All my fish keep dieing

[JeffSauer]

6 months of real fallow period will rid a tank of ich. Did you remove ALL fish from the tank during that period?

Did you actively treat the fish in a separate tank for at least 8 weeks while you wait for the fallow period to expire?

That's the thing...my last ich problem killed "everything" in my tank. So i gave my inverts to a buddy and left my tank "lifeless" for 6 months. I even threw out my macro algae just to be sure. The only thing left in my tank was water, rock and sand (that's it) I kept all my levels good, did a 25% water change every Saturday and stirred the sand every other day just to make sure nothing was hiding. 6 whole months of doing that, a lifeless, dark tank running at 92°. That would have had to kill the ich right?

 

[JeffSauer]

SG = specific gravity.

refractometer, which i calibrate with RO water every other week. I'm really anal and thats why this is so irritating to me.

 

[gbru316]

refractometer, which i calibrate with RO water every other week. I'm really anal and thats why this is so irritating to me.

calibrate with a calibration solution, not RO. When you calibrate with RO, you're assuming that your RO water has NOTHING in it. You also aren't measuring in the 1.000 range, you're measuring around 1.026. Buy some 1.026 calibration solution, recalibrate, and measure.

 

[wooden_reefer]

Whe adding fish to a new tank, think about this.

The 1st fish goes in. You have cycled the tank meaning that there is a population of bacteria equal to the bioload that you had in the tank, ie equal to a rotting shrimp, or whatever you used to cycle the tank. The bacteria population is in equilibrium with the bioload, which is slight. Next, you add a fish. The bioload doubles or triples. Suddenly, the bacteria cannot keep up with the bioload. Ammonia rises. Nitrites rise. The bacteria population grows, and slowly consume the ammonia and nitrites. Then the bacteria are again in equilibrium with the bioload. The next fish added now increases the bioload, maybe doubling it or less this time. The bacteria again are behind, but can catch up faster because there are more to start with and because you have upset the bioload by a relatively lower amount. The next fish will only increase bioload by 33%, and the system responds even faster. Eventually, you can add a couple of fish at a time and the tank will hardly notice. This is an established tank.

Your tank is new, and you need to slowly add fish, one at a time to get the tank established. I usually add a fish and wait around 6 weeks til I add another fish. And I don't add if the other fish are sick or not eating or not healthy. Once the tank is established, you can add more than one fish at a time, or add them more quickly.

When the tank gets upset, high ammonia, nitrite or whatever, chances are that your fish will get sick or die. The advice above on quarantining and ich is great advice.

Tangs are very prone to ich.

Buying healthy fish is also very important. I always make sure the fish is eating in the LFS tank. Also, I look closely at the transparent fins and look for spots or blotches or fin damage. These are all signs of disease - ich, velvet, fin rot. I also watch them breathing. Fast breathing is a bad sign. Scratching is a bad sign.

I use copper to treat ich. It works. Most other ich cures out there do not work. There are other non medicine ways to kill it, but I find that copper works just fine for me. But it will kill all inverts.

I hope this helps.

Actually, using the fishless method to cycle, with artificial high pulses of ammonia during the cycle, at the conclusion of the cycle the nitrification bacteria population will be EXTREMELY high, higher than your tank will ever be naturely, even after your livestock has increased in size ten fold after five years. You CAN (but should not) at once put in very high bioload and still will not have ammonia. This is what I, an experienced aquarist, always aim to do.

You should not stock fish quickly because you are not well-versed with disease control so you have to stock slowly. (Six or seven fish all coming down with ich or bacterial infection is a sorry sight, much more so than just one fish) You have to stock slowly due to disease control reason, NOT water chemical quality reason in DT or QT.

In fact, since you have to stock slowly because of disease control reason, your nitrification bacteria population will begin to decline. You have to take steps to remedy this decline.

 

[Fishmommy]

. I got him in QT and kept him in there for around 3 weeks. He got fat, and almost got excited every time I came near to feed him. I figure he was ready to join everyone and got him in the display tank.


