A little background first. I have an aquarium maintenance business as well as being a hobbyist. I started supplying fish about 9 months ago and I have been progressing on my learning curve pretty well but still could use some input.
I have had good success with most hardy species (clowns, damsels, cardinals, gobies, firefish, convict gobies, etc.) but limited success with tangs and dwarf angels. Dwarf angels I think is because of overstocking I holding but may be other reasons. I have a 200 gallon quarantine system with six 20 highs and two 40 breeders hooked together but can be isolated because each tank contains its own sponge filter and heater if necessary. I had more luck after adding sand, live rock, and caulerpa into a couple of 20 highs for a more natural setup and more opportunity for grazing for skittish species or species which do better when they have the opportunity to browse. That helped a lot with initial feeding on thin fish and dramatically dropped my initial loses.
I did have an ich outbreak from one powder blue that seems under control fro using NLS ich sheild. Didn't keep feeding for full 21 days and it came back. Isolated affected tanks and dosed with chloroquine at 15 mg/l which I have done many times before. I lost 12 small yellow tangs in 24 hours after that. My thought is that I inadvertently overdosed them because of residual chloroquine I their system from the food. After I found 4 dead the first morning I did a 33% water change and replaced with new salt water (mixed for 12 hours) to bring level to 10 mg/l which is the baseline quarantine dose but still lost 4 more later that night and more again this morning. Everyone else looks good but they did yesterday too and still had a bunch of loses.
My question is for those of you that do this with large quantities of fish as well either commercially or as a hobbyist.
What is your procedure? What has given you the best success rate overall?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
I have had good success with most hardy species (clowns, damsels, cardinals, gobies, firefish, convict gobies, etc.) but limited success with tangs and dwarf angels. Dwarf angels I think is because of overstocking I holding but may be other reasons. I have a 200 gallon quarantine system with six 20 highs and two 40 breeders hooked together but can be isolated because each tank contains its own sponge filter and heater if necessary. I had more luck after adding sand, live rock, and caulerpa into a couple of 20 highs for a more natural setup and more opportunity for grazing for skittish species or species which do better when they have the opportunity to browse. That helped a lot with initial feeding on thin fish and dramatically dropped my initial loses.
I did have an ich outbreak from one powder blue that seems under control fro using NLS ich sheild. Didn't keep feeding for full 21 days and it came back. Isolated affected tanks and dosed with chloroquine at 15 mg/l which I have done many times before. I lost 12 small yellow tangs in 24 hours after that. My thought is that I inadvertently overdosed them because of residual chloroquine I their system from the food. After I found 4 dead the first morning I did a 33% water change and replaced with new salt water (mixed for 12 hours) to bring level to 10 mg/l which is the baseline quarantine dose but still lost 4 more later that night and more again this morning. Everyone else looks good but they did yesterday too and still had a bunch of loses.
My question is for those of you that do this with large quantities of fish as well either commercially or as a hobbyist.
What is your procedure? What has given you the best success rate overall?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
