Rookie mistake

[canadian reefer]

Ok so i bought a FO tank in january that's been running for about 2 years. I've upgraded the whole system turning it into a full blown reef but in the process the fish got ick. After getting a small 20 gal tank for quarantine I filled Half the tank with my display tank and half new water. The most sensitive fish started to act funny but I thought it was only cause of the copper meds. But the next day every fish except my fire fish and sailfin Molly were dead. I let the fish in the tank and they survived the 6 weeks to completely rid my system of ick.
This is where the weird thing happened. I put the fire fish back into the display tank but left the Molly in the quarantine (cause its ugly) but today I found it dead and my ammonia was a 1.5mg/l and there's a lot of algae. Is my tank cycling again?!? What's going on


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[Isoprene]

Which fish died, and which tank has the algae? If im reading this right the firefish died once you put it back in the display? If you left the display fallow for 6 weeks, no fish to produce any ammonia for the bacteria to eat then you could have had bacteria die off and then subsequently an ammonia spike after the bacteria had died. Did you leave anything in the display when you treated the fish in the 20L ?

 

[canadian reefer]

Which fish died, and which tank has the algae? If im reading this right the firefish died once you put it back in the display? If you left the display fallow for 6 weeks, no fish to produce any ammonia for the bacteria to eat then you could have had bacteria die off and then subsequently an ammonia spike after the bacteria had died. Did you leave anything in the display when you treated the fish in the 20L ?

The fire fish was the only one who survived the quarantine. I lost 2 clowns, 1 tang, 1 jawfish. The quarantine has a bunch of algae and all the ammonia. The display is fine.


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[canadian reefer]

Nothin was left in the display apart for the corals, inverts and live rock.


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[canadian reefer]

Bump


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[revhtree Verified Admin]

Hi there sorry about the troubles. What is the question you have now?

 

[BeardedReefer]

The fire fish was the only one who survived the quarantine. I lost 2 clowns, 1 tang, 1 jawfish. The quarantine has a bunch of algae and all the ammonia. The display is fine.


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Did you do water changes in the 20? What kind of filtration where you doing on the QT and how often did you test the levels? How long where the fish dead in the water?

 

[twintrades]

So your QT tank is having the trouble ??

If thats the case your not using it now. Empty it and clean it......

Qt tanks are temporary tanks set up just for the one purpose. Should have NO SAND just heater water movment and filtration if you want. QT tanks dont cycle.

 

[jedimasterben]

QT tanks dont cycle.

If you don't want dead fish, they do.

 

[twintrades]

Ive Always seen them Bare bottom with NO rocks. And broken down after use. Whats there to cycle ??

The ones i ran were the same. BB Just did water changes. If your really worried then run a HOB filter on the main tank for 3 days.

The point of a QT tank is to have a sterile environment. You should be doing daily WC and keeping an eye on the Amm levels.

 

[BeardedReefer]

Ive Always seen them Bare bottom with NO rocks. And broken down after use. Whats there to cycle ??

The ones i ran were the same. BB Just did water changes. If your really worried then run a HOB filter on the main tank for 3 days.

The point of a QT tank is to have a sterile environment. You should be doing daily WC and keeping an eye on the Amm levels.

The second you put fish in a QT it is no longer sterile, the fish poops creating waste, which raises ammonia level, so yes it will cycle.

 

[Rockadile]

So your QT tank is having the trouble ??

If thats the case your not using it now. Empty it and clean it......

Qt tanks are temporary tanks set up just for the one purpose. Should have NO SAND just heater water movment and filtration if you want. QT tanks dont cycle.

I think you are confusing qt tanks with hospital tanks.

 

[BeardedReefer]

I think you are confusing qt tanks with hospital tanks.

If the QT/HT is isolated from the tanks water supply then it can do both. Just not at the same time

 

[Isoprene]

You need to have a cycle in ALL tanks that will have fish in them for more than a day. Fish produce ammonia, well waste which produces ammonia that WILL kill fish. Its the equivalent of us living in our house without a proper sewage system!

Anyway, I am with bearded on how often did you do W/C's, what filtration did u have on the tank and did you let it cycle properly? Any test to confirm or deny any of the above questions would help also if you did those? Sorry about your loss man, fish are harder to keep than corals imo! I have killed plenty unintentionally.

 

[Rockadile]

If the QT/HT is isolated from the tanks water supply then it can do both. Just not at the same time

I respectfully disagree. You are medicating a hospital tank, not something I want in a qt tank I always have a qt tank running and fully cycled, a hospital tank I can throw together rather quickly with a sponge or filter pad I have in my sump.

 

[BeardedReefer]

I respectfully disagree. You are medicating a hospital tank, not something I want in a qt tank I always have a qt tank running and fully cycled, a hospital tank I can throw together rather quickly with a sponge or filter pad I have in my sump.

And in your own words when its done its broken down and cleaned. at which point in time it can be restarted used as QT until you need a HT. this is exactly the reason I keep my QT isolated from the main system so it CAN serve both purposes.

 

[Rockadile]

Ever use a tank for salt water display after it has been treated with copper medication? Even after cleaning not a good idea.

I don't want those lingering meds in my qt.

 

[Rockadile]

And you wouldn't want a qt connected to your main system anyway, kind of defeats the purpose of it being in qt.

 

[BeardedReefer]

And you wouldn't want a qt connected to your main system anyway, kind of defeats the purpose of it being in qt.

I agree with this completely, for some reason I still see people doing it and arguing that its a GOOD idea, because it introduces and acclimates the fish to conditions. Never can convince these individuals how bad this can end up for there DT.

 

[twintrades]

lol poor guy cant get a straught answer. If his fish had ICH then the tank he put them into was a HOSPITAL tank. IMO i would just have a Bare tank with a heater and Ph or filter. others may do what they want. THats how i do it. Never lost a fish. Clean all Poo with small daily WC. Feed only a lil bit no need to fatten them up if your treating.

In any case his fish died in the Small tank. HIs main tank is fine. SO if his Fire fish is ok in the big tank with no sings of ich then this thread would be done right ? Alot of things could have gone wrong. If i stuck all the fish in one 20 and tryed treating and feed alot yes in one day the ammo would have built up to deadly levels. Most of the time a hospital tank is for one or two fish max.

A QT tank would have LR for filtration. Your just watching the fish for any sings of ill helath. if it was sick take the fish out and put in seperate tank and treat.

Enuf bickering :tongue: lol happy reefing all!