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- Oct 17, 2018
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Hi all,
Brand new saltwater aquarist here. Did my homework by watching the BRS160 videos twice, most of the other BRS videos and read these forums for 3 months before building my 40B tank. This is the story on how I lost 2 clownfish in QT and I can't figure out why. These were my first two saltwater fish and until I find the root cause, I don't have the heart to try again
QT Equipment:
- 10G glass tank. Used to be a freshwater tank but washed with vinegar, rinsed in tap, dried for 3 months. Then before setting it up, washed and rinsed with RO/DI
- Fluval/Aquaclear HOB filter with sponge only. All brand new and rinsed with RO/DI
- 2 caps of Tim's one and only nitrifying bacteria.
- Koralia nano 240 gph. Rinsed in RO/DI, Ran in an RO/DI bucker for 30 mins, rinsed again
- Aqueon 10W heater. Previously used in freshwater but cleaned in the same manner as the tank
- Small digital thermometer probe. Was accurate to 0.5f it seems when I tested it against my Hana NIST thermometer
- HW Marinemix (fresh batch) prepared in a grey Brute 32G contained that has been rinsed and cleaned many times with RO/DI
- 2X2" PVC elbows. Cleaned with vinegar, rinsed with rap, then 2x RO/DI
- Seachem Ammonia Alert, just in case. Rinsed in RO/DI
- That's it. Bare bottom, cover on the tank, lights off.
QT Setup:
Tank was setup, heated and had the bacteria were added. 24 hours later I added 20 drops of "Drtim'S Aquatics Ammonium Chloride" and brought the ammonia concentration to around 1ppm (Tested with RedSea). Ammonia was gone in 2 days. Did a 25% water change. Left the tank running with everything on for a week. LFS has tanks at 1.025 and the QT matches this.
Fish purchase and acclimation 12/15
- Purchased 2 small ocellaris clownfish from a very reputable LFS. They ate well at the LFS and were bagged with 1 gallon of water. Drive home was 35 minutes and I set the car to 78F out of an abundance of caution.
- On the advice of the LFS, added below-therapeutic levels of copper to the QT tank before acclimation so they slow acclimate. 5 drops of Cuprion and tested a concentration of 0.1ppm via Seachem Multi-kit.
- Started drip acclimation with a rinsed Innovative marine drip kit. Flow was about 4 drops/sec.
- After the volume doubled, I removed 1/2 of the water and noticed it was a bit cooler than the QT tank water so I moved the 10W heater from the QT tank to the bucket and restarted the drip
- 10 minutes before ending the drip, I moved the heater back to the QT tank
- I netted both fish and released them in the QT
Feeding time
- Cut a cube of Hikari frozen mysis shrimp in half, let it defrost 10 mins in a bit of QT water
- Used a turkey baster to release just a little bit. The fish were taking a bite but not really eating. After 2 minutes, they were done and I threw the rest of the shrimps away.
Next morning 12/16
- One fish is doing well and the other one is relaxing at the bottom. I read forums and it seems to be normal for new fish. Kept the lights off and checked parameters. 0 across the board, PH of 8, salinity 1.025
Afternoon
- One fish is dead, the other one is breathing fast at the bottom. I realize there's something wrong with the water (Copper, something else? I don't know). I take the acclimation bucket from yesterday, use saltwater I had mixed the day before from the Brute 32g container and heat it up to 77.6F, same temperature as the QT. Added an air stone set to intermittent. Netted the fish from the QT to the acclimation bucket.
- Video taken when the 1st fish died.
Testing the QT
- Ammonia: 0 (Tested with Red Sea, also used the Seachem decal AND tetra test strips because I had them around)
- Nitrite: 0 (Red Sea and tetra strips)
- Nitrate: 2ppm or below (Redsea had a tiny pink hue so anything between 0.1 and 2. No color change on the tetra strip)
- PH: 8 on the API salt water master kit and around 8 on a tetra strip (I don't have a PH kit from RedSea, my DT has both the SenEye and a calibrated Neptune)
- Phosphate: 0 (Hanna LR checker)
- Temperature 77.6F (Hanna NST traceable probe)
- Salinity 1.025 (Milwaukee, zero'd with RO/DI, checked against reference solution as well)
- Alkalinity 8.9kDH (Hanna)
Rebuilding the QT evening
- While the little guy was in the 3G bucket with an air stone and a heater
- Tore down the QT, washed all parts disassembled with diluted vinegar, rinsed thoroughly with warm freshwater.
