Controlling water parameters while in Quarantine

[benjipang]

Hello all expert reefers:

 

I just lost a 1" Hippo Tang while in quarantine tank. I was devastated because it is the first fish I lost. I have been doing saltwater for 1.5 years and I have been extremely careful and slow with my hobby. I only added a clown and a six-line during these time with my 55g setup and I hate it when this third possible addition die on me. I research the QT process online and thought that I am doing the right thing too. So disappointed.

 

To help me understand what goes on, I want to describe what happened and see whether fellow hobbyist may shed a light on what I can do differently.

 

First, the QT setup. I have a 10 gallon clear storage bin. With a heater, air stone, a fake rock, couple of PVC, and a small piece of live rock from the display tank. Here are questions:

 

1) Anything that should not be there?

2) Air stone is used to water circulation. Will it do more harm than good?

3) Will the LR from DT do more harm than good? I use DT water for initial setup and should have min die off. But then will the different water chemistry cause it to die?

 

Second, the initial QT procedure. I setup the tank with DT water, Have the Tang drip acclimate when it arrive. Then I perform a 1.5 hours paragard dip. The dip is a minimal effort to kill off some parasite and bacteria before going to the QT.

 

1) Anything that you would have done differently?

 

Then, my regular QT maintenance involves: A) 15% daily water change using DT water, B) standard dose of Amquel (so that I don't have Ammonia spike), and C) Standard dose of Kordon's "Ick Attack". I know the Ick Attack maybe nothing but snake oil, but then it is not harmful to fish and I am thinking why not. Since my QT is new, I use Amquel to control cycling (I only plan to QT for 3 weeks).

 

1) Anything wrong with regular maint. steps?

2) Would you use new water vs. DT tank for daily water change?

 

Lastly, any improvement that you would recommend? I am thinking of using a Eheim ECCO that I purchase instead of air stone next time (with nothing but a sponge filter). Will it make the QT better?

 

I know it is a long post. I am writing partly to vent my frustration and partly wanting to know how you do it. I know QT tank is a must but it is a great pain trying to manage a small tank that is new (and prone to cycling and sudden change in water parameter). Thank you guys.

[F&Fmgr]

how long did you have the fish in QT before it died?

 

For future reference, I wouldn't ever dip a fish right after acclimation that has been in transit for longer than a couple hours. After you did the 1.5 hour dip did you re-acclimate? If the pH and temp changed in the dip water during that period, then the fish may have died from shock.

 

IME if you use preventative chemical dips on newly arrived specimens that have been in transit for a while, you will lose a decent amount of fish. their gill tissue is almost always irritated from NH4 in the bag water. A dip, the day after acclimation will allow the fish to.... ACCLIMATE.

[benjipang]

The Tang die in day 9 of QT

[F&Fmgr]

was it eating?

any external marks?

Mouth open when it died?

gill flaps flared when it died?

swimming normally?

did it die in the morning, day or night?

were you monitering ammonia?

were you monitering Salinity and alk?

 

All that said i think you would be much better off with at least mechanical filtration, or even better mech and bio. I wouldn't use LR because of the possibility of having to medicate the tank. sponges work well to have to make sure to rinse them tho. Hagen biomax or Eheim substrat are fantastic bio bedia made from quartz/glass so they are fine to use with pretty much any meds

 

hope that helps

Sean

[benjipang]

- It was eating until day 9 (mainly algae and occasional brine shrimp)

- No external mark (although I have to say I see him scratching a couple of time)

- Mouth was open when it die. Actually the dying process took the whole day from the morning to night. When I observe that it is not eating, I did a 50% water change.

- No gill flaps flare that I can observe.

- I monitor Ammonia everyday and it did not spike (partly because I put std dose of amquel everyday to control). Interestingly, I was never able to bring Nitrate down to 0 (it was at around 20-40ppm). I suspect the nitrate is coming from the fact that I use DT water. Tang die due to nitrate poisoning?

- I monitor the salinity using a refractometer everyday and it is okay. I did not check alk though. Should I?

 

My hypothesis so far is nitrate poisoning because it is the only thing I cannot control (and being elevated). It could also die due to parasite (because of the "scratching" I observed), but it does not have visible symptom.

[hypertech]

FWIW, losses are generally very high with small hippo tangs. You can do everything right and still lose them pretty easy. You are much better off getting them in the 3"+ range.