Well....i have had a tank for 1 year now. 65 gallon. I have 3 small corals. And 2 clowns, i foxface, and i coral beauty. I just put my 4 fish back in the dt from qt for 78 days from ich outbreak. This is the second time ive had to do this. So my dt has been empty half the time its been set up pretty much. I just dont know what im doing so wrong. I follow all the rules. I didnt qt the first fish i got due to newbie ignorance. They all died..so i set up a qt did the 4 week treatment. They had ich not long after. So back to the qt. Left dt fallow 78 days. Treated fish with copper for 30 days. Put them in dt. 2 mnths later for no reason i can figure..ich...so back to qt and fallow 78 days again. During the qt session i did a 75% water change matched salinty and temp to a T and somehow something was wrong during water change cause next morning they were all dead cept 2 clowns....so i bought the foxface and coral beauty. Dis copper for 30 days and 2 rounds prazi pro and after fallow period ended added them to dt...that was 1 week ago...well today the foxface and coral beauty have.....yep u guessed it white spots...i just dont understand this...i keep tbe tank very spotless clean. Feed twice a day and do 30% water changes every month. Have skimmer, sump, filter sock, temp stays 78, salinty 25, nitrates under 10, ammonia 0...i wish i knew what im doing wrong. I try so very hard. I just cant go thru an empty tank for 78 days again....its empty more than its not...everyone thinks im nuts....lol....any advice appreciated...i dont want to give up but i hate killing fish like this.
Long story. Getting dishearted
- Thread starter JennyGutt
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Oscar47f
Valuable Member
What are you feeding your fish??? try and incorporate their natural diets as best you can.... maybe soak in selcon and stuff... but your main problem is your fish are territorial or are stressed due to parameter fluctuations... something is causing stress which weakens a fishes immune system..
@Humblefish @melypr1985 they should be able to help.
Feeding flakes n morning..algea sheet mid day..mysis shrimp and angel food blend, evening soaked in selcon. There's only 4 fish in a 65 gallon...and everytime i check parms are the same as i listed above. It doesnt make sense to me..and if fallow 78 days and copper on fish for 30 kills ich then how the heck does it keep coming back..i just dont get it
drawman
2500 Club Member
First off you're not crazy I think it's commendable that you're trying to do things right and get things in order. It's a lot of work and to outsiders it may look nuts but you're learning a lot and that will help in the long run!
Where was the quarantine tank? If it is within 10ft of the display tank there is a chance of aerosol transmission of parasites.
Also what type of copper (cupramine or chelated copper) did you use, what test kit did you use, and what level did you keep it at for those 30 days? How often did you test your copper and what did the quarantine tank consist of (what kind of filter, any live rock, etc.)? Knowing all of these details may help us figure out what went wrong.
Where was the quarantine tank? If it is within 10ft of the display tank there is a chance of aerosol transmission of parasites.
Also what type of copper (cupramine or chelated copper) did you use, what test kit did you use, and what level did you keep it at for those 30 days? How often did you test your copper and what did the quarantine tank consist of (what kind of filter, any live rock, etc.)? Knowing all of these details may help us figure out what went wrong.
melypr1985
totally addicted
Hi Jenny. I'm very sorry for all the trouble you're having here. I really hope we can help figure this out. I have a few questions that may help with that. Have you added any inverts or corals during your fallow periods? Can you post pictures of the infected fish so we can be sure the problem is ick and not something else? Also, when doing maintenance on the tanks, do you ever go from one tank to another with a net, other equipment or wet hands? Last thing! How far away is your QT from your display?
Lost of questions I know, but there are a lot of variables here to consider.
melypr1985
totally addicted
Oscar47f
Valuable Member
You can't definitively get rid of ich... like even the best systems can get it no matter what, in nature ich isn't too much of a problem because of the sheer size of the ocean and well an abundance of other factors .... how big are these fish?? do you notice aggression ? have you added anything during the fallow periods?? and did you test the copper in the QT?
Yes the qt is less than 10 ft away but in another room...used coppersafe. Doses as directed and added as directed with any water changes. Checked with api kit but i cant tell the flippin thing looms nothing like the color chart...lol..qt had only water fish and pvc pipe.hob filter with no media just the casing.
They all pretty small. Fox face maybe 4 inches others smaller. Ive seen no agression. Did test copper levels. And qt is 5 ft from dt but in another room...tried my very best to never cross contaminate.
melypr1985
totally addicted
OK. So I think we've found the problem. That's great news! We can fix this. So, the directions on the bottle are pretty misleading. The dosage they recommend won't usually get you to the therapeutic level of 2ppm that is needed for the full 30 days. The APi kit will be much easier to read if you read it from the top of the test tube looking down instead of through the side of the tube.
melypr1985
totally addicted
While it's true that ick can be introduced into any system, typically that can be stopped with a conscious effort of the owner. You can absolutely have your tank Ick free - completely. A fallow period will do this and a solid QT practice for fish, inverts and corals will keep it out as well.
melypr1985
totally addicted
So it probably wasn't the corals that did it in this case if they were added early in the fallow period. I think the copper levels weren't high enough during QT to actually kill all the free swimmers and so let it survive to take over again.
melypr1985
totally addicted
You can always post pictures and we can help determine the reading on the test. It's not perfect since we only see what the camera does, but we can usually help
melypr1985
totally addicted
It will be easier to read when the copper levels are at 2ppm. It should get noticeably darker and be closer to the target amount.
+1 to all of @melypr1985's posts. Unfortunately, QT-ing fish is only 1/2 the battle as parasite tomonts (eggs) can hitchhike in on new corals/inverts. The only solution is to isolate these to a fishless environment (like a frag tank) for 76 days prior to placing in your DT.
^^ This is also a problem. QT & DT must be at least 10 feet away from one another, using line of sight.
^^ This is also a problem. QT & DT must be at least 10 feet away from one another, using line of sight.
