can't take it

[keithntracy]

don't think i can do this anymore. our fish got the ick and had to qt them to the hospital tank. looks like red (kole tang) isn't gonna make it. to much stress i guess, i know his feeling. hopefully foxy (foxface) will make it.

so it looks like my whole system will be up for sale. not gonna sell individual pieces. probably make my final decision this weekend.

 

[waterfaller1]

Setting up a QT tank is really inexpensive and would help the fish. I can tell you how if you are interested. edit:
Oh duh..see I did'nt even see that. Why give up? Ich can be managed so that they overcome it. Are you doing hypo-salinity?

 

[keithntracy]

We are doing the hyposalinity but it appears to be too late for the kole tang. He'll probably die tonite. It's just very discouraging. We didn't set up the tank to kill fish and we feel really bad. We also feel maybe we weren't educated enough and counted too much on the advice of our LFS. You'd think ppl would steer you in the right direction instead of just trying to make a buck. Anyway, I'm just venting. Sorry.

PS: I'm not talking about Sea in the City. And Marcye, we'll probably drop off your bucket this weekend!

 

[waterfaller1]

If you would like..we could talk about this over the phone. I may be able to help. You are welcome to PM me. Sorry about the Kole.

 

[cschweitzer]

How long have you been into reef caretaking? You need to give the tank and yourself time to adjust. I lost fish for the first six months, and when I say lost fish, I mean quite a few. I then gave up for a couple months on fish and stuck to corals. Things settled down and fish went back in and are now fine. It takes a while to get everything the way you want it. This is not a hobby for the faint of heart or for the impatient (not saying you are either of these). It takes a lot of work to have the first fish make it more than a couple months. But I promise you things get easier. You should not be discourged because it doesn't come to you like freshwater does. With a lot of love and a lot of patience, everything will settle down and you should not be swayed away because of one bad experience. Talk to the people who lost everything during the hurricanes...

 

[onehundred20]

loosing fish is very discouraging, trust me I think everyone has gone through this.

How long have you had the fish, were they eating/fat and healthy when you purchased them? What are your tank param's, any fluctuations in temp or salinity etc. Ive noticed the tangs ive had get stressed very easily from stupid stuff like that.

 

[keithntracy]

The parameters were all good. Like I said, I think the ick got them. They were eating really good, swimming around and looking well. We are new to the hobby, the tank only being up and running about 6 weeks maybe a few more. The fish we added about 10 days ago. everything else is doing good. Well, except something killed one of the sand shifting stars and ate it's leg. As far as the ick goes, maybe we made a mistake there too. We tried a medicine first. Actually only 2 doses before we decided today to QT them and the kole died. Who knows. It's hard to say.

 

[Boostable]

I killed my entire tank, and I mean everything (well pretty much) and came back from it.

Don't get discouraged...

JW

 

[Me No Nemo]

Don't give up! I'll help you any way I can. Waterfaller is an excellent resource and I know she loves to help out when she can. Marcye

 

[markandkristen]

yeah i lost around 300 dollars worth of fish about 2 months ago. you talk about upset. i told my wife the same thing. well a few days passed and my faithful dori and scopas are still with me. mine was a bacteria infection. but i know how you feel. its fustrating to see money going down the drain. and i can probably guess that 95% of the peopl on here has lost way more than you can imagine. its just part of learning. we all go through it. the kole tang was prob only 25- 35 dollars compare that to all the fish i have lost in my first year. well lets not go thier i would guestimate around 7-800 dollars.

 

[tangers]

Don't give up!!! When I first started this hobby/transition from fresh water I lost nearly $400 worth of fish/livestock before I realized that my prob was I didn't have a heater. Person at a lfs told me in the begining I didn't need one. A long very expensive road later I figured the prob out and it's been great ever since. Just like most things in life it's not going to be cake but it's that more rewarding when you get it all up and going. I'm sure everyone in this forum will vouge(sp) to say that they all started this way! Every single one of us did!! Trust me it's worth it to stick it out!!

 

[waterfaller1]

Pm'd you.

 

[keithntracy]

It's really not so much a thing about the money. More about feeling bad about killing the fish ebcause of stupidity. But, like I've read all over this board, education and patience is the key!

Thanks to all of you for the words of encouragement!!! I'll keep you posted (get it, posted...lol) to what we/he decide.