What should i do?

pdxmonkeyboy · Jun 22, 2020

So.. this is kind of a cautionary tale but i also need some advice.

I have a new 600 gallon tank that is fully plumbed and running. Nothing in it.

I have a 240 gallon qt tank full of tangs and about 200lbs of rock.

I bought 15 anthias two weeks ago and put them in QT. One died, then another, then three. I thought it could be copper, or poor water quality. No outward signs of anything.

Like a COMPLETE IDIOT i figured, they are fine i dont want anything else dying so i threw them into my 240 with the tangs.

Theee days later.. OMG.. velvet.. bad. I dosed 80mg per gallon or liter. Cant remember, of CP. I also noticed that one tang was beat up BADLY, lots of open sores. So i added some marycin oxy to help fight off infection.

The tangs no longer have any signs of velvet, i am pretty sure that only 3 of the 9 anthias are alive at this point.

The 240 water is cloudy and i am sure the water quality is horrible at this point.

The question: should i transfer the rock and fish to the 600 and dose with CP? My understanding is that eventually the CP will dissipate and will not be absorbed and released later in the rocks.

I would rinse the rock before putting in the new tank. The thought being the 600g water is prisinte and i have 120 watts of UV running on it as well.

Anyone have any suggestions? I do not want to infect my brand new tank but figured i could keep things at bay with the CP.

Big G · Jun 22, 2020

Man that is a tough one. The 600 isn't cycled yet? Could end up with a similar mess there too with no bio filter built up.

Really annoying that Fritz won't say what's in Maracyn Oxy other than its a chloro of some sort.

I'd consider doing a FW rinse or a H2O2 rinse and clean for each fish and take a chance to save those fish by transferring them to the 600. A rinsing freshwater/H2O2 dip should remove any remaining velvet parasites and move those fish into the big 600. Get some Biospira or similar and soak some big bubble filter's foam pads to help get some bio going in the tank. And do the same with a couple of HOBs. Add some ceramic media in mesh bags too. Soak them all with BioSpira and then pour the liquid into the 600. In other words treat the 600 like a big emergency QT. Just take a deep breath and do one fish at a time. You got this!

H2O2 dip: 30 minutes, 20 ml of 3% H2O2 per 1 gallon of saltwater

pdxmonkeyboy · Jun 23, 2020

Yeah ok. I should not need to cycle the tank as i would take ALL of the rock and put it in the sump of the 600.

The 240 has been a real challange to keep clean. Its in the garage, about a 100 yards from my house. Carrying 5 gallon buckets full of water up the stairs and 100 yards gets REALLY old quick.

I think i will wait unitl it has been 7 days of CP and then transfer them.

The 240 is way to small for the fish i have in there. I had an 8" dussamierie tang and the sohal ..or the desjardini went nuts on it. I dont know what happened, they got along fine. He looked HORRIBLE! he had about 5 holes on one side and seriously a patch of skin probaby 1" around gone on his other side. It looked like something was eating it! I pulled him, put him in a dark tank with broad spectrum antibiotics but he only lasted 2 days.

I really really hate loosing fish.