I have plenty of koralia powerheads in my tank, I could probably use one of them to blow out the bodies. I was kind of hoping you responded with "the bodies are probably all eaten or gone," haha, it hurts to see all my fish dead :/. Thanks for all your input though, it's reassuring to have a gameplan and not just do things randomly.
Tank Crash need help
- Thread starter PeetaCS
- Start date
I have plenty of koralia powerheads in my tank, I could probably use one of them to blow out the bodies. I was kind of hoping you responded with "the bodies are probably all eaten or gone," haha, it hurts to see all my fish dead :/. Thanks for all your input though, it's reassuring to have a gameplan and not just do things randomly.
scooters reef
New member
I need to step out for a bit, and possibly for the evening, but I don't think anyone should be advising on a double dosage of anything until you have tested to see what you even have to work with. Personally, if ammonia is still there I'd stick with water changes and otherwise stick with the a normal dose of Prime. Monitor the ammonia and can add extra if/when needed. Still need to test.
Thanks,it's tough but that's the nature of the game right :/
How long does this prime last for in my water. IS it present in my tank until i add carbon?
The back of tje bottlr says for emergencies to detoxify nitries you can even quintuple the dose. For now ill test and if the ammonia is higher than .5 I might try double dosing with water changes.
Does anyone else have any input?
scooters reef
New member
You already have bacteria, and it's in overdrive trying to catch up. I don't think adding that is going to help you any. The new rock is now out, hopefully you can find and get other dead fish out, do water changes and use the Prime in the interim.
LOL, yes, I said I was out and will be, but others will always come by. Test the water and see how bad the issue is, THEN react. Water changes for sure, and can then decide how much Prime to use, How often you will be home to do small water changes could also change it because you need to keep that ammonia OUT, so may need more Prime if out for a bit. Still need to test, you can't just shotgun it with a gallon of Prime and hope for the best.
LOL, yes, I said I was out and will be, but others will always come by. Test the water and see how bad the issue is, THEN react. Water changes for sure, and can then decide how much Prime to use, How often you will be home to do small water changes could also change it because you need to keep that ammonia OUT, so may need more Prime if out for a bit. Still need to test, you can't just shotgun it with a gallon of Prime and hope for the best.
I dosed the recommended normal dose of Prime and did a 5 gallon water change. I'll just be doing a 10 gallon water change daily for a week and see if that helps.
By the time I got home my blue tang was lying on it's side and looking terrible. He's looking a bit better and he's moving a little bit but then he just goes back into his hiding hole in the rockwork with his face poking out. Hopefully he's still alive in the morning.
Tested the ammonia and it's inbetween .25 and .5
So update, by the tme I came home I guess the blue tang was too far gone. All off my remaining fish seem to be alright, the blue tang is just lying o it'/ side, discolored and just breathing. I did 4 seperate 5 gallon water changes. Ill be doing 4 more today and tomorrow. Fingers crossed my naso makes it. He's getting a bit skinnier but still fat nonetheless. Ive kept feeding to a bare minimum. Any more suggestions?
scooters reef
New member
Just don't forget the testing part, as often as possible. It would help you at the least know if it's still rising or finally dropping. Ammonia and nitrite both. With ammonia at somewhere between .25 and .5 I'd also likely be much more aggressive with the water changes and do some 20-30% at the least until solidly below .25 and then slow down, or use more of the detoxifier. Your tank is large and 5 gallons isn't going to do much. Do you have a QT tank you could get the blue tang moved to? Likely too late, but may be worth a shot. Otherwise, I was hoping others would come along and more input. It's pretty hard to make decisions for anyone and something like this I'd play from the gut, but based on very frequent testing to see what direction it's going. You MAY be past the hump and the system improving or could still be degrading. If it were me I'd certainly keep ammonia below .25 and start watching nitrites. As for food I don't think that little bit will make much of a difference in the grander scheme of things and would continue feeding if they will eat, obviously much less than you fed when the tank was more populated 
Sorry that does not follow. And does not exclude velvet or other bad things.
I had a lot of these fish for months, and all the fish I had were quarantined for at least 4 weeks and showed no sign of illness. All of a sudden they had rotting/torn fins and were discolored and lethargic after I added the rocks. I really doubt it was velvet or anything of the kind.
Don't have anything like that, only my sump and a 30 gallon uline barrel I'm using for water changes :/.
I cant seem to find the dead bodies and I'm really worrying. I don't know if it's because they're at the base of the rocks or maybe I'm just not seeing them but I think all of them have decomposed.
I think the water quality in my tank is still degrading though, my fish seem to be breathing really heavily. I've done a 30 gallon water change so far in the last day and I've dosed prime again. I think I noticed a red spot on my foxface, possibly an infected spot. I know Prime makes ammonia non lethal but does it still deteriorate the conditions of a fish's body? If so do you guys recommend I dose melafix at the same time to help make sure the fish don't die from infections/fin rot etc?
farfromsea
Active member
Prime won't stop the dead bodies from decomposing. Anyways the red spot on the fox face if present around the gills may be indicative of gill burn from ammonia in the water.
Get your fish out mix up some water bring it to temp and include an air stone or power head or something to aerate the water. If I were you I would look for a cooler or a random plastic container in the house or basement. Just clean it out and fill it up.
Sounds like you haven't tested so you don't know the ammonia level?
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Get your fish out mix up some water bring it to temp and include an air stone or power head or something to aerate the water. If I were you I would look for a cooler or a random plastic container in the house or basement. Just clean it out and fill it up.
Sounds like you haven't tested so you don't know the ammonia level?
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I bought most of my quarantined fish from a reputable seller who sells quarantined fish (Coppersafe for 4 weeks or chloroquine phosphate.) and I had two clownfish, a blenny that I quarantined in my old 90 gallon display tank when it was bare with no rocks/sand.
I put my dying blue tang in a 5 gallon bucket with brand new saltwater. If he's dead by morning, which I highly think he will then that's what was meant to happen:/.
I scoured my tank and I found no dead bodies so I'm 99% sure all the rotting bodies have completely disintegrated or been eaten so good news.
I don't really have the money to be spending on any more tanks, the upgrade I just did squeezed every last bit I had :/ All I have left is melafix, the prime I just bought and some bacteria. The only thing I can see myself buying is more emergency medication or some more salt.
So I couldn't sleep and I went downstairs to check on my blue tang and he seemed more active in my 5 gallon bucket of new salt water which was really reassuring but one of my foxface seems to be suffering from ammonia burning. I was thinking about tearing apart my tank, catching my fish and then selling them to people who can home them for the time being. They're extremely beautiful fish that mean a lot to me and I don't want to see them slowly waste away. I see them suffering and it seems like my water changes are barely making a dent in the ammonia. Every time I change the water the results barely budge.
Anyone know when my tank might restabilize? Should I just drain my tank completely and use new water, should I just rehome my fish or keep doing what I'm doing now.
Anyone know when my tank might restabilize? Should I just drain my tank completely and use new water, should I just rehome my fish or keep doing what I'm doing now.
