Are my fish sick and if so, what is it??

[alabella1]

Swung by my LFS and grabbed some ammo to fight this war

 

[alabella1]

It was absolute chaos and I had to take almost everything out of the DT but all fish are now in their shiny new QT tank. They ate and got their copper. Let's hope they all start feeling better soon. The winner of hardest fish to catch of the day goes to the chromis. I bet on the shrimp goby because he is so dang fast but it was the goby, then the firefish and finally the chromis. I basically just chucked everything back into the tank. I didn't feel like trying to re-scape now. The chase after 12 fish was exhausting. I'll likely re-scape tomorrow after the dust settles.

#fishmedic - I added the copper. My LFS also gave me Fritz paracleanse and said it could be used at the same time. True or should I wait on it?

 

[alabella1]

In other news, while at my LFS yesterday I saw this sweet Aquavim Corner tank - 150gallon. I am really thinking about upgrading to it and selling off my old tank. At this point I've pretty much outgrown this thing and I want something with a proper sump, fuge, skimmer, etc.

Here's a pic of it.

 

[Sharkbait19]

It was absolute chaos and I had to take almost everything out of the DT but all fish are now in their shiny new QT tank. They ate and got their copper. Let's hope they all start feeling better soon. The winner of hardest fish to catch of the day goes to the chromis. I bet on the shrimp goby because he is so dang fast but it was the goby, then the firefish and finally the chromis. I basically just chucked everything back into the tank. I didn't feel like trying to re-scape now. The chase after 12 fish was exhausting. I'll likely re-scape tomorrow after the dust settles.

#fishmedic - I added the copper. My LFS also gave me Fritz paracleanse and said it could be used at the same time. True or should I wait on it?

To be safe I’d go separate.

 

[alabella1]

To be safe I’d go separate.

So following Jay's guide, wait until day 35 for the paracleanse, right? That is what I will do then!!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So following Jay's guide, wait until day 35 for the paracleanse, right? That is what I will do then!!

I would dose the paracleanse later on, but it is essentially the same as General Cure, and people have mixed that and copper power at the same time…
Jay

 

[threebuoys]

great job with your QT setup.

And that is a NICE tank you are considering. Wish I had a place for something like that.

 

[alabella1]

great job with your QT setup.

And that is a NICE tank you are considering. Wish I had a place for something like that.

Thanks. The funny part is that since it's a corner tank, it's footprint is almost the same as my current tank. I'm using all the wasted space in the corner behind my current tank and it's maybe a foot or less taller. Getting an amazing deal on the tank too.

 

[alabella1]

Saturday and Sunday went well. I did a 25% water change last night and pumped 25% of my DT water into the QT. Should I start using fresh-made saltwater instead? I am still seeing ammonia and I don't know if I'm colorblind or what, but this color doesn't appear to match the chart. Might be time for a hannah checker. This morning I woke up to a dead chromis and within a couple hours found my clownfish dead as well. And then there were 10. This is absolutely killing me.

What can I do to better control this Ammonia? I did one bottle of Dr Tim's one and only up front, used a small rock from my DT and used only water from my DT.

#fishmedic

 

[Sharkbait19]

Keep up the water changes. I’d use fresh salt water.
Api ammonia test measures both toxic and non toxic ammonia and is prone to misreads. Either way that’s definitely high. Try doing the test again, make sure to really shake up both bottles beforehand.
Get copper up to 2.5 ppm, it’s possible the fish are still dying from disease rather than ammonia (check for red gills and fast breathing). Increase aeration in the tank.

 

[alabella1]

Keep up the water changes. I’d use fresh salt water.
Api ammonia test measures both toxic and non toxic ammonia and is prone to misreads. Either way that’s definitely high. Try doing the test again, make sure to really shake up both bottles beforehand.
Get copper up to 2.5 ppm, it’s possible the fish are still dying from disease rather than ammonia (check for red gills and fast breathing). Increase aeration in the tank.

Is there a better Ammonia test I can grab? I also have the little ammonia sensor suction cupped inside the tank. It's between yellow and green atm, not fully green. The copper, I've added quite a bit over the past 3 days. I'm going to get the hanna test because I don't want to overdose. The chromis was red on his side... Here's pix of both of them. I have the air stone going in there, how high should i set it?

