HELP IDK WHAT IM DOING WRONG

DrewM8 · Sep 22, 2020

Here is the full story.

So I started my tank in June, cycled and added fish by late June. (Used bacteria in a bottle from a friend who has been in the hobby for a long time) about a 2 weeks after adding my clowns one died sadly. No sign of death just found him on the powerheas in the morning and feared he may had gotten stuck or something. Ordered another clown. 2 weeks went by and all was good. Then added a Bella goby. 2 weeks later boom. Clown gets white dots all over him. By the time I can ask my friend what to do and setup a qt tank everything else dies within 6 hours. So he and I both came to the conclusion marine velvet is the culprit. With how busy my work schedule is I decided it would be best to just let the velvet starve so I left the tank untouched and just did water changes for 60 days. Reading that velvet us 30 days. And wanted to be triple safe before going through that horrific sight of all my pets die. Well here I am 2.5 weeks into my new stock and overnight I lost my mandarin goby. I didn't see any dots on him but he had a very slimy coat when I pulled him out and now my firefish has 4 dots on 1 side and 1 dot on the other. And for those who think my mandarin starved I had him on frozen and he was eating as well as I added pods about a 3 days ago. Im so upset about all my fish dying the first time and if this happens again im probably going to give up on the hobby and cut my losses and sell everything. I dont know what I'm doing I kept freshwater fish for YEARS and never had this issue. And to see my beautiful snowflake clowns die it makes me feel as if I should step away from this and let someone else not f it up because I would assume im doing something wrong.. ..

K7BMG · Sep 22, 2020

Well if its ICK the tank needs to sit fallow for 76 days minimum.
Velvet I am unsure of.

I think theres potentially another issue.
I would send a water sample in for a ICP test.

In what time frame did the second batch of fish die?
From putting them in to the demise?

We see this a lot unfortunatly and it may be nothing to do with you.
One thing you have not mentioned is quarenteen.
And are you sure your getting fish from a trusted Saltwater retailer.
Most LFS are good at fresh but not so good on the saltwater side.

Quarenteen tanks are cheap and easy.
This can and will help turn things around.

Reverend Turtle · Sep 22, 2020

Have you tested your water parameters? Are you quarantining fish for at least 2 weeks, and treating with meds?

DrewM8 · Sep 22, 2020

I literally have no room for a qt. I have gotten all my fish from the same place my friends buys them from online (he's a dealer but I can't remember the company for the life of me) I've had him come over rmultiple times to check everything and says they are all looking really good. They die within 2 weeks. But once one dies they all die within the next day.... from everywhere me and him read it isn't ich bases on the look and how quickly is kills everything....

Jay Hemdal · Sep 22, 2020

One basic rule is;if you have corals and delicate invertebrates and they are fine, only the fish are dying, then there is an infectious disease going on, and water quality isn’t the issue. A comprehensive quarantine program goes a long way in reducing fish loss.
Jay

DrewM8 · Sep 22, 2020

What other disease could it be? All my corals and inverts are thriving..... im coming to the conclusion I just need to get out of this hobby. Its so frustrating going through this a 2nd time.

Jay Hemdal · Sep 22, 2020

DrewM8 said:
What other disease could it be? All my corals and inverts are thriving..... im coming to the conclusion I just need to get out of this hobby. Its so frustrating going through this a 2nd time.

If you can’t set up a QT, what about an invertebrate only tank? You could have some nice shrimp, stars, etc to add some diversity. You could also look for a vendor that sells quarantined fish, I think there is one online here as a vendor. This is not as good as running a QT yourself, but better than not quarantining at all.
Jay

DrewM8 · Sep 22, 2020

Yea I may check that out... this whole thing has just been a nightmare. Im so confused because the dots I thought I saw on my direfish this morning are no longer there. All fish appear healthy now and are eating fine....

Jay Hemdal · Sep 22, 2020

The dots might have just been dust, but remember that ich tends to come and go at first, because the parasites are all in sync and tend to drop off at the same time,
Jay

Bfragale · Sep 22, 2020

Hello there,

don’t get discouraged my friend. It sounds like you genuinely care about your tank and fish. Sorry to hear of your losses. If I was you I would not throw in the towel just yet.You will over come this and look back at this moment and chalk it up to a learning experience. Hang in there my friend!

DrewM8 · Sep 28, 2020

New white spot on my fish when I came home... any idea what it is?

Jay Hemdal · Sep 28, 2020

Are you talking about the larger spot, just in front of the tail fin? Difficult to say in the blue light, but it could be a fluke (worm), a copepod or it could just be an injury of some sort. It isn't ich or velvet. Is the fish still feeding normally?

Jay

DrewM8 · Sep 28, 2020

That was the first thing I did and it ate plenty, like normal, swam fine, nothing looks out of the ordinary. Ill grab my lense and get a better photo

DrewM8 · Sep 28, 2020

Here you go

DrewM8 · Sep 28, 2020

Sorry its hard to get a pic, but its definitely raised, and only on the one side. Its much bigger than my previous marine velvet( I think it was velvet) experience and the firefish seems to be ok. Other fish showing no signs. If I could describe it I would say it looks like a average sized human zit? Idk

DrewM8 · Sep 28, 2020

Now that I'm home and watching my firefish is no longer in the front of the tank but is now that I noticed he is only hanging out in the back corner.....