- 2x Rinse of everything with RO/DI
- Wipe down everything with kitchen paper.
- Mixed a new batch of 1.025 salt in a different reef container rinsed with RO/DI
- Re-assembled the QT tank with everything that was used previously, all dried. Hands rinsed with RO/DI
- Heated the saltwater with a 150W heater + the 10W heater
- While the QT is heating, checked ammonia in the 3g bucket. 0ppm
- Once the QT is ready, removed the 150W heater, tested PH (8), copper (0), ammonia/nitrite/nitrate (0) and temperature for both the 3g container and the QT. All matched
- Netted the fish from the 3g container to the QT. QT now consists of: 10g tank, HOB filter with new sponge, 10W heater, 1 2" PVC elbow, NO POWERHEAD (Maybe he got tired of the current?), Left about 2 inch between the hob water return and the surface to create water movement.
- Seemed to do better albeit staying mostly in the bottom 10% of the tank
- Did not feed (Fish was not in the mood, was fed 12/15 at the LFS and 12/15 at night a tiny bit of mysis shrimps)
- Went to bed
This morning 12/17 around 7:30am
- Fish seems to be doing better, swims around but reaches for the top of the water.
- Added new stone with new tubing rinsed in RO/DI to tank, set to interval mode to make sure the water has plenty of oxygen
- Tested ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (0,0,0). Copper was also 0. Temperature 77.7F
- Went to work
Later this morning 10:00am
- Wife lets me know that the fish seems to be doing better, swimming around
Death 12:00
- Got a text from my wife. Fish is on its side, motionless. Not breathing and "dead eyes".
Pretty devastated in my failed attempt to keep hardy fish alive for 2 days I tried to do everything by the book, nothing touched the tank before being rinsed with RO/DI, did all the testing. The only thing on my mind is the copper from day 0 but surely 0.1ppm would not have killed 2 fish? I think I got quality fish from the LFS so something I did killed them and I can't find what is it.
Brand new saltwater aquarist here. Did my homework by watching the BRS160 videos twice, most of the other BRS videos and read these forums for 3 months before building my 40B tank. This is the story on how I lost 2 clownfish in QT and I can't figure out why. These were my first two saltwater fish and until I find the root cause, I don't have the heart to try again
QT Equipment:
- 10G glass tank. Used to be a freshwater tank but washed with vinegar, rinsed in tap, dried for 3 months. Then before setting it up, washed and rinsed with RO/DI
- Fluval/Aquaclear HOB filter with sponge only. All brand new and rinsed with RO/DI
- 2 caps of Tim's one and only nitrifying bacteria.
- Koralia nano 240 gph. Rinsed in RO/DI, Ran in an RO/DI bucker for 30 mins, rinsed again
- Aqueon 10W heater. Previously used in freshwater but cleaned in the same manner as the tank
- Small digital thermometer probe. Was accurate to 0.5f it seems when I tested it against my Hana NIST thermometer
- HW Marinemix (fresh batch) prepared in a grey Brute 32G contained that has been rinsed and cleaned many times with RO/DI
- 2X2" PVC elbows. Cleaned with vinegar, rinsed with rap, then 2x RO/DI
- Seachem Ammonia Alert, just in case. Rinsed in RO/DI
- That's it. Bare bottom, cover on the tank, lights off.
QT Setup:
Tank was setup, heated and had the bacteria were added. 24 hours later I added 20 drops of "Drtim'S Aquatics Ammonium Chloride" and brought the ammonia concentration to around 1ppm (Tested with RedSea). Ammonia was gone in 2 days. Did a 25% water change. Left the tank running with everything on for a week. LFS has tanks at 1.025 and the QT matches this.
Fish purchase and acclimation 12/15
- Purchased 2 small ocellaris clownfish from a very reputable LFS. They ate well at the LFS and were bagged with 1 gallon of water. Drive home was 35 minutes and I set the car to 78F out of an abundance of caution.
- On the advice of the LFS, added below-therapeutic levels of copper to the QT tank before acclimation so they slow acclimate. 5 drops of Cuprion and tested a concentration of 0.1ppm via Seachem Multi-kit.
