Thomasj8503
New member
Ok, so this will be really long but I think the more info the better. I know I did some things wrong throughout this leading up to the problem, just need to figure out how to fix this and do things right now.
I have a 130 gal system with 20 gal sump with a good skimmer and all the normal items. I had battled what I thought to be ich and the time. All my fish were covered in tiny white specs almost over night, staying in high flow and gasping. I went into panic mode and when to my LFS and bought some new life spectrum ick shield. (i had many corals and was trying to kill it without using copper). I got this infection from the lack of a QT tank. (I know i know). I dosed it as labeled and the infection went away in a couple of days. Everything looked good for a couple of weeks but it returned with vengeance. I dosed the medicine again since is says UV lights breaks the medicine down quickly. This time though, it didn't work as well. In a matter of 36 hours i lost my foxface and 2 damsels before the infection cleared. I was shocked at how fast it killed them. The ich dissipated and all was good. About 3 weeks later for my birthday, my wife, not knowing all the ins and outs of fish keeping, bought me an Aussie harlequin tusk. She knew this was my trophy fish. She was so excited I didn't have the heart to tell her she shouldn't of done that. Another two weeks went by as i held my breath. One morning when i got up for work and checked my tank i found my tusk covered in white spots and not able to stay upright very well. I officially declared war on whatever was in my tank. I did a ton of research at work and found out i was battling marine velvet. After work I went and bought a 29 gal hospital tank and some API copper treatment. When i got home his condition was about the same. I set up the new QT tank quickly with 10 gal from my DT and added the rest with new saltwater. I dosed the copper as directed and hoped for a miracle. I checked on him every couple of hours throughout the night but found him dead at about 530am
. I went to work and came home and found the rest of my fish in my DT were covered again. I went and bought some cupramine. I did a complete water change in the new QT and followed the directions for the cupramine. I tore my tank down to get all the fish out and put them in the QT. Within 2-3 days all the spots were gone and they are looking great. I added quick start to the tank due to it be not cycled yet. I had to do something or lose all my stock so i opted for them in a non-cycled tank.
Ok so now for the problem. I am way over bio load for the 29 gal. I have in it now, a humu trigger, nigar trigger, 2 clowns, a jeweled damsel, 2 smaller damsels, 1 chromis, firefish, and yellow tang. Do to some financial restraints i can go and get a larger QT for a few weeks. I am trying to leave my DT empty for 8 weeks to kill off the evil in it. Now i am battling the non-cycled tank. Current water is as follows,
ammonia- .25 by seachem test but 2.0 by API test. This might be due to the API test reading falsely due to the copper per some other forums but im not sure. Seachem claims that their ammonia test is not messed up by cupramine as they make both.
Nitrite - 1.0
Nitrate- 40 ppm
Salinty - 1.025
Copper - .5
My Yellow tang is now not eating for day 2. The is no visible issue with him and acts completely normal. I know this can be a side effect of the copper but they have been in it for a week now and he just started not eating. I wondering if the new QT tank is just to overloaded and the toxins in the water are causing this. No other fish is showing any problems. Do I need to abort the QT tank for now and add them back to the display or is there something else i can do? Would really like to keep my DT empty for 8 weeks to kill this crap off but will do what i have to to prevent anymore loss. Is it even possible to have that bioload in a 29 gal tank short term? My DT phosphates are really high right now due to the breakdown of the other medicine. I plan to do a 50gal change on my DT tomorrow but will take several to get all of that out of it. Weighing risk to benefit, what should I do?
Any insight would be appreciated.
I have a 130 gal system with 20 gal sump with a good skimmer and all the normal items. I had battled what I thought to be ich and the time. All my fish were covered in tiny white specs almost over night, staying in high flow and gasping. I went into panic mode and when to my LFS and bought some new life spectrum ick shield. (i had many corals and was trying to kill it without using copper). I got this infection from the lack of a QT tank. (I know i know). I dosed it as labeled and the infection went away in a couple of days. Everything looked good for a couple of weeks but it returned with vengeance. I dosed the medicine again since is says UV lights breaks the medicine down quickly. This time though, it didn't work as well. In a matter of 36 hours i lost my foxface and 2 damsels before the infection cleared. I was shocked at how fast it killed them. The ich dissipated and all was good. About 3 weeks later for my birthday, my wife, not knowing all the ins and outs of fish keeping, bought me an Aussie harlequin tusk. She knew this was my trophy fish. She was so excited I didn't have the heart to tell her she shouldn't of done that. Another two weeks went by as i held my breath. One morning when i got up for work and checked my tank i found my tusk covered in white spots and not able to stay upright very well. I officially declared war on whatever was in my tank. I did a ton of research at work and found out i was battling marine velvet. After work I went and bought a 29 gal hospital tank and some API copper treatment. When i got home his condition was about the same. I set up the new QT tank quickly with 10 gal from my DT and added the rest with new saltwater. I dosed the copper as directed and hoped for a miracle. I checked on him every couple of hours throughout the night but found him dead at about 530am
. I went to work and came home and found the rest of my fish in my DT were covered again. I went and bought some cupramine. I did a complete water change in the new QT and followed the directions for the cupramine. I tore my tank down to get all the fish out and put them in the QT. Within 2-3 days all the spots were gone and they are looking great. I added quick start to the tank due to it be not cycled yet. I had to do something or lose all my stock so i opted for them in a non-cycled tank. Ok so now for the problem. I am way over bio load for the 29 gal. I have in it now, a humu trigger, nigar trigger, 2 clowns, a jeweled damsel, 2 smaller damsels, 1 chromis, firefish, and yellow tang. Do to some financial restraints i can go and get a larger QT for a few weeks. I am trying to leave my DT empty for 8 weeks to kill off the evil in it. Now i am battling the non-cycled tank. Current water is as follows,
ammonia- .25 by seachem test but 2.0 by API test. This might be due to the API test reading falsely due to the copper per some other forums but im not sure. Seachem claims that their ammonia test is not messed up by cupramine as they make both.
Nitrite - 1.0
Nitrate- 40 ppm
Salinty - 1.025
Copper - .5
My Yellow tang is now not eating for day 2. The is no visible issue with him and acts completely normal. I know this can be a side effect of the copper but they have been in it for a week now and he just started not eating. I wondering if the new QT tank is just to overloaded and the toxins in the water are causing this. No other fish is showing any problems. Do I need to abort the QT tank for now and add them back to the display or is there something else i can do? Would really like to keep my DT empty for 8 weeks to kill this crap off but will do what i have to to prevent anymore loss. Is it even possible to have that bioload in a 29 gal tank short term? My DT phosphates are really high right now due to the breakdown of the other medicine. I plan to do a 50gal change on my DT tomorrow but will take several to get all of that out of it. Weighing risk to benefit, what should I do?
Any insight would be appreciated.
