Ready To Give Up!

[BeginnerReefer]

Ok, Had two baby clowns for about 6 weeks, bought a baby tang and put him in the QT with the clowns and about two weeks later the Tang started showing signs of Velvet. So I started treating for Velvet, and then I see Black Ich on the smallest clown. I was treating with Formalin every other day, two drops per gallon as recommended on the instructions (16 drops for my QT), left for an overnight trip came home and my smallest clown no longer had spots, but the larger one did. (this was last night)

Woke up this morning, fed everyone. Went upstairs about 10 minutes ago and both clowns are dead!


Have been doing small water changes since I've been dosing with formalin, temp is at about 80* because I've read that upping the temp hastens the life cycle and makes living a lot harder for the parasites. and all params are good.

What was I doing wrong?

also, a few words of encouragement?

 

[alextheromanian]

sounds like your treating them stressed them out to the point where you weakened their immune system enough to get sick...

just my hunch...im no expert

i suggest when you QT just QT...dont medicate too...keep the fish in a separate tank for 3-4 weeks feed it see how it does.


now what you should do is let your tank stay fishless untill the dormid diseases can die off due to lack of host.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Sorry to hear about this. From this and your other threads, it sounds like you were doing a lot of the right things so it's hard to guess at what caused the deaths.

Words of encouragement - everyone in this hobby loses livestock at some point. In many cases, the only thing that separates newbies from experienced reefers is the number of mistakes made to date. Learn from your experiences and pick up the pieces to move forwards.

 

[jtrasap]

Are you running a skimmer or anything to aerate the water? Formalin, especially at higher temps, can rob the water of oxygen. Don't get discouraged. This is a learn as you go hobby, and it happens to the best.

 

[Michael]

i like what der-wille had to say about the encouragement, id agree with that, just try to move forward, even though i know the 10 gallon was just for QT, its still a little small even for the smallest tang as well, perhaps that contributed, anyhow chin up and keep going

 

[BeginnerReefer]

Thanks guys. And to Alex- They were in QT when they started showing signs of velvet and Ich.

As of right now the tang is still alive. Along with my snail, hermit, and shrimp.


I removed all of them from the tank and am now doing a complete water change (from Bought prepared water from the LFS that I've been using to do small water changes, to start over. I guess we'll see how this goes.

 

[BeginnerReefer]

anyone else?

 

[alextheromanian]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14816241#post14816241 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeginnerReefer
Thanks guys. And to Alex- They were in QT when they started showing signs of velvet and Ich.

As of right now the tang is still alive. Along with my snail, hermit, and shrimp.


I removed all of them from the tank and am now doing a complete water change (from Bought prepared water from the LFS that I've been using to do small water changes, to start over. I guess we'll see how this goes.

well im really sorry to hear that.

as far as the words of encouragement go and i forgot to say them is that while it is sad you learned a lesson. and its good you asked on here.

no point in giving up. ive lost 2 tangs and a coral so far. and its a bummy feeling but you cant beat yourself up about it.


moving fish around can be stressful and sickening for them


heres what i learned and ill pass it on to you.


1) if a store always has sick fish or sells healthy looking fist that get sick as soon as they pass the adjustment period....find another store.

2) never buy fish when they come in...i know you dont want someone else to get that fish youve been waiting for but that fish might not end up in your tank either if its already sick or about to get sick.

3) chasing fish around to move them from qt to display and back can cause so much stress it can kill a fish.

4) ask the lfs if they can feed the fish right before you buy it...see if he eats...sick or stressed fish wont eat will hide alot and let other fish pick on them

5) things die. sometimes no matter how much you try and and be good and take care of them sometimes theres just nothing you can do.


good luck.

 

[WaterKeeper]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14816133#post14816133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by der_wille_zur_macht
In many cases, the only thing that separates newbies from experienced reefers is the number of mistakes made to date. Learn from your experiences and pick up the pieces to move forwards.

More mistakes than my post count shows. Don't give up but figure out where something was out of normal. That usually provides the answer to losses that cannot be explained.

 

[EnglishRebel]

In my opinion it was not a good idea to put a tang in the QT tank with the clowns. You should only QT one fish at a time as one can give the other a disease and vice versa. Having said that, I have two clowns in QT right now (clowns like to pair up). Putting another fish (particular an ich magnet like a tang) into the mix complicates the QT process.
I think you have learned your lesson (like we all do ). QT the tang for about six weeks. Add him to the main tank and then get another couple of clowns.

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

Don't be discouraged. I'm 8 years into the hobby and just now learning the value of a QT -- watching my fish decay and die in the DT has been humbling and dissapointing. My point is, you're doing now what I should have been doing all along -- learning how to properly QT and thus make for a better DT.

I'm just as much a noob as anyone today. Set up my QT and hospital tanks...last night. Try, fail, learn, and succeed -- don't be discouraged, we all have to go through it.