- Started drip acclimation with a rinsed Innovative marine drip kit. Flow was about 4 drops/sec.
- After the volume doubled, I removed 1/2 of the water and noticed it was a bit cooler than the QT tank water so I moved the 10W heater from the QT tank to the bucket and restarted the drip
- 10 minutes before ending the drip, I moved the heater back to the QT tank
- I netted both fish and released them in the QT
Feeding time
- Cut a cube of Hikari frozen mysis shrimp in half, let it defrost 10 mins in a bit of QT water
- Used a turkey baster to release just a little bit. The fish were taking a bite but not really eating. After 2 minutes, they were done and I threw the rest of the shrimps away.
Next morning 12/16
- One fish is doing well and the other one is relaxing at the bottom. I read forums and it seems to be normal for new fish. Kept the lights off and checked parameters. 0 across the board, PH of 8, salinity 1.025
Afternoon
- One fish is dead, the other one is breathing fast at the bottom. I realize there's something wrong with the water (Copper, something else? I don't know). I take the acclimation bucket from yesterday, use saltwater I had mixed the day before from the Brute 32g container and heat it up to 77.6F, same temperature as the QT. Added an air stone set to intermittent. Netted the fish from the QT to the acclimation bucket.
- Video taken when the 1st fish died.
Testing the QT
- Ammonia: 0 (Tested with Red Sea, also used the Seachem decal AND tetra test strips because I had them around)
- Nitrite: 0 (Red Sea and tetra strips)
- Nitrate: 2ppm or below (Redsea had a tiny pink hue so anything between 0.1 and 2. No color change on the tetra strip)
- PH: 8 on the API salt water master kit and around 8 on a tetra strip (I don't have a PH kit from RedSea, my DT has both the SenEye and a calibrated Neptune)
- Phosphate: 0 (Hanna LR checker)
- Temperature 77.6F (Hanna NST traceable probe)
- Salinity 1.025 (Milwaukee, zero'd with RO/DI, checked against reference solution as well)
- Alkalinity 8.9kDH (Hanna)
Rebuilding the QT evening
- While the little guy was in the 3G bucket with an air stone and a heater
- Tore down the QT, washed all parts disassembled with diluted vinegar, rinsed thoroughly with warm freshwater.
- 2x Rinse of everything with RO/DI
- Wipe down everything with kitchen paper.
- Mixed a new batch of 1.025 salt in a different reef container rinsed with RO/DI
- Re-assembled the QT tank with everything that was used previously, all dried. Hands rinsed with RO/DI
- Heated the saltwater with a 150W heater + the 10W heater
- While the QT is heating, checked ammonia in the 3g bucket. 0ppm
- Once the QT is ready, removed the 150W heater, tested PH (8), copper (0), ammonia/nitrite/nitrate (0) and temperature for both the 3g container and the QT. All matched
- Netted the fish from the 3g container to the QT. QT now consists of: 10g tank, HOB filter with new sponge, 10W heater, 1 2" PVC elbow, NO POWERHEAD (Maybe he got tired of the current?), Left about 2 inch between the hob water return and the surface to create water movement.
- Seemed to do better albeit staying mostly in the bottom 10% of the tank
- Did not feed (Fish was not in the mood, was fed 12/15 at the LFS and 12/15 at night a tiny bit of mysis shrimps)
- Went to bed
This morning 12/17 around 7:30am
- Fish seems to be doing better, swims around but reaches for the top of the water.
- Added new stone with new tubing rinsed in RO/DI to tank, set to interval mode to make sure the water has plenty of oxygen
- Tested ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (0,0,0). Copper was also 0. Temperature 77.7F
- Went to work
Later this morning 10:00am
- Wife lets me know that the fish seems to be doing better, swimming around
Death 12:00
- Got a text from my wife. Fish is on its side, motionless. Not breathing and "dead eyes".
Pretty devastated in my failed attempt to keep hardy fish alive for 2 days I tried to do everything by the book, nothing touched the tank before being rinsed with RO/DI, did all the testing. The only thing on my mind is the copper from day 0 but surely 0.1ppm would not have killed 2 fish? I think I got quality fish from the LFS so something I did killed them and I can't find what is it.