Ongoing QT deaths - Argg, what a I doing wrong?

[kirkfrey]

I'm just getting back in to the hobby after a 9 year break due to a move. I've tried to do everything right the first time this time. I am on my second batch in QT. Out of the first batch of 5 fish only 1 made it thru QT! I admittedly rushed the first batch which I feel bad about.

This time I started doing TTM with the first transfer on Sunday night so need to do another one tomorrow. Today I lost a coral beauty who started swimming upside down and in circles. He stopped moving and sank. I started treatment with PraziPro when the CB started acting odd - I had planned to wait until the next transfer.

QT is 29 gal filled with water from main tank
SG was a little high (fixed now)
nitrates were 10
ammonia 0

Having just started back in the hobby I m really frustrated and not sure what the heck I am doing wrong. I have 4 more fish in QT right now and am worried that I cause them to die.

 

[asonitez]

Sup Kirk - Here are some RULE I follow when QT... I JUST QT'ed 40 fish and lost about 5 total (Succumbed to disease.)


When I buy a fish I usually add them to the QT tank that's sterile and have been running for a quite some time. I add the fish and for a straight week Saturday to Sunday... I do nothing dose nothing until the fish are swimming normally and eating well.

On that Sunday I start my treatments.

For Copper - On that 29 Gallon tank you would need to dose 60 drops for the first dose wait 48 hrs and dose another 60 48 hrs later.

I break the first dose up into 10 drops a day for 6 days. I almost never dose the full second dose. I Usually only do 3/4 doses of the second dose.

I let that run in the tank for 14 days. If no diseases and everyone looks ok I perform a 50% water change and dose my Prazi pro. I let that run for the allotted time and then perform a 75% water change.

I then run carbon, and low doses of any anti-biotic's that I need to.

I don't know what your source of FISH are from but if its ONLINE then a LOT of the deaths in my tank came from online retailers. I went through multiple orders and claims with Saltwaterfish dot com. Generally speaking I usually got fish from my local fish retailer 3 days after they got a shipment.

I Use Marine Pure BIOBALLS in my filter and what don't fit in the filter I drop right into the bottom of the quarantine. I don't use any (bottled bacteria) unless I'm setting up the qurantine for the first time and I have at least 2 weeks before any fish go in.


I hope this helps. I tend to run a lower salinity in my qurantine tank and a good amount of flow. I use those fake sinking plants as "hiding" spaces.

Hope you have better luck. Just remember the qurantine is to rule out the bad quality fish. This means death. Honestly I ordered from Saltwater fish because it pretty much gave me unlimited tries with a fish (within reason) to get a good/great specimen.

 

[kirkfrey]

Thanks for the reply, I forgot to mention, they were from LiveAquaria. I am thinking I will start looking for a better LFS as the one nearest isn't very good. I did put some Marine Pure cubes in the QT but not sure that they have had enough time in the sump to really be fully useful.

 

[asonitez]

Thanks for the reply, I forgot to mention, they were from LiveAquaria. I am thinking I will start looking for a better LFS as the one nearest isn't very good. I did put some Marine Pure cubes in the QT but not sure that they have had enough time in the sump to really be fully useful.

Jersey is cold this time of year. I have never ordered from live aquaria but in jersey you have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many GREAT LFS in the area bro.


Ocean Gallery
Fengs Reef
Aquarium Care Center
Tropiquarium

Those are just a few I remember! But ACC is one of the best I have ever been to. Their coral selection/price/fish were freaking awesome.

I MISS NJ SO MUCH .. (Only for Fish and Corals though... I hate the rest of the state)

I'm in NC right now and there's not much choice for anything.

 

[asonitez]

I forgot to mention the TONS of Garage Reefers that ORDER FISH wholesale and qurantine them FOR YOU.

Get on Njreefers.org and join up. Its a local forum but there's tons of people there doing the right thing by fish and corals.

