Reef Ryder
Active Member
How new is the tank? It's possible the tank wasn't ready for so many fish do fasts. It has to be cycled first then filled with a few fish such as chromis to help further cycling
Foxface Lo distressed overnight
- Thread starter Hammfamfish
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Reef Ryder
Active Member
Sorry for your loss!! This is my fox face. He is not dead or stuck, he's just chilling. I have lost many many fish. Unfortunately it's part of learning. Just please stock your tank slowly and take care of the nitrate problem. Try adding special blend and nite out every couple of days. They will save your tank I promise. Good luck, sorry about your loss and welcome to R2R
OP
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Hammfamfish
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The tank is about 3 months old and was going by what the store owner was saying was ok. The place had high recommendations and he seems very knowledgeable which made us trust him with us being starters with saltwater. I have now lost my Queen Angel tonight...I guess we didn't notice fast enough and medication didn't kick in quick enough to make a difference. We have a whole lot to learn and so far it has been so heartbreaking and I almost want to throw in the towel but I know patience is key. Doing lots more research after all this.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
I'm sorry you had another loss. What symptoms did you see on this fish? If it is a bacterial infection it can spread to your remaining fish. If it is velvet it will spread to your remaining fish, it is just a matter of time.
Keep a very close eye on your other fish. If they start hiding (light sensitive), are breathing heavy, or swim into powerheads look for visible symptoms and let us know what you see or take another picture!
You may want to consider rehoming the angel and the parrotfish. Both get huge, and will outgrow most home aquariums. Here's a video of a queen angelfish in the wild for size reference.
Edit: never mind, saw that you lost the angel. Sorry for your loss.
Edit: never mind, saw that you lost the angel. Sorry for your loss.
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Hammfamfish
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I'm sorry you had another loss. What symptoms did you see on this fish? If it is a bacterial infection it can spread to your remaining fish. If it is velvet it will spread to your remaining fish, it is just a matter of time.
Keep a very close eye on your other fish. If they start hiding (light sensitive), are breathing heavy, or swim into powerheads look for visible symptoms and let us know what you see or take another picture!
Wednesday the Angel started hiding but I honestly didn't think anything of it. Thursday is when I found my Foxface Lo stuck to a power head and barely alive. At this point the Angel would not at at all and my Puffer and Parrot were looking sick and staying at the bottom of the tank but were at least eating. Foxface died Thursday afternoon. We started copper treatment late Thursday night as it was what seemed like the best option we could get at Petco. We don't have a LFS super close and couldn't get to in time before they closed. Friday morning I noticed the Angel had not improved and now had chunks missing from gills and tail fin. See pics. She was not like that 2 days prior and didn't notice Thursday since she was hiding and I was focused on the Foxface. But a very drastic change. She died Friday late afternoon. Put second dose of copper treatment in Friday night. Saturday morning tested the water and now in addition to the nitrates being high, now the nitrites were climbing. Tank is also a little cloudy. Took water sample to fish store and they found the alkalinity was double what it needs to be and a result from the ph buffer they sold us...and didn't mention that particular one increases the alkaline levels. So my husband is coming home with more meds, alkaline test kit, and different buffer. We have water ready to do a 50% water change and hope that helps get the tank a little better in line. On a good note though, my Puffer is seeming to act more like himself and being a lot more active and eating better. I just hope this mess we are in doesn't prove to be completely catastrophic
Brew12
Electrical Gru
@Humblefish @melypr1985 Hope you guys can help!
You should not need to buffer the system, I would be very hesitant to add any buffering products currently. Water changes with SG and temp as closely matched as possible is really the best intervention.
I know it's frustrating and heart breaking, but just keep researching.
As for the guy at the local fish store, he had no business selling you those fish types for that size and age of tank. Trust me this is common occurrence with newer hobbyist.
The reality is that beautiful systems with beautiful healthy fish take awhile to evolve to that state of beauty, it's almost impossible to create the tank of our dreams in a short amount of time, think 6-12 months.
I know it's frustrating and heart breaking, but just keep researching.
As for the guy at the local fish store, he had no business selling you those fish types for that size and age of tank. Trust me this is common occurrence with newer hobbyist.
The reality is that beautiful systems with beautiful healthy fish take awhile to evolve to that state of beauty, it's almost impossible to create the tank of our dreams in a short amount of time, think 6-12 months.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
I missed this.
You should never need to add a buffer to a reef aquarium. pH is going to be dictated by 2 things. Alkalinity and CO2. If your alkalinity is good the only way to improve pH is to reduce the amount of CO2 in your aquarium. Lots of way to do that. If you pH is over 7.8 I wouldn't worry about it for now. It will be fine for now.
If I had to guess, I would say it is probable you have Marine Velvet in your DT: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/velvet-amyloodinium-ocellatum.217570/
The hiding, lethargy and timeline of death are telling clues.
I'm assuming you are using copper in your DT with rock & sand. Is this correct?
The hiding, lethargy and timeline of death are telling clues.
I'm assuming you are using copper in your DT with rock & sand. Is this correct?
Reef Ryder
Active Member
Reef Ryder
Active Member
Don't! If you see spots on the fish you have to quarantine in another tank for 78, yes! 78 days. The way that the fish stays alive is if he's happy! Keep them well fed, add special blend, it smells like dinosaurs **** but it's magic for the tank. It's nothing but good bacteria. Take my word for it.
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OP
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Hammfamfish
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That is correct
You are going to have a rough time maintaining a stable Cu level. The sand & rock will initially absorb most of the copper, so you will need to keep adding more and also use a test kit to know when it eventually stabilizes. Daily monitoring is required to ensure the Cu level remains within the therapeutic range.