#fishmedic

 

[Sharkbait19]

Salifert or hanna is better for ammonia.
Hard to tell with the clown out of water.
The chromis had uronema, it’s very common in chromis and anthias, as well as some wrasses. It is very lethal with no cure, but it typically doesn’t spread much. Nothing you could have done for it.

 

[alabella1]

Salifert or hanna is better for ammonia.
Hard to tell with the clown out of water.
The chromis had uronema, it’s very common in chromis and anthias, as well as some wrasses. It is very lethal with no cure, but it typically doesn’t spread much. Nothing you could have done for it.

How large of water changes should I be doing and how often? Should I be worried about the copper level with the frequent changes? I want to do my best to try to keep it in the therapeutic range.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Copper should be redosed according to how much water was taken out.
That’s really the tough part of qt, maintaining everything at once.
Usually big changes are best for ammonia, but that’s a lot harder to do in salt vs fresh.
Something like 20% can help.
I’d also transfer media over from the dt, though it wouldn’t be able to go back in (unless seriously cleaned out).
@Jay Hemdal and @vetteguy53081 will have much more firsthand experience than I here.

As for the airstone, I’d just bring it up to the highest power so long as it doesn’t adversely affect the fish.

 

[threebuoys]

I agree with the advice @Sharkbait19 is giving you. I remain concerned about ammonia. A 25% water change with freshly mixed saltwater will not be enough if you are at toxic levels. I would not move water from your display tank at this point unless you know without a doubt that water is safe. Bacteria in a Bottle products take time to work. You cannot depend on them if your water is already toxic. My experience is about 4 days minimum. Of course, if you are changing water, you are also removing the bacteria and copper in the water column. Nitrifying bacteria adheres to the surfaces in the tank and grows in density, but that takes time.

Salifert or hanna or red sea are more reliable and easier to use than API. I personally do not like the Seachem ammonia test kit either.

Hang in there.

 

[alabella1]

I agree with the advice @Sharkbait19 is giving you. I remain concerned about ammonia. A 25% water change with freshly mixed saltwater will not be enough if you are at toxic levels. I would not move water from your display tank at this point unless you know without a doubt that water is safe. Bacteria in a Bottle products take time to work. You cannot depend on them if your water is already toxic. My experience is about 4 days minimum. Of course, if you are changing water, you are also removing the bacteria and copper in the water column. Nitrifying bacteria adheres to the surfaces in the tank and grows in density, but that takes time.

Salifert or hanna or red sea are more reliable and easier to use than API. I personally do not like the Seachem ammonia test kit either.

Hang in there.

What in my DT is great. Everything in there is healthy and thriving. I'll do some clean changes and keep an eye on things.

 

[alabella1]

I agree with the advice @Sharkbait19 is giving you. I remain concerned about ammonia. A 25% water change with freshly mixed saltwater will not be enough if you are at toxic levels. I would not move water from your display tank at this point unless you know without a doubt that water is safe. Bacteria in a Bottle products take time to work. You cannot depend on them if your water is already toxic. My experience is about 4 days minimum. Of course, if you are changing water, you are also removing the bacteria and copper in the water column. Nitrifying bacteria adheres to the surfaces in the tank and grows in density, but that takes time.

Salifert or hanna or red sea are more reliable and easier to use than API. I personally do not like the Seachem ammonia test kit either.

Hang in there.

Also, should I be purchasing more bacteria in a bottle to add? Which is best??

 

[Sharkbait19]

What in my DT is great. Everything in there is healthy and thriving. I'll do some clean changes and keep an eye on things.

It’s less about dt params and more about there still being a disease load in the tank.

 

[threebuoys]

Just make sure no ammonia in DT water before you move it.

Different Bacteria in a Bottle products attract different hobbyists. The only time I've used it is when I ran a test to see if it worked. I tend to be a "doubting Thomas" on products of this nature. My tests were not nearly as thorough an disciplined as some others have conducted. However, I found birospira and Bacter 7 both took about 4 days before ammonia was properly cycled. Some other did not work in 2 weeks.

 

[alabella1]

No one died today, so that's nice. I got my Salifert ammonia kit and my hanna copper. Ammonia looks like nothin. Copper looks a little high at 2.93. So that API test clearly just sucked. Is 2.93 bad or will it go away with another WC or two? I've been doing one 25% WC per day so far. This guy is not looking so hot.

#fishmedic