Help me save my tank

[reefkeeperros]

Hi, I have this beautiful 8x2x2 tank unfortunately due to lack of time and loss of motivation due to velvet I have completely neglected. So finally got motivated again but I didn't like the scape got a new scape everything was going well until I added a powder blue tang which wiped out the tank same mistake no qt straight in the dt... After this I have pulled all the fish out apart from 2 file fish and 1 fire fish which have survived the velvet. This has happened about 2 month ago if I qt the fish from now on am I still at risk of new fish being affected?

After being hit by velvet got cyano used cyano rx which sorted the issue out. Now I'm dealing what looks like gha. As you can see all the live stock are only small fish which I feed only tiny bit of frozen mysis skimmer is still on Deltec 2000i and the cheato is loving life in sump.

Can't keep corals alive as you can see there is few bits of corals some are from my old setup tested for few weeks no changes everything was stable so I decided to add few tester corals. Everything is dying apart from zoas.

Do I just empty the tank bleach the rock start again or try and save the tank.

I'm worried about adding any new live stock as I didn't get all the fish out after velvet I just couldn't catch the file fish and fire fish. Velvet happened 2 months ago fish mentioned above haven't showed any signs of being sick. I have a new uv steriliser just installed.

Thanks for your help

 

[JCM]

I believe the fish need to come out and the tank needs to sit fallow for a few months while they are treated in QT. I'm not positive though, maybe ask in the fish disease section.

I wouldn't bleach the rock personally. I'd manually remove as much as possible with water changes and keep nutrients in check. Add herbivores to help.

It also looks like you're absolutely blasting that tank with light. Without corals, that's not necessary and contributing to more algae growth.

You neglected the tank for a while, it won't be an immediate fix.

Good luck

 

[reefkeeperros]

I believe the fish need to come out and the tank needs to sit fallow for a few months while they are treated in QT. I'm not positive though, maybe ask in the fish disease section.

I wouldn't bleach the rock personally. I'd manually remove as much as possible with water changes and keep nutrients in check. Add herbivores to help.

It also looks like you're absolutely blasting that tank with light. Without corals, that's not necessary and contributing to more algae growth.

Good luck

Thanks,

I'll see what people say about fish.

Lights are only blasting for pictures. They run at 30% blues only

 

[Billldg]

I agree, all fish unfortunately have to come out and the tank needs to sit fallow for it to be gone. I feel your pain, and I do QT everything except corals. That was my mistake and I am still trying to remove several fish to allow the tank to go fallow. You are not alone in this, trust me. While the tank sits fallow, you can combat the other issues. I removed 90 percent of my scape just to remove the tangs and now I am going thru a mini cycle and dealing with algae issues on a tank that has been running for over a year.

@Jay Hemdal can add more info on getting rid of velvet in a tank.

 

[CookieRdReef]

When you add fish again you could order pre qt fish from somewhere like TSM aquatics. The fish cost more but not outrageous. I ordered 9 fish from them a few months ago. I will never add any LFS fish again.

Some established live rock in your system could help speed up the bio colinization and avoid the random algaes and bacterias.

Good luck. Your set up and aquascape look awesome.

 

[Tamale]

When you add fish again you could order pre qt fish from somewhere like TSM aquatics. The fish cost more but not outrageous. I ordered 9 fish from them a few months ago. I will never add any LFS fish again.

Some established live rock in your system could help speed up the bio colinization and avoid the random algaes and bacterias.

Good luck. Your set up and aquascape look awesome.

Buying QT'd fish and buying either QT'd or inverts kept in fallow systems has worked for me thus far. It's 100% worth the extra money for someone like me who doesn't have the space for a QT tank. I've only heard good things about TSM and my fish and most of my inverts have come from Dr. Reefs QT'd Fish.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Something that might help you figure out a way to catch your remaining fish:

Method for Quickly Catching Difficult Fish Out of a Large Reef Tank with a Net

There are several techniques for catching a fish out of a reef tank. None of them are perfect or work equally for all fish, and many require time and patience. I have a 330 gallon mixed reef that's about 16 months old. In the past year, there have been a couple occasions where I've needed to...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[reefkeeperros]

When you add fish again you could order pre qt fish from somewhere like TSM aquatics. The fish cost more but not outrageous. I ordered 9 fish from them a few months ago. I will never add any LFS fish again.

Some established live rock in your system could help speed up the bio colinization and avoid the random algaes and bacterias.

Good luck. Your set up and aquascape look awesome.

Since last time I have brought a 4ft qt tank.

And thanks I had it custom built because I'm bad at scaping

There is a better picture

 

[4davegill]

Since last time I have brought a 4ft qt tank.

