Hello all. This is my first posting, but I have been following this community for months trying to absorb all the knowledge/experience that many of the members have shared.
Unfortunately, this post is spurred by the loss of my favorite fish, my Magnificent FoxFace.
Background on the FoxFace - I acquired him on 3/28/2017 and he immediately went into my 30 gallon cycled QT tank for observation. A few weeks into the QT period I noticed some small white dots that I thought to be Ich. I initially thought dosing copper was the most practical way to treat Ich (TTM sounded too intimidating), but after I did a little more reading on TTM, on 4/20/2017 I transferred him to a 10 gallon tank and began the TTM process.
Post TTM, he looked great, ate like a pig, and acted appropriately, so on 5/3/2017 I finally transferred him into my 180 gallon display tank.
Residents of the Display tank at this time included 2 clownfish, 2 PJ cardinals, and 1 small RoseTip Bubble Anemone.
The FoxFace adjusted quickly and continued to eat furiously. Everything seemed normal until 5/25/2017, when I woke up to him breathing heavy with gray spots on his cheeks, and around 45 minutes later he was dead. (Attached are the pictures of the first appearance of the gray dots and 45 minutes later when he had died).
5/26/2017 I lost another PJ cardinal, and 5/28/2017 I lost the last PJ cardinal.
Water parameters on 5/25/2017 showed Ammonia - 0, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - Undetectable, Specific Gravity - 1.020, pH - 7.8, Temp 78.8.
I'm lost as to what happened. Prior to introducing the clownfish I had kept them in a 30 gallon cube for around 5 months, and prior to introducing the PJ cardinals I had QT'd them for 2 months.
I don't know what the next step is. I do not want to give up, but I also do not want to continue to lose my fish. This has been the second time that I have had a complete loss, the first being 8 months ago when I did not QT and lost everything (I believe it to have been from Uronema Marinum from some Blue/Green Chromis). I ended up completely starting over. Tossing the rock/sand. Bleaching the tank/equipment. Leaving everything dry for a couple months, and recycling. And this time I was determined not to re-live that nightmare and I invested in my QT tanks and tried not to take any shortcuts, but I am still experiencing a loss.
I would really appreciate any advice on what happened and what to do next.
Thank you all for sharing your experience/knowledge with me.
Unfortunately, this post is spurred by the loss of my favorite fish, my Magnificent FoxFace.
Background on the FoxFace - I acquired him on 3/28/2017 and he immediately went into my 30 gallon cycled QT tank for observation. A few weeks into the QT period I noticed some small white dots that I thought to be Ich. I initially thought dosing copper was the most practical way to treat Ich (TTM sounded too intimidating), but after I did a little more reading on TTM, on 4/20/2017 I transferred him to a 10 gallon tank and began the TTM process.
Post TTM, he looked great, ate like a pig, and acted appropriately, so on 5/3/2017 I finally transferred him into my 180 gallon display tank.
Residents of the Display tank at this time included 2 clownfish, 2 PJ cardinals, and 1 small RoseTip Bubble Anemone.
The FoxFace adjusted quickly and continued to eat furiously. Everything seemed normal until 5/25/2017, when I woke up to him breathing heavy with gray spots on his cheeks, and around 45 minutes later he was dead. (Attached are the pictures of the first appearance of the gray dots and 45 minutes later when he had died).
5/26/2017 I lost another PJ cardinal, and 5/28/2017 I lost the last PJ cardinal.
Water parameters on 5/25/2017 showed Ammonia - 0, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - Undetectable, Specific Gravity - 1.020, pH - 7.8, Temp 78.8.
I'm lost as to what happened. Prior to introducing the clownfish I had kept them in a 30 gallon cube for around 5 months, and prior to introducing the PJ cardinals I had QT'd them for 2 months.
I don't know what the next step is. I do not want to give up, but I also do not want to continue to lose my fish. This has been the second time that I have had a complete loss, the first being 8 months ago when I did not QT and lost everything (I believe it to have been from Uronema Marinum from some Blue/Green Chromis). I ended up completely starting over. Tossing the rock/sand. Bleaching the tank/equipment. Leaving everything dry for a couple months, and recycling. And this time I was determined not to re-live that nightmare and I invested in my QT tanks and tried not to take any shortcuts, but I am still experiencing a loss.
I would really appreciate any advice on what happened and what to do next.
Thank you all for sharing your experience/knowledge with me.