One fish can ruin your whole tank...

[BIG_JW]

Hey guys, I've been a reefer for about 10 years now and I've learned some lessons along the way. Recently I upgraded my tank from a 75 to a 200 gallon. It's a beauty and in all this excitement I added a Blue Hippo Tang to the tank without quarantine or even a dip before doing so...

The result: Full blown Ich and Velvet outbreak and 4 dead fish later... I now am reflecting upon the rules I broke in my haste. 1. QT all new fish 2. Be patient and don't jeopardize the show tank. 3. Don't buy fish from Petco 4. Dip fish and coral before placing them into the show tank. 5. Examine fish and coral closely before buying.

Now, I am spending my weekend quarantining the fish that are left. Setting up the quarantine tank.
Treating the fish and waiting the 6-8 weeks needed for them to recoup. My BAD...$$$$$$$$$

Can you think of any other rules that I can add to my list in the hopes that it might help others?

 

[Jimbo662]

I'm in the same boat!

 

[ppartha5]

I added a coral and fish straight from LFS to my DT. As said ICK a outbreak and every day I am seeing 1 fish dead in the morning. Totally lost all my high dollar fishes around 12 so far.

I am again thinking the the drops of water that I added with the fish and coral might have Ick strains from the LFS.

 

[40Gallon]

I added a coral and fish straight from LFS to my DT. As said ICK a outbreak and every day I am seeing 1 fish dead in the morning. Totally lost all my high dollar fishes around 12 so far.

I am again thinking the the drops of water that I added with the fish and coral might have Ick strains from the LFS.

or the fish themselves

 

[thabizness]

I did the same thing. For the first time I was going to do right and QT and brought in Ich and velvet and some how cross contaminated the DT with the QT. Fish in the QT died along with some fish in the DT. Pulled all the fish out the the DT and started the fallow period. Waited 72 days but didn't follow the rule of not adding anything wet during fallow by adding corals and more LR. Put the fish back in the display and bam... Ich again. Pulled fish again for QT and didn't wanna put them thru copper again so I did TTM to a QT tank and lost 2 more fish.

The result is I have lost more fish in the last few months then I have ever lost before. I now have a QT for fish, a few empty tanks for TTM and a QT for corals and inverts. My DT is in fallow period now. Hard lessons learned but its not just putting fish thru QT but everything wet thru QT.

 

[Humblefish]

I am sorry to hear this is happening to you all. It's a very hard lesson to learn. I played Russian roulette by not QT'ing and later experimenting with ich management for almost 30 years before I decided enough is enough. Got tired of watching my beloved fish pets die one by one under "mysterious" circumstances. I can honestly say since embracing QT and ich eradication that the vast majority of my fish only leave me when it's time for them to move on to someone with a bigger tank.

This article may interest the OP: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-dos-and-don’ts-of-quarantine.203898/

 

[DeniseAndy]

I will be getting in some great fish today and have my QTs all set up. But I understand the want to get them in the display. My 210 is really needing the butterfly and foxface to do some major clean up, but not until QT is done. It is a hard lesson and hard to be patient at times. Luckily, I have never lost fish in an outbreak in the main system. Mainly because after my first three fish added to main display I always QT. I just loved those fish so much, I did not want to do anything that would hurt them.

In another post, I mention my first few fish cuz they had ich and I did not treat and they all actually did great and one is alive today (Kole tang). The other two were alive for 3 years breeding like mad (yellow clown gobies).

 

[BIG_JW]

I'm in the same boat!

When life gives you lemons... light them on fire and put the fire out with cash...lol

 

[BIG_JW]

I added a coral and fish straight from LFS to my DT. As said ICK a outbreak and every day I am seeing 1 fish dead in the morning. Totally lost all my high dollar fishes around 12 so far.

I am again thinking the the drops of water that I added with the fish and coral might have Ick strains from the LFS.

Thats a good rule too... Never add water from the LFS bag to the tank

 

[BIG_JW]

I did the same thing. For the first time I was going to do right and QT and brought in Ich and velvet and some how cross contaminated the DT with the QT. Fish in the QT died along with some fish in the DT. Pulled all the fish out the the DT and started the fallow period. Waited 72 days but didn't follow the rule of not adding anything wet during fallow by adding corals and more LR. Put the fish back in the display and bam... Ich again. Pulled fish again for QT and didn't wanna put them thru copper again so I did TTM to a QT tank and lost 2 more fish.

The result is I have lost more fish in the last few months then I have ever lost before. I now have a QT for fish, a few empty tanks for TTM and a QT for corals and inverts. My DT is in fallow period now. Hard lessons learned but its not just putting fish thru QT but everything wet thru QT.

I feel your pain !!! Hang in there. I was getting out of the hobby, then it pulled me back in...lol

 

[BIG_JW]

I am sorry to hear this is happening to you all. It's a very hard lesson to learn. I played Russian roulette by not QT'ing and later experimenting with ich management for almost 30 years before I decided enough is enough. Got tired of watching my beloved fish pets die one by one under "mysterious" circumstances. I can honestly say since embracing QT and ich eradication that the vast majority of my fish only leave me when it's time for them to move on to someone with a bigger tank.

This article may interest the OP: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-dos-and-don’ts-of-quarantine.203898/

Thanks for the article its going to help as I "embrace the QT" as part of being a responsible reef keeper

 

[Humblefish]

Here's also "How to QT" with pics: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

 

[BIG_JW]

Here's also "How to QT" with pics: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

These articles are just what I need. Thank you for the support and advice.

 

[horseplay]

One thing I want to add is that I see people all too often doing to much to the tank too quick. Whenever you make a change wait for a month or two till things setting down then make the next more. Make sure everyone is happy first. When fish are stressed out they're prone to diseases. Stocking is also very important. To me stress is the biggest cause of fish disease and eventual demise. Just my two cents.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Good point. Fully stocking a tank that is young or adding too much of any bioload (cuc, fish, coral, etc) can greatly effect the chemistry and consumption of minerals in the system. Slow is better.

 

[dbl]

Sorry you're having to go through this. I was lucky at playing Russian Roulette but have since put together a QT system for anything that gets added moving forward.

 

[scardall]

I am sure this has been mentioned before. Observe the fish your considering buying. Well guys there is more to it than that. The cubicle that the fish that you want is connected to many others, thus making a system. If just one fish is questionable in this system, then too your fish May be affected too. Just something to consider as well. Good luck All

 

[Breakthecycle2]

You're lucky it was only 4. I lost 15 in 6 days.

 

[BIG_JW]

UPDATE: 75 gallon quarantining tank is up and running. Yellow tank and a pajama Cardinal survived the crash . This crash and disease outbreak was horrible but it gave me a chance to reaquascape the tank and give a good cleaning.

 

[Humblefish]

@BIG_JW It's a hard lesson learned, but take solace knowing most of us have had to go through the exact same thing at some point.