And thanks I had it custom built because I'm bad at scaping

There is a better picture

The reefscape looks amazing. Great Job! I think the two choices if you have velvet are fallow (follow the link on QT etc.) or tear down sterilize etc. They seem to take abot the same amount of time. If you have parasites in the cyst stage, and add fish to your "clean" tank, the cycle will never get broken.

IMO (and i have a fallow DT right now) follow the fallow period, and order your fish from a QT fish supplier. Have them show up just after fallow. Don't let any other unknown origin livestock into the tank.

Great rebuild though! I feel you.

 

[reefkeeperros]

Thank you all for your input much appreciated.

Just to sum it up:

Set up a QT (in progress already)

Go fallow for 6 weeks to get rid of Velvet.

Do waterchanges and focus on getting rid of GHA and quarantine whilst fishless.

Questions:

Before I go fallow should I add some snails/inverts to help with algae issues?

Can I add corals whilst fallow?

Can someone attach a good link to follow for QT and going fishless.

 

[JCM]

No links handy but yes, you can add corals/inverts while fallow. There's a small chance they can bring in disease as well but if you don't normally QT them as well its irrelevant.

 

[Shirak]

Where are you reading 6 weeks? I did 78 days on my tank. I think 72 was minimum for Ich? If there is velvet there are probably other fish things too.

Theoretically you could be adding fish diseases with anything added to the tank... CUC, Coral etc. So if you want to add some snails go ahead but do it at the beginning and then start the fallow timer IMO. Is there anything else in the tank besides the fish? If there are no photosynthetic organisms I would just shut the lights and let the algae die off that way.

 

[JCM]

Where are you reading 6 weeks? I did 78 days on my tank. I think 72 was minimum for Ich? If there is velvet there are probably other fish things too.

Theoretically you could be adding fish diseases with anything added to the tank... CUC, Coral etc. So if you want to add some snails go ahead but do it at the beginning and then start the fallow timer IMO. Is there anything else in the tank besides the fish? If there are no photosynthetic organisms I would just shut the lights and let the algae die off that way.

I dont disagree but that only makes sense if OP is going to QT every new coral/invert addition going forward. If not, adding them in the middle of the fallow period would be no different than after the fallow period.

 

[4davegill]

I am fallowing mine for 76 days. I have corals in there, so the lights are on and im still feeding. My fish are in the QT, and i will never put myself or my fish through this again. From now on, I will use a observation tank for everything, and all fish will be treatment QT. For you, I think it would suck to put in 90% effort and have to start again from square one. I would do it as thoroughly as possible. Dip your corals, etc. You can add them and extend the fallow period.

One theme you will hear over and over is that nothing good in reefing comes quickly. Changes happen slowly, but the reward for your patience can be year after year of stability. Good luck!

 

[reefkeeperros]

Where are you reading 6 weeks? I did 78 days on my tank. I think 72 was minimum for Ich? If there is velvet there are probably other fish things too.

Theoretically you could be adding fish diseases with anything added to the tank... CUC, Coral etc. So if you want to add some snails go ahead but do it at the beginning and then start the fallow timer IMO. Is there anything else in the tank besides the fish? If there are no photosynthetic organisms I would just shut the lights and let the algae die off that way.

I was just looking at another thread about different disises says 6 weeks for velvet.

Yes I was thinking to add them before I get all the fish out.

There is few corals in but only zoas and lps so minimum light will be required

 

[reefkeeperros]

I am fallowing mine for 76 days. I have corals in there, so the lights are on and im still feeding. My fish are in the QT, and i will never put myself or my fish through this again. From now on, I will use a observation tank for everything, and all fish will be treatment QT. For you, I think it would suck to put in 90% effort and have to start again from square one. I would do it as thoroughly as possible. Dip your corals, etc. You can add them and extend the fallow period.

One theme you will hear over and over is that nothing good in reefing comes quickly. Changes happen slowly, but the reward for your patience can be year after year of stability. Good luck!

Not sure why it says 6 weeks, definitely going 76 then, no way I'm going through this again hence I'm setting up coral and fish qt systems.

 

[4davegill]

I was just looking at another thread about different disises says 6 weeks for velvet.

Yes I was thinking to add them before I get all the fish out.

There is few corals in but only zoas and lps so minimum light will be required

You could always go on a shopping spree if budget is no issue, and stock the corals you anticipate adding at the beginning of the period. You should follow the coral dip procedures though. dont want coral issues and parasites getting though.

 

[reefkeeperros]

You could always go on a shopping spree if budget is no issue, and stock the corals you anticipate adding at the beginning of the period. You should follow the coral dip procedures though. dont want coral issues and parasites getting though.

Ye ye I have always dipped and inspected corals before.