which I no longer use) per Bluezoo instructions. Didn't survive the first night.
- April 25: Golden Midas Blenny (Bluezoo). Acclimated successfully, but due to the condition of his tankmates (in hindsight, caused by the midas blenny), I waited to start copper until he was alone. Increased copper concentration over 4 days to 1.6ppm. On the sixth day (and a total of three weeks in the tank), he suddenly stopped eating and died overnight.
- April 26: Tri-color wrasse (Local fish store). Acclimated successfully, but noticed a bit of aggression from the midas blenny. It didn't seem problematic (no nipping or damage), until one day I came home to him being attacked by the midas blenny, and with an apparent spinal injury. He was also sent down to the YWG's quarantine tank, but his injury did not improve and I euthanized him after several days of apparent suffering.
- April 25: Purple firefish (Bluezoo): Acclimated successfully, but after a few days I noticed some fin damage and witnessed him getting attacked by the golden midas blenny. He was quickly removed and sent to the YWG's quarantine tank, restarting the timeline for the YWG. I waited on copper due to the introduction of the wrasse, and started it several days ago, increasing to 1.75ppm over four days. Last night I found him lethargic and refusing to eat, and despite an immediate 50% water change, he was dead by morning.
As you can see, I am now up to three fish that had acclimated well and were eating fine for weeks, until suddenly refusing to eat and dying hours later. The deceased fish has no sores or apparent diseases, and their tankmates (sometimes identical) appeared completely unaffected. I am at a loss for what I did wrong. Could the copper be causing this, despite being increased slowly and never getting anywhere near toxic levels?
This episode has been really difficult for my wife and I. We are now at less than a 50% survival rate, and haven't successfully introduced a new fish to the DT in over a month (and, with the opeful exception of the YWG, will not be doing so for at least a month more). What was once an enjoyable exercise of feeding and watching the quarantine tanks is now something I dread, and my wife, a vegetarian animal lover, is quickly becoming disenfranchised with the hobby. I also struggle with the morality of taking fish from the (already stressed) ocean only to endure such dreadful outcomes.
What am I doing wrong?
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... there is no "have to" standard yet, but there's a robust debate about "should you." You can see some of that above. If you check out the articles section, some of the most experienced peeps on the forum lay out excellent cases for various popular approaches.
