QT tank killed all new fish

[terri_ann]

Several things could have been involved in the sudden death of the fish. Learn from the posts that others have made. Please go to the forum here and read about qt and hospital practices...do yourself and your fish a huge favor! Even following the best practices, fish can /will die. As long as you have done the research on the fish, the qt/hospital practices, supplies/meds to have on hand,etc. Then you know you have done everything possible! Good luck!

 

[kp1991]

Several things could have been involved in the sudden death of the fish. Learn from the posts that others have made. Please go to the forum here and read about qt and hospital practices...do yourself and your fish a huge favor! Even following the best practices, fish can /will die. As long as you have done the research on the fish, the qt/hospital practices, supplies/meds to have on hand,etc. Then you know you have done everything possible! Good luck!

I couldnt agree more all fish are different all have different tollerances all we can do is insure their water quality is a+ in the end its up to the fish.. so many factors dictate their survival and health all you gotta do is be patient dont bother the fish every second you get test parameters to insure water quality sit back and enjoy em haha

 

[scott11106]

How shall I say this diplomatically...I don't care what the vendor says...I test their water. It takes 10 seconds, 2 drips on the refractometer done. Sorry had to say that. Please, just test it. I mean you can ask and then have the tank set up for that, but I would still test the bag water to make absolutely sure IF you are not going to do traditional drip acclimation. If you are going to drip, then it doesn't matter.
If I have to buy more time because my salinity is several points off, I place the new arrival in a specimen container (https://www.amazon.com/Lees-Convale...527734398&sr=1-1&keywords=specimen+containers) and put a small airstone in there as I wait for the water to reach the desired salinity. You can even begin to do a mini water exchange in the container half a cup at a time if you like. Keep in mind that you don't want to mix the waters, but because as I said earlier, I tank transfer this isn't a major concern to me.

that is some good information, i will test and adjust the qt salinity to match before adding

 

[scott11106]

I may have missed it, but wanted to mention with all the talk of using Prime, it can NOT be used with copper in the water.

Some LFS run low levels in their tanks, so dont assume the bag water is copper free.

It's fine to use Prime in a pinch, but if you have Copper in the tank it will make it toxic.

Good luck with your next QT, I stayed with 1 fish at a time till I felt more comfortable. Now I do 2 haha. You have a larger quarantine though.

I also match qt salinity to the bag water, makes life easier really..

yes i know they do use a bit of copper so that is a great point as i did not know that. thanks and this is a real learning curve but i think i now have some needed information to make the qt successful. will carbon strip the copper out fo the water? just wondering so between quarantines i am going to keep the QT running but i think i want to get the water as clean as possible, thoughts?

 

[scott11106]

Several things could have been involved in the sudden death of the fish. Learn from the posts that others have made. Please go to the forum here and read about qt and hospital practices...do yourself and your fish a huge favor! Even following the best practices, fish can /will die. As long as you have done the research on the fish, the qt/hospital practices, supplies/meds to have on hand,etc. Then you know you have done everything possible! Good luck!

good advise, i have been doing a ton of research over the last week and made a bunch of changes, i thought i knew something about it but turned out i did not...

 

[Nart]

sorry about your loss. I'm sure you feel really bad about this whole situation. Learn from this and grow with the hobby, you'll be alright.

My best advice to you, is always keep a lot of extra bio-media in your sump. After a few months... that bio-media should be cycled with lots of beneficial bacteria growing on it.
This way, if you ever need to set-up a emergency tank, QT tank, another tank... you can use that bio-media to give you an instant cycle. Just monitor the ammonia levels jic.

 

[scott11106]

r

sorry about your loss. I'm sure you feel really bad about this whole situation. Learn from this and grow with the hobby, you'll be alright.

My best advice to you, is always keep a lot of extra bio-media in your sump. After a few months... that bio-media should be cycled with lots of beneficial bacteria growing on it.
This way, if you ever need to set-up a emergency tank, QT tank, another tank... you can use that bio-media to give you an instant cycle. Just monitor the ammonia levels jic.

Roger that

 

[Rakie]

Sorry buddy, but to reiterate what people have said -- You did a lot of things wrong. Not just one thing, not just two. A lot. You need to do a large amount of reading on proper QT.

I see people walking away from these threads thinking "okay, it could have been 10 things, but this ONE thing is most likely. So I only need to work on that ONE thing" --- No. You need to work on all 10 things.

Just do some more research and you'll be good. It always sounds complicated at first, but becomes second nature after you do it once or twice.

 

[scott11106]

Sorry buddy, but to reiterate what people have said -- You did a lot of things wrong. Not just one thing, not just two. A lot. You need to do a large amount of reading on proper QT.

I see people walking away from these threads thinking "okay, it could have been 10 things, but this ONE thing is most likely. So I only need to work on that ONE thing" --- No. You need to work on all 10 things.

Just do some more research and you'll be good. It always sounds complicated at first, but becomes second nature after you do it once or twice.

Yea i got that and revamped the entire QT process. Just got a few more small firefish and i have been marching down the qt checklist to ensure proper procedure. thanks for the help

 

[cmcoker]

yes i know they do use a bit of copper so that is a great point as i did not know that. thanks and this is a real learning curve but i think i now have some needed information to make the qt successful. will carbon strip the copper out fo the water? just wondering so between quarantines i am going to keep the QT running but i think i want to get the water as clean as possible, thoughts?

Just saw this...Carbon pulls copper, but always too slow for me..I do a water change and run cuprisorb and observe the fish for a couple weeks before moving to the display.

