Can't Seem to Keep New Fish Alive in QT

[kempec98]

Hey all,

Well it's been a pretty aggravating year and a half for me with getting new fish. I have an established FOWLR tank for going on about 3 years now with 2 Pajama Cardinals and a decent size clean up crew. The main tank is not the problem, its my QT. I have not been able to keep fish alive in it for more than 2-4 weeks at a time. I had finally decided to drain, empty and thoroughly clean the tank (with CitriClean) and start from scratch. I ditch my old Aqueon HOB filter setup and replace it with a Seachem Tidal 35 HOB. Instead of going with a bare bottom this time, I opted to use CaribSea Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand, a couple of PVC joints and a live rock from my main tank. I did not add any nitrifying bacteria this go around as I wanted to use the live sand and rock to create that. I let the tank cycle for 6 weeks and tested the water after the 6 weeks (Nitrites: 0, Nitrates: 0, Ammonia: 0, Salinity: 1.025). Satisfied with the results, I purchased 2 clowns from my LFS and floated their bag for 15-20 minutes. After that I began to drip accumulate them for about 15-20 minutes. When that was done, I introduced them to the QT. Everything seemed fine with them for about 2 weeks and then I started to notice a little bit of labored breathing in both of them, nothing too excessive but was noticeable. They both had energy, were swimming around a lot, healthy appetite and doing clownfish things. I did the QT's first 10% water change 2 days ago (including vacuuming the sand bed). 2 days later (today) one of the clown's labored breathing really picked up and almost looked like it loss a lot of weight (zombie-ish) and looked faded. It was not swimming as well as it had been and was darting sporadically. It finally sank to the bottom and died. The other clown is fine, still swimming around and curious of things as well as still have it's appetite. This has been happening for sometime now when I get fish and put them in the QT and I really am at wit's end trying to figure it out. My water parameters for the QT are as follows:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 22ppb (Hanna ULR)
Nitrates: 1.8ppm (Hana HR)
PH : 6.8 (Hana)
Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 78 F

All saltwater and RO water is purchased from the same LFS I get my fish from.

I have also attached pictures of the current clown alive and post mortem. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

kempec98 Welcome to the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Forum!

The #fishmedic team and other knowledgeable members of our community will do our best to help you resolve your questions. Please provide as much of the following as you are able:

• Brief description of the issue you are observing and answers to the following questions:
  • How long have you had the fish with the condition?
  • Did you quarantine with medication when you first acquired the fish? (If Yes, which medication?)
• Current water quality measurements
• Clear photos of the issue taken using WHITE light and/or a short video of any behaviors (post in your response or on YouTube).

If you can help us by providing as much of the above info as possible, it will make diagnosing and providing recommendations for treatment MUCH easier! The Fish Medic team will get back to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, other members of our community may also share their experience with similar situations and advice that they may have regarding your situation.

You may also feel free to provide a more detailed description of the condition if you wish to share more info than the above list.

Additionally, these links may be useful while you await a response:

• CURRENT QT PROTOCOL LINK
• HOW TO ASK FOR DISEASE DIAGNOSIS HELP LINK

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey all,

Well it's been a pretty aggravating year and a half for me with getting new fish. I have an established FOWLR tank for going on about 3 years now with 2 Pajama Cardinals and a decent size clean up crew. The main tank is not the problem, its my QT. I have not been able to keep fish alive in it for more than 2-4 weeks at a time. I had finally decided to drain, empty and thoroughly clean the tank (with CitriClean) and start from scratch. I ditch my old Aqueon HOB filter setup and replace it with a Seachem Tidal 35 HOB. Instead of going with a bare bottom this time, I opted to use CaribSea Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand, a couple of PVC joints and a live rock from my main tank. I did not add any nitrifying bacteria this go around as I wanted to use the live sand and rock to create that. I let the tank cycle for 6 weeks and tested the water after the 6 weeks (Nitrites: 0, Nitrates: 0, Ammonia: 0, Salinity: 1.025). Satisfied with the results, I purchased 2 clowns from my LFS and floated their bag for 15-20 minutes. After that I began to drip accumulate them for about 15-20 minutes. When that was done, I introduced them to the QT. Everything seemed fine with them for about 2 weeks and then I started to notice a little bit of labored breathing in both of them, nothing too excessive but was noticeable. They both