coral beauty

[kcfehring]

Well, I did a fifty percent water change today, put in the higher dosage of prime and my nitrites were still off the charts. The ammonia, phospates, pH, and were good and nitrates were down. So I am thinking I only have a couple of alternatives.

1. Put both fish back in the dt. (It has been a month since the whole ich debacle).

2. Take the fish out of the ht, do a complete water change and put in some live rock that I am sure has cured. (No way to do that here because I don't trust that my local lfs has cured rock)

3. Do the same as above except put in live rock from my refugium and pray that all the ich is gone and I am not contaminating my qt.

Who wants to vote?!! LOL If I do the first I think I will still restart the qt with whatever rock I can get and just cure it in the qt. It will be way more than a month before I'kk be buying any fish. I'll think I will recheck the water in the morning and then make a decision.

 

[Serra]

I would wait at least 6 weeks to return fish to display tank. 8 is better. I wouldn't add any rock to the Q-tank. That will just bump up the bioload. If you want more cover for the fish, add some plastic plants and more pvc. I have some chaeto algae that has been in a "fallow" tank for 2 months, I can give you some of that if you want to drive down here...that should use up some of the trates.

If the fish are eating and the lateral line isn't getting worse, ride it out. Keep in mind that if the erosion gets worse you should treat with antibiotics for possible secondary infection. This will be easier and less stressful if it is already in the q-tank.

I think polyfilter removes copper and nitrates. If fish get worse, then get some polyfilter but try and let the tank finish the cycle.

Buy several sponges and keep in sump of dt so you have a ready source of biofiltration for the q-tank at all times. Acclimate sponges to the new water like you would any living thing.

 

[TulsaReefer]

It's most likely that the Prime you are using is interfering with your test kit. They document this on the product FAQ page. And because you used a high dose of it, I'm guessing that it's got your test kit all of out whack. This is one of the problems with many of these additives, they can cause false readings on test kits. If you did a 50% water change, you can expect everything to be at half what it was before the change, no matter what your test kit says.

I'd get some Selcon or other Omega-3 suppliment with Vitamin C, and begin to soak your food in it. I'd also provide a variety of food, as any single food may not contain the right nutition for some fish. I'd probably do another water change, they are relatively cheap and easy, and keep up the regimen until you are sure the tank has cycled. I'd also slow down feeding the fish unless they really look gaunt, fish waste and uneaten food is where the problem with ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates begins.

 

[djc1026]

Do the fish look stressed in the QT? If not continue, what you've been doing and observe closely. Something doesn't seem right with those readings. Just watch the fish, keep up with your water changes and act accordingly.

To test Lee's theory, get a glass of water from your DT, test for nitrates, add one or two drops of Prime and retest. Unfortunately, the FAQ site says it screws up the amonia test and that reduction of death caused by high nitrites and nitrates was unexpected and even unknown to them until customers reported it. It's still very possible that it does effect the test, because as Lee also said, many chemicals like Prime will effect test readings.

Dave

 

[kcfehring]

Well, that is good to know. I had no idea that prime would effect any of my tests. The fish don't seemed stress but the coral beauty is getting that disease so...? On that note I did notice that last night when I fed them I put in a little mysis and some cut up nori with the garlic and emerald entree and both fish seemed a little more excited about eating. Nutrition is one of the things I read about that might cause the lateral line disease so maybe that is it.

I am looking into buying some selcon -no one near me sells it so I asked my lfs if he could order it and if not then I guess I will buy it online...I just hate to pay shipping!

My idea to begin with was to keep them out of the dt until the beginning of December (8-9 weeks) but I was concerned with the cb getting sick that if I can't get my nitrites down the dt may be the lesser of two evils. Well, I think I will do the test on the dt (with 0 nitrites) with the prime and see if that might be it. I'll let you know what I find out.

Do you think doing another large water change after just doing a 50 % change yesterday would be more stressful than having the high nitrites?

I know I ask alot of questions! (Understatement!!) I do so uppreciate all of your help.

 

[Serra]

The more you do to the tank, the slower the cycle will be to complete. That is the real goal here. If the fish are stable, stop worrying. Have saltwater made up just in case but do nothing.

If you can't come down to north OKC today and get some chaeto from me, do you know any club members who live near you who will be down here today? Plus, Aquariums usually has Selcon.

 

[kcfehring]

Well, I tried the prime thing with my dt water and it made no change.

First, I tested my dt water with the same test kit that I use for the qt and it came back with 0 nitrites. Then, I added just a little bit of prime to another vial with dt water and tested - still 0. So then I added several drops to the 5 mls of dt water and still reads as 0. So that is probably not my problem....DANG! I was really hopping that was it.

 

[papagimp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11088258#post11088258 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kcfehring
Well, that is good to know. I had no idea that prime would effect any of my tests.

While I don't know anything about htis other than what I read in the FAQ listed above, I had 3 tanks acting up at the same time, and readings were similar on all 3, only 1 of these tanks was dosed with prime though, the others were not at all and gave up similar readings. I suspected my test kits were bad but improvements in readings after water changes (temporarity until the next day when they'd get all out of whack again) led me to believe the tests were working okay. The ammonia and nitrites will STILL show up regardless though, it doesn't remove them, just binds them and detoxifies them. So don't expect PRIME to make for good readings, only help keep the fish alive a little longer until the tank problems can be corrected.

I do agree with Serra, 6 weeks fallow would do the DT much better than 4 weeks,

 

[djc1026]

Just keep watching the fish. I only suggested the test for your peace of mind, the FAQ page didn't mention it effecting tests just doing like Adam said, binding them. A pic of the CB may be helpful if it has visible evidence of disease.

I'm with Serra and I would hold off on the WC for now, but have some made up and ready for like Friday or Saturday. Do youself a favor and stop testing for a day and just trust your observations. Testing often isn't going to change anything except your anxiety level so test tomorrow night instead. Or only test shortly after you've done something that should make a change, like a WC.

You'll get through this and don't worry about all the questions, just discern all the answers


Dave

 

[mskohl]

You will have nitrate readings in any tank that doesn't have sufficient filtration. We know from experience that a sump and refugium are the best solution to reducing nitrates. However, that isn't practical on a qt and certainly not advisable on a hospital tank.

With that being said, I don't think you will ever have the proper bacterial colonies on this tank to get the nitrates to zero. The bacteria that convert nitrites to nitrates are anaerobic bacteria and unless they have a dsb, they won't grow. On the emporer, you're just getting the bacteria that change nitrite to nitrate. It's a step, but it doesn't complete the cycle.

Your best bet is to keep up with water changes. Do 20-50% daily to every other day. Your fish will tolerate nitrates. I think the lateral line is from nutrition. Feed your fish and when they're done, vacuum out the leftovers and fish poo with your water change.

 

[kcfehring]

Your probably right about the nutrition. I thought feeding the emarald entree would be best because (I thought) they both were algae eaters and it is primarily made up of algae. Yesterday when I added a little mysis shrimp and cut up brown and green algae to it's food they both seemed to eat better. So I am going to quit worrying, start feeding some alternative foods and add in some selcon and hope for the best!