Lost a fish to ick or something else

[Reefing Newbie]

Today I lost a sergent major damsel to ick or something else. He and a three stripe damsel came with my set up and were going to be removed before I added any additions to my tank. While after two weeks or so of trying to catch them they got a case of ick(I got it at the beginning I think) so as a last attempt at catching them I used the bottle trap and got the sergent major damsel in 15 seconds because he was a huge pig lol. After catching him, I placed him in a 6 gallon hospital tank which is all I had besides my 12 gallon QT which had a pair of clowns in it. I treated with QuickCure which was all I had on hand because I used it on freshwater tanks with sucess. Any way, the three stripe still remains in the DT because he is impossible to catch(will be draining the tank when it is down for a frame replacement) and seems to be doing very well. He doesn't have any spots on him and is breathing normally. I guess it helps that he is the only fish in my tank so ick has a harder time getting a host. So a couple of days ago, the hospital tank's filter decided to break on me. I promptly did a water change to reduce any ammonia, and placed a unused sponge filter into the tank. I added some bacteria to speed up the seeding of the sponge on the first two days of its use. I came home from my birthday lunch today to find the fish dead. He ate very well, practically jumping out of the water when I fed him. I fed him once everyother day as I do with all of my tanks, dt only gets once every three now because the three stripe is "on a diet" only eating two mysis per feeding. Do you guys think that the filter breaking down caused the sergent major's demise? He was very healthy and fat before I left the house, and swimming normally in the tank.

 

[jcw]

Testing the water parameters would have been my first step at figuring what went wrong.

Without that, I'd only be guessing at what happened.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

SG- 1.025
pH- 8.4
Ammonia- .25 after I found the fish dead
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 5.0

Do you need the other perameters? I think that those are the vital ones that would cause problems.

 

[jcw]

My guess is that in such a small tank, the addition of bacteria and a possible bacterial bloom and possibly a lack of surface agitation, your system was depleted of oxygen very quickly.

Just my guess.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Today I lost a sergent major damsel to ick or something else. He and a three stripe damsel came with my set up and were going to be removed before I added any additions to my tank. While after two weeks or so of trying to catch them they got a case of ick(I got it at the beginning I think) so as a last attempt at catching them I used the bottle trap and got the sergent major damsel in 15 seconds because he was a huge pig lol. After catching him, I placed him in a 6 gallon hospital tank which is all I had besides my 12 gallon QT which had a pair of clowns in it. I treated with QuickCure which was all I had on hand because I used it on freshwater tanks with sucess. Any way, the three stripe still remains in the DT because he is impossible to catch(will be draining the tank when it is down for a frame replacement) and seems to be doing very well. He doesn't have any spots on him and is breathing normally. I guess it helps that he is the only fish in my tank so ick has a harder time getting a host. So a couple of days ago, the hospital tank's filter decided to break on me. I promptly did a water change to reduce any ammonia, and placed a unused sponge filter into the tank. I added some bacteria to speed up the seeding of the sponge on the first two days of its use. I came home from my birthday lunch today to find the fish dead. He ate very well, practically jumping out of the water when I fed him. I fed him once everyother day as I do with all of my tanks, dt only gets once every three now because the three stripe is "on a diet" only eating two mysis per feeding. Do you guys think that the filter breaking down caused the sergent major's demise? He was very healthy and fat before I left the house, and swimming normally in the tank.

What makes you suspect ich? I kinda figured out from your screen name that you're a ''reefing newbie"; glad you're here. this forum is a great place for hobbyists at any level. i'd suggest you read as much as you can, the stickys at the top of forums are good places to start. If I could write 2 rules for new SW hobbyists they would be : 1) Get and use a QT. 2.) (You know this now, I'll bet.) Never assume that what works in FW works in SW too.

What makes you suspect ich? Spots or scratching? Why have the damsels? Ammonia at .25 won't kill them (that's my job.:uhoh3 These are really tough fish and I won't even guess what killed them at this point. Were they suggested as ''cycle starters"? If so, just use a dead shrimp next time and avoid anyone's advice if they gave you that info. On the miracle Grow bacteria, I assume from your post that you used on of the many commercial bacteria starters. There are a zillion opinions on this stuff. Mine 2 cents is they are unnecessary at best and deadly at worst. Many of these products are cultured or altered and will actually destroy the natural bacteria that makes our bio-filters work. I've heard some success stories, but patience will always work. You may have tried one in an emergency, I guess I might too.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

No the damsels were not used to cycle the tank in any way. My whole tank set up including the livestock was sold to me as one item so everything was included. They were in the tank since set up and I was keeping them to hold on to the bacteria, while the clowns I purchased were in QT(still are from 4 weeks ago). I didn't think of surface agitation as a problem. I had a bubble wand going then only had the sponge filter going when the filter broke. I suspected ick because of white spots. He was clear if them for a few days before he died, then got one or two spots before I left. Anything stand out that could have lead to his death? I am trying to learn fir future problems and to avoid them.

PS- I have read most if not all of the stickies here and they are great, I would have been doing hypo for the damsel but was not confident enough to do it.