Trouble with quarantine

[ntropics]

Is it me, or do people frequently find that fish die early in in quarantine? I set up a thirty gallon quarantine with live rock and sock filter. I noticed if fish can get through the first week, they will usually be fine. But all too often I get a fish, match the specific gravity, do a half hour or more bag float, and a quick acclimation to avoid toxin buildup.

The next day the fish looks unlikely to survive another day, and sure enough dies. This seems to be more of a problem with fish bought online rather than through local fish store, but unfortunately, online source is the only source for some of these fish. I exclusively buy from Live Aquaria, by the way. Is the trip by FedEx just too jarring on the fish?

It doesn't matter if my ammonia is zero, and other parameters perfect as well. In fact, I just took an Auriga butterfly out of quarantine after five weeks, and he did just fine, after purchasing from the local shop.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or thoughts on this? Just so you know, I've been doing FOWLR and reef tanks for eleven years. This has been an ongoing problem. Once fish are in the main tank there is very rarely an issue.

Thanks
Bruce
200 gallon "reefish" tank

 

[Four drachma]

I completely agree, I think different tank environments the fish goes through as it's delivered is definitely stressful for all fish. There's no telling what chemicals they're subjected to during the process.

I eventually set up a 90 gallon refugium that had an oversized in line UV sterilizer connected to the overflow. This tank was connected to the same sump as my 400 gallon display tank.

I still lost fish occasionally but it occurred very rarely. One such fish was my favorite, a Flame Angel. I had about given up after loosing 4 over a 5 year period. Using the refugium, I finally got one to survive, and still have him today.

I still think some fish are , "œdead fish swimming "œ... and nothing you do can save them. Some fish are also just stress out very easily, like powder blues and browns, and Achilles Tangs, and are just difficult to keep alive. I believe others however just need some consistent established water and algae on rocks to nibble on until they're comfortable eating and eventually surviving.

[emoji2373]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Michael Hoaster]

QTs can become death traps if you skip steps. You have to bleach disinfect everything wet between treatments. Uronema is an ailment that kills fish quickly-like in 1-2 days. If you don't have the proper meds on hand to treat immediately its too late. It does not require a fish host, so if you've ever had it, you still do.

To reduce stress in QT, add a little sand and a few macro algae. These will also help with filtration. Also only one fish per tank. That way the fish can settle in un-harassed, and can eat all it wants.

After receiving more DOAs and near-death fish than I can count, I gave up on Live Aquaria for fish. It was terrible, but the one good thing that came out of it was that I finally got serious about doing proper QT. I upped my game and became much more successful keeping new fish alive.

 

[wrott]

If you get close to matching SG, you can add fish directly after opening bag.
Add fish immediately after 15/min of floating with bag still sealed. Use a hypo to check SG.
If you have the QT at 1.020-1.023 SG you will be ok from LA. DD 1.025 SG.S

And always pick up fish from FedEx or UPS facility at 8am.