superdave104
New member
a while ago i started up a new reef tank. the tank cycled good and pretty quickly. i went ahead and stocked it with a couple anthias, a solar wrasse, a blue hippo tang, and two onyx snowflake clowns. our lfs also gave us some corals for free that no one wanted.
everything was doing well. the fish were getting along well and eating great. then out of no where i started getting issues. i noticed one anthias had some white spots on his fins that i assumed was ich. no one else had anything and he was still eating fine so i was hoping it was just stress and he would be fine. it did seem to go away and everything was back to normal. then a few days later my hippo tang got it, then my smallest clown got it very bad, the male anthias got it again, and the female anthias stopped eating. i tried treating the tank with a reef safe medication and it seemed to work, then after a day or two it came back even stronger. i went out that night and bought a small qt tank to set up to treat the fish in the next day. wake up the next morning for work and my smallest clown is dead and everyone else looks horrible. so we got some water made and set up the qt tank at 6am and got it ready. took the fish out and gave them a 60 sec freshwater dip, then to the new back to float in the new tank. got them all in and swimming around. shortly after, my female anthias died. i come home from work that evening to find the male anthias is now dead. i discovered that my heater was broken and the water was hot o the touch. bagged the fish together and floated them in the main tank to get the temp back down slowly. got the heater fixed and got them back in...
a few days go by. the last 3 fish are alive but not well. especially the tang. slowly but surely, i get everyone to start swimming and eating again. its been a very stressfull time for everyone. they all seemed to be doing well. suddenly today i found my wrasse was dead. it was very unexpected as he was eating well and active. i also noticed the tang having a hard time swimming. constantly trying to swim down. i went in there about an hour ago and found him floating on the surface just being very still, i assumed dead. he saw me i guess and swam down hard but didnt get very far. did a bit of research and figured he had a swim bladder issue. i netted him and held him in my hand for a few mins. oddly enough he let me hold him. i guess he was getting some much needed rest. i started gently massaging him hoping to help clear any blockage. sure enough, he farted air out. he did this maybe 4 times. after doing this i got some peas and tried to see if he would eat a skinned one but he wouldnt have it. hes still floating but not as bad and i didnt want to try and force air out of him. all i have in the qt tank is a piece of pvc pipe for the fish to hide in. he couldnt get to it himself so we kinda put him in and he swam right in.
so given the circumstances, what should i do? ive lost so many fish already. the tang is one of my favorites. i plan on letting his digestive system work a bit more and maybe giving him another massage tomorrow. i just dont want to lose him. help!!
everything was doing well. the fish were getting along well and eating great. then out of no where i started getting issues. i noticed one anthias had some white spots on his fins that i assumed was ich. no one else had anything and he was still eating fine so i was hoping it was just stress and he would be fine. it did seem to go away and everything was back to normal. then a few days later my hippo tang got it, then my smallest clown got it very bad, the male anthias got it again, and the female anthias stopped eating. i tried treating the tank with a reef safe medication and it seemed to work, then after a day or two it came back even stronger. i went out that night and bought a small qt tank to set up to treat the fish in the next day. wake up the next morning for work and my smallest clown is dead and everyone else looks horrible. so we got some water made and set up the qt tank at 6am and got it ready. took the fish out and gave them a 60 sec freshwater dip, then to the new back to float in the new tank. got them all in and swimming around. shortly after, my female anthias died. i come home from work that evening to find the male anthias is now dead. i discovered that my heater was broken and the water was hot o the touch. bagged the fish together and floated them in the main tank to get the temp back down slowly. got the heater fixed and got them back in...
a few days go by. the last 3 fish are alive but not well. especially the tang. slowly but surely, i get everyone to start swimming and eating again. its been a very stressfull time for everyone. they all seemed to be doing well. suddenly today i found my wrasse was dead. it was very unexpected as he was eating well and active. i also noticed the tang having a hard time swimming. constantly trying to swim down. i went in there about an hour ago and found him floating on the surface just being very still, i assumed dead. he saw me i guess and swam down hard but didnt get very far. did a bit of research and figured he had a swim bladder issue. i netted him and held him in my hand for a few mins. oddly enough he let me hold him. i guess he was getting some much needed rest. i started gently massaging him hoping to help clear any blockage. sure enough, he farted air out. he did this maybe 4 times. after doing this i got some peas and tried to see if he would eat a skinned one but he wouldnt have it. hes still floating but not as bad and i didnt want to try and force air out of him. all i have in the qt tank is a piece of pvc pipe for the fish to hide in. he couldnt get to it himself so we kinda put him in and he swam right in.
so given the circumstances, what should i do? ive lost so many fish already. the tang is one of my favorites. i plan on letting his digestive system work a bit more and maybe giving him another massage tomorrow. i just dont want to lose him. help!!