 

[kirkfrey]

wow, cool. I will look them up. they are probably all like 2 hrs away (so like 30 miles )

 

[asonitez]

nahhhhhhhhhhh I used to go in central jersey ALL The time to hit up stores. NJ reefers vendors section has some of the better stores and they tend to get a lot of the NEW stores joining up as well. I was a regular at all of them even when I moved to Trenton, NJ...

If your near Trenton NJ area there are like 4/5 stores in Philly that are great as well.

South Jersey near Ocean Township has like 3 or 4 stores as well but their inventory changes pretty often. Best to call ahead and get an idea of what they got in stock.

Generally speaking I didn't make use of ONLINE vendors UNTIL I moved to North Carolina.

 

[asonitez]

Btw here was the progression of my QT tanks into the display


https://youtu.be/wgjL_qe4Mm0


https://youtu.be/lRGxVYEcxc8


All fish Added

https://youtu.be/VzSBN4Olbwc

 

[JustinM]

Asonitez gave some solid advice with the steps taken. The only thing I do different is run copper for 30 days and move the fish to a sterile tank afterwards. 14 days is usually sufficient if moving to a sterile tank. Ich has varying life cycles with 14 days being the most common but have been noted to take up to 72 days in different conditions, very rare though.

After each batch of fish, the qt should be sterilized to prevent unwanted bacteria from infecting fish. I also run an acriflavine bath to treat brook and uronema, so common these days.

One other thing I can note, if you are ordering fish online, be sure to match the SG of the shipper. It sounds like your CB may have had osmotic shock. A lot of vendors ship their fish in 1.019(live aquaria to name 1)and lower. Also, if your SG is matched, just temp acclimate the bags and place directly into QT to a valid ammonia poisoning.

 

[kirkfrey]

asonitez, I joined the nj reefers. Wandering around a bit. How do I find the garage reefers that QT?

 

[Jdub968]

One thing you mentioned is nitrates were are you running tap water? During ttm you don't have a bio filter so I'm wondering how nitrates were present. I've only lost 3 fish QTing 2 were during ttm and one was due to aggression. Both losses were osmotic shock, make sure water temp and SG are spot on I don't worry about ph.

 

[kirkfrey]

No, using RODI water for everything. I use tank water to fill the QT, not fresh made saltwater. My thinking was that was a better approach.

 

[Jdub968]

No, using RODI water for everything. I use tank water to fill the QT, not fresh made saltwater. My thinking was that was a better approach.

There's no benefit to using old tank water there's no nitrifying bacteria present in the water. ttm is quite stressful on the fish which will make them more susceptible to bacterial infections and parasites, you may have a parasite free DT but. Bacteria that can harm your fish is more than likely present in the DT water. I would stop using DT water and use fresh

 

[MrsReefK]

There's no benefit to using old tank water there's no nitrifying bacteria present in the water. ttm is quite stressful on the fish which will make them more susceptible to bacterial infections and parasites, you may have a parasite free DT but. Bacteria that can harm your fish is more than likely present in the DT water. I would stop using DT water and use fresh

We use DT water in our QTs with great success this far. May not be perfect to everyone, but it works great for us. Our auto water change daily takes the "waste DT water" and drops it into our QT tanks, that overflow to the main drain.

I'm not sure you need to stop using DT water or even use it off of just these two posts. Research further for what fits you best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kirkfrey]

We use DT water in our QTs with great success this far. May not be perfect to everyone, but it works great for us. Our auto water change daily takes the "waste DT water" and drops it into our QT tanks, that overflow to the main drain.

I'm not sure you need to stop using DT water or even use it off of just these two posts. Research further for what fits you best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What you are doing is exactly what my plan was. I'll continue to read up more and see if I want to modify what I am planning. At the moment I am just as stressed as the fish!

 

[JustinM]

If you know your DT water is parasite free, I see no problem with this. Why waste any more water. The only time I wouldn’t use DT water for the QT is if I’m letting it sit fallow.