Taking the Plunge
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
Aquarist007
New member
thanks and I'll send you some coral in return
timschmidt
Premium Member
Sounds like a frag swap waiting to happen. 
Schwe
New member
Bad news... it looks like my bad luck wasn't through with me yet.
I lost ALL of my fish in less than a week. The Kole had a touch of ich in the QT and was not happy in a 20G with a pair of clowns, so I added them to the tank in hopes of the ich being a stress-related thing. Well, he really rebounded and was looking wonderful. Then I added the pair of Cardinal's and things were still good. The Kole was a bit bossy for a couple of days but eventually everyone settled down. He even seemed to chum it up with all of the fish after a few days.
Then, one morning I noticed that although he was eating well and had a fat tummy, it seemed like his head was skinny? The next day after work he was dead. I also found one of the cardinals pressed against a rock from flow. I removed both of them.
The next day, the clowns were covered in the worst ich outbreak I have ever seen. They were WHITE and their fins tattered, the male clown looked like his skin was melting off of him. I started to setup a FW dip with ph buffer and a heater... I came back in the room and he was stuck to a powerhead, barely breathing. I pulled him out immediately and put him in the FW dip. He just lay there, then started to breathe easier. He flipped around a couple of times, but seemed to be feeling some sort of relief. I didn't want to stress him with the FW dip too much longer, and put him in the QT. He just lay there and I knew he wouldn't make it. I tried to catch the female but she evaded me.
The remaining cardinal seemed to be fine, but refused to eat.
Yesterday the clown was missing and I couldn't find her anywhere.
Last night the Cardinal was having trouble staying upright and really fighting the powerheads.
Today I found the clown floating near the overflow in middle stages of decay and flushed her. The cardinal is missing.
I don't know what the hell happened. It's like I had a strain of super-ich or something. Or some other aggressive disease.
Saying that I'm feeling dejected is an understatement. I think I'm going to leave the fish alone for a while and concentrate on my corals. They're happy as a pig in poop. Open, vibrant, and growing like crazy-- so I can't suspect water quality being an issue.
I've always wanted to take a conservative route in medication, not wanting to subject my fish to copper or other chemicals unnecessarily.
Well, this is just too much loss. When I decide to brave the waters of fish again, I am doing prophylactic copper treatments and extensive quarantine. School starts Wednesday and I don't need nor can handle the stress of this. Corals are much more forgiving at this point.
Before the power outage, I seemed to be one of the blessed ones-- now I stand among the ranks of the cursed.
I lost ALL of my fish in less than a week. The Kole had a touch of ich in the QT and was not happy in a 20G with a pair of clowns, so I added them to the tank in hopes of the ich being a stress-related thing. Well, he really rebounded and was looking wonderful. Then I added the pair of Cardinal's and things were still good. The Kole was a bit bossy for a couple of days but eventually everyone settled down. He even seemed to chum it up with all of the fish after a few days.
Then, one morning I noticed that although he was eating well and had a fat tummy, it seemed like his head was skinny? The next day after work he was dead. I also found one of the cardinals pressed against a rock from flow. I removed both of them.
The next day, the clowns were covered in the worst ich outbreak I have ever seen. They were WHITE and their fins tattered, the male clown looked like his skin was melting off of him. I started to setup a FW dip with ph buffer and a heater... I came back in the room and he was stuck to a powerhead, barely breathing. I pulled him out immediately and put him in the FW dip. He just lay there, then started to breathe easier. He flipped around a couple of times, but seemed to be feeling some sort of relief. I didn't want to stress him with the FW dip too much longer, and put him in the QT. He just lay there and I knew he wouldn't make it. I tried to catch the female but she evaded me.
The remaining cardinal seemed to be fine, but refused to eat.
Yesterday the clown was missing and I couldn't find her anywhere.
Last night the Cardinal was having trouble staying upright and really fighting the powerheads.
Today I found the clown floating near the overflow in middle stages of decay and flushed her. The cardinal is missing.
I don't know what the hell happened. It's like I had a strain of super-ich or something. Or some other aggressive disease.
Saying that I'm feeling dejected is an understatement. I think I'm going to leave the fish alone for a while and concentrate on my corals. They're happy as a pig in poop. Open, vibrant, and growing like crazy-- so I can't suspect water quality being an issue.
I've always wanted to take a conservative route in medication, not wanting to subject my fish to copper or other chemicals unnecessarily.
Well, this is just too much loss. When I decide to brave the waters of fish again, I am doing prophylactic copper treatments and extensive quarantine. School starts Wednesday and I don't need nor can handle the stress of this. Corals are much more forgiving at this point.