Figured I would just go ahead and put them immediately in the tank I acclimated them and put them in"¦.that was a bad idea.
!

Here you have twice infected your previously clean DT with ich from the LFS. Do you see?


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[Deinonych]

I will let others expound upon everything that has gone wrong, here...

But, there is one BIG TAKEAWAY that you are hopefully getting from this experience: YOUR LFS's WATER SYSTEM HAS ICH!!!

+1

Once you've let your tank run fallow per others' suggestions, I would find another LFS (or purchase online) if only to remove that variable from the equation. Definitely invest in your own RO/DI system if the water you are getting from the LFS is suspect. Sorry for your troubles; I would be frustrated too.

 

[JeffSauer]

Buying healthy fish is also very important. I always make sure the fish is eating in the LFS tank. Also, I look closely at the transparent fins and look for spots or blotches or fin damage. These are all signs of disease - ich, velvet, fin rot. I also watch them breathing. Fast breathing is a bad sign. Scratching is a bad sign

HAHA, the funny thing is that i actually watch the fish for about 20 minutes before purchasing. ive passed over alot of fish i have wanted because it was acting weird, or i noticed it had spots...blah blah blah.

 

[JeffSauer]

calibrate with a calibration solution, not RO. When you calibrate with RO, you're assuming that your RO water has NOTHING in it. You also aren't measuring in the 1.000 range, you're measuring around 1.026. Buy some 1.026 calibration solution, recalibrate, and measure.

i didnt know that, learned something new. can i just buy that online?

 

[wooden_reefer]

That's the thing...my last ich problem killed "everything" in my tank. So i gave my inverts to a buddy and left my tank "lifeless" for 6 months. I even threw out my macro algae just to be sure. The only thing left in my tank was water, rock and sand (that's it) I kept all my levels good, did a 25% water change every Saturday and stirred the sand every other day just to make sure nothing was hiding. 6 whole months of doing that, a lifeless, dark tank running at 92°. That would have had to kill the ich right?

Then I am sure that ich was re-introduced due to insufficient active treatment of fish.

 

[JeffSauer]

Here you have twice infected your previously clean DT with ich from the LFS. Do you see?


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so i need to quit buying fish from him...

 

[gbru316]

i didnt know that, learned something new. can i just buy that online?

Calibration solution

 

[JeffSauer]

Then I am sure that ich was re-introduced due to insufficient active treatment of fish.

dang it

 

[Fishmommy]

so i need to quit buying fish from him...

Or at least qt them properly and treat them for ich even if they seem fine


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[Fishmommy]

Sorry for your losses - we all want you to succeed next time!


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[wooden_reefer]

Buying healthy fish is also very important. I always make sure the fish is eating in the LFS tank. Also, I look closely at the transparent fins and look for spots or blotches or fin damage. These are all signs of disease - ich, velvet, fin rot. I also watch them breathing. Fast breathing is a bad sign. Scratching is a bad sign.

Although the negative is not true, a fish that feeds very eagerly is generally good indication of health.

A newbie who does not want to take any chances (yearn for success for confidence) should buy only fish that feed eagerly at the LFS.

Some fish will not live for more than a month or two due to the way it was collected, held, or transported. make sure you problem is not with this type of fish.

 

[la1fan]

I'm sorry for your loss, I think many people will gain valuable information from this thread. Best of luck, JeffSauer.

 

[wooden_reefer]

All LFS water has ich.

All online water has ich.

You better assume this to be true.

 

[JeffSauer]

Although the negative is not true, a fish that feeds very eagerly is generally good indication of health.

A newbie who does not want to take any chances (yearn for success for confidence) should buy only fish that feed eagerly at the LFS.

Some fish will not live for more than a month or two due to the way it was collected, held, or transported. make sure you problem is not with this type of fish.

so one last question...should i just start over...again?

 

[wooden_reefer]

All fellow aquarist water has ich, unless it is someone I know very well, whose skill and mindset I can trust, very few.

 

[kissman]

I would first buy some Calibration Solution and test salinity. If that is off and you start over you will have same result. I would then think about starting over. You have nothing to lose and nothing in tank.