QT tank emergency

[bmk]

Hi
After looking on various posts here I finally invested in a quarantine tank, it is a 40L tank with heater, 9w light. I installed a Fluval 2 plus internal filter and set it up 2 1/2 weeks ago with old display tank water and a small bag of sand from the display tank to 'seed' the filter and a pvc pipe for a cave. I came back from holidays last Saturday and did a 10% water change (new water), tested on Sunday and all fine (same as display tank 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite ph 8.0 and sg 1.026) and removed the sand bag. I bought 3 small blue/green Chromis on Monday and put them in after acclimating for 1 hour. Got up Tuesday and one was dead, the other two have red marks on their bodies and are breathing very fast, I tested again and all was fine, I did a 40% water change and left it, got up today and another is dead, am I doing something wrong or is it likely to be a 'bad batch' of fish. The LFS is new to me and not easy to get to.

Many thanks for any help with this.

Barry

 

[patsfan1130]

Did you test for Ammonia & Trite after the first one died? while I doubt you had such a spike after adding the fish.. it is possible.

 

[bmk]

Hi
Yes I tested and all was well, I did a 40% water change to put my mind at rest as all parameters are reading normal, I was thinking of going to another LFS to buy some more but will have to hold back until I find the cause of deaths.

Barry

 

[patsfan1130]

Hmmm

The heater is working fine? Is the QT covered? your water is checking out good, it certainly is a possibility you got sick fish. I know you know this...it's always good to buy from a reputable dealer. observe the fish bahavior/eating habits prior to buying. ask about thier QT process etc. Even the most reputable of places have their share of sick fish. You may have just been extremely unlucky. Might not be a bad idea to test a sample of the water they came in. What type of acclimation process did you excersise?

 

[squealy]

Any chance some bad chemical got into your setup? Before doing anything else, I would clean it with bleach or chlorine, break it down, air it out, and start from scratch. On the other hand, maybe they were just bad fish, but now that they dies, I would feel more comfortable with a cleaning of the system.

 

[bmk]

Thanks for the input, the last remaining fish is looking a lot better, the red marks on the body have gone and it had a bit a flake today, I will let you know tomorrow how it went, fingers crossed.
The acclimation was to drip tank water into the bag via a tube for about an hour, emptying 1/2 the bag every 15 min.

Barry

 

[bmk]

Last remaining fish is fine today and eating well, I guess I just got unlucky with the others. I will do 30% water changes twice a week, is this about right for a Quarantine tank.

Barry

 

[RyanMcLaughlin]

Do small water changes every couple of days or so w/ qt. Try to siphon the excess food/waste off the bottom when you do. Ammonia can spike in a qt tank very quickly.