Before the power outage, I seemed to be one of the blessed ones-- now I stand among the ranks of the cursed.
otrlynn
Active member
Schwe, not much to say except than I'm so sorry about your fish. A break from fish will be a good thing for the tank. Six to eight weeks of it lying fallow should rid the tank of ich. You can use the time to concentrate on school and think about what fish to add when you are ready.
melev
Well-known member
I'm sorry to read about all of this. It seemed like everything had taken a turn for the better several weeks ago. It would be nice to know what spawned this situation.
It's a good sign that all the corals are fine. You better do an ammonia test on the tank due to the recent deaths. And plan on a water change.
It's a good sign that all the corals are fine. You better do an ammonia test on the tank due to the recent deaths. And plan on a water change.
Schwe
New member
Yeah, I have to pick up a new bucket of IO after work and get working on that. After the deaths and all of the nutrients in re water, my zoas have never looked happier and have doubled in size. I'm hoping they're sucking a bunch of bad joojoo out of the water until I can do that water change today or tomorrow.
maroun.c
New member
Verry sorry for your Losses.
As you say you don't like to go the chemical route subjecting your fish to unnecessary Copper... why not go for a Hypoosalinity for 4-5 weeks in Q tank for all new additions and then increase the salinity, observe the fish for 1 more week in Q tank and then transfer to DT. this has been my way of introducing fish to my tank mostly for Ich prone fish like tangs....
Problem is when you have one of those fish in your DT in your tank then I believe it's best to have all your new additional fish go through this treatment to avoid subjecting fish that had already passed the ciritical introduction period....
As you say you don't like to go the chemical route subjecting your fish to unnecessary Copper... why not go for a Hypoosalinity for 4-5 weeks in Q tank for all new additions and then increase the salinity, observe the fish for 1 more week in Q tank and then transfer to DT. this has been my way of introducing fish to my tank mostly for Ich prone fish like tangs....
Problem is when you have one of those fish in your DT in your tank then I believe it's best to have all your new additional fish go through this treatment to avoid subjecting fish that had already passed the ciritical introduction period....
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
I just got done reading the thread and must say you have an enormous amount of patience. I hope the reef takes a turn for the better soon and stays that way!
timschmidt
Premium Member
ouch...
Schwe
New member
Thanks, everyone. The tank is stable, it had a bit of an algae explosion and was a chia-pet reef for a couple of weeks. It is rebounding and looking great, now. I'm still afraid of getting any fish, though...
Some pictures:
Dinner Time
Lips
No fish = Pod explosion!
I think I also found a flatworm .. do you see it in the picture? Think that one will be a problem? I don' know where it even came from.
Also, when that last Cardinal went missing I thought it just fell into the abyss... but then found it a few days later; looking much like Marc's clownfish.
Some pictures:
Dinner Time
Lips
No fish = Pod explosion!
I think I also found a flatworm .. do you see it in the picture? Think that one will be a problem? I don' know where it even came from.
Also, when that last Cardinal went missing I thought it just fell into the abyss... but then found it a few days later; looking much like Marc's clownfish.
Tswifty
New member
I think I see a few of the Red Planaria in your 3rd picture. Siphoning them out with some airline tubing is probably the best course of action at this point. Also a Sixline wrasse could help pick them off. I wouldn't start worrying too much until you see their numbers start to increase.
When I had them, they were in my refugium... and I noticed them because they were in about a quarter sized grouping and pretty densely populated within that small area on the glass.
When I had them, they were in my refugium... and I noticed them because they were in about a quarter sized grouping and pretty densely populated within that small area on the glass.
Aquarist007
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14435497#post14435497 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Schwe
Thanks, everyone. The tank is stable, it had a bit of an algae explosion and was a chia-pet reef for a couple of weeks. It is rebounding and looking great, now. I'm still afraid of getting any fish, though...
Some pictures:
Dinner Time
Lips
No fish = Pod explosion!
I think I also found a flatworm .. do you see it in the picture? Think that one will be a problem? I don' know where it even came from.
Also, when that last Cardinal went missing I thought it just fell into the abyss... but then found it a few days later; looking much like Marc's clownfish.
IMO I would let the tank go fishless for the full 11 weeks before adding new fish.(11 weeks is the longest documented time ich has survived without fishaccording to Greenbean, a marine biologist and respected RC memeber)
Schwe
New member
Absolutely, Scott! I mean in general... I'm skeerd! :x I don't want more trajedy-- nor to flush hundreds of dollars down the toilet. Also, I don't know exactly what killed off all of my fish so quickly and I doubt it was just ich. My clowns survived 50 degree water in an ice storm and a previous ich battle, I can't believe they succumb to ich so quickly. That the ich was there I have no doubt, I just feel like there was something else in there that compromised the fish and then the ich took hold-- and they were too weak to deal with it.
Last edited:
timschmidt
Premium Member
Oodinium? Velvet disease? Nice polyp shots!
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