I breakdown the quarantine between fish, I keep sponges in my sump to set it back up. I wash everything with a dilute bleach solution, air dry for a day or two, then hose everything down. I'll setup it up when I start looking for another fish. If I see a fish I really want and it's not setup, I pay for the fish and have the lfs hold on to it for a day or so and go home and get everything ready before I bring the fish home. I toss any sponges, filter media between each round.

I keep sponges for my hob in my sump, just grab a new one when I setup. The sponges usually are cooking in my sump for 2 to 3 months minimum before I use them. I add 3 new sponges when I have 1 left. I have not had any ammonia issues doing it this way.

Good luck with you firefish!

 

[Rakie]

Yea i got that and revamped the entire QT process. Just got a few more small firefish and i have been marching down the qt checklist to ensure proper procedure. thanks for the help

Thank you for not taking it personally!! So often I find when people are gentle something gets lost in translation. And I hate people walking away missing something. At the end if the day I'd rather have someone upset with me and successful

It'll probably feel a little complicated at first, but it's not bad -- just taking the advice alone tells me you got this.

If you have any questions always ask, and feel free to pm anybody whose reached out to help. I feel confident anybody who bothered to respond would be glad to help you -- otherwise they'd avoid this forum!

 

[mtfish]

For copper, use Seachem CupriSorb. Removes copper fast. Ammonia should not be a problem with fish still in the bag from LFS unless you are hours away from the house. Temperature and salinity are very important and easy to match by floating bag and making QT salinity match store water. If you are using Tank Transfer as part of QT, then using prime at the beginning will give you a little leeway on ammonia build up. If not using TTM, then a sponge filter that was seeded from your DT will help with ammonia build up. Make sure you have PVC fittings or such for hiding places so fish does not stress out too much. Keep lights low if possible unless you need to observe for disease, then you can use a flashlight to just check them out. If possible, use multiple small tanks for QT instead of one large tank for several fish. That way if there is disease, then it only kills one fish instead of all of them. Neve add fish to DT without first QT or it will bite you hard.

 

[Jeffrey1305]

Do I need to have a bacteria source in my qt or can I just start with established tank water and then add fresh mixed Rodi whenever I see spikes in ammonia etc ?

 

[Jeffrey1305]

qt is it ok if I start it with water from cycled tank . Then just do water changes once the ammonia spikes etc or do I need a source of bacteria in there as well ? Like a filter that has been sitting in sump

 

[Maacc]

You should have a bacterial source, preferably a sponge filter that you keep in your MD sump, and some bottled bacteria to help kick start everything. You should also keep an ammonia badge as some medications can mess with the result of titration tests.

 

[Jeffrey1305]

You should have a bacterial source, preferably a sponge filter that you keep in your MD sump, and some bottled bacteria to help kick start everything. You should also keep an ammonia badge as some medications can mess with the result of titration tests.

The problem is that I am cycling my main tank so I don’t have any filters ready to go in qt And wanted to qt the fish before my tank is ready

 

[BeejReef]

The problem is that I am cycling my main tank so I don’t have any filters ready to go in qt And wanted to qt the fish before my tank is ready

That's pro! Not many are as dedicated. Having cycled material really is the trick. I get what you're trying to do... shorten the timeframe by QTng fish while display tank cycles. NOT an expert, but a few pounds of live rock costs no more than a ton of bacteria in a bottle. If you're 100% on your fish' health after coming through qt, you'll have a little live rock to speed along your display's maturation.

 

[Jeffrey1305]

That's pro! Not many are as dedicated. Having cycled material really is the trick. I get what you're trying to do... shorten the timeframe by QTng fish while display tank cycles. NOT an expert, but a few pounds of live rock costs no more than a ton of bacteria in a bottle. If you're 100% on your fish' health after coming through qt, you'll have a little live rock to speed along your display's maturation.

I’m actually cycling with bio s from Aquaforest so I have the bacteria on hand can I use some of that ? I’m new to the hobby and I want to do things right

 

[W1ngz]

Rushing this is a bad idea. New tank, new reefer, you want to get ahead of the 'waiting' curve, we've all been there - but QT isn't a place to cut corners with cycling. Bacteria will help, maybe getting some rock rubble from a friend would be better. Bottled bacteria should work also, but you need to add a little food or household ammonia and test to make sure it's actually being eliminated before you put fish in there.

New fish are already stressed, may or may not be healthy. Don't add respiratory distress on top of that.

 

[BeejReef]

I’m actually cycling with bio s from Aquaforest so I have the bacteria on hand can I use some of that ? I’m new to the hobby and I want to do things right

I'd only be guessing. I guess yes, but take your cues from the experts. So many on here who have done it dozens of times. It's a balancing act you're trying to pull off. You want to protect your fish and your display tank and there are trade offs. Protect your display tank from introducing any parasites and you have to put your fish in a smaller, hastily cycled QT and do a second transfer to the DT if all goes well. Put them straight into the DT to avoid the stress, and u run the risk of having to pull them out if u see infection into a QT, treat, and leave them there for a long time while your main tank sits fallow.

You'll find MANY opinions on what it means to "do things right." Taken to extremes, it can be borderline crazy. For example, you could hold off on fish for 4 months until your display tank and quarantine tank have not only finished cycling, but have begun to mature. You could have a display tank, a comparatively large observational quarantine tank with cycled rock, and one or two hospital tanks for separating and treating various ill fish. Some would advocate culturing and feeding live foods and trying to bolster your fish' immunity. You can drive a water tanker to the coast to collect natural sea water!

We're all limited by what we can spend, the space available in our homes, how much time we can devote. You've got a winning attitude though. I'm sure you'll find what's right for you. That's really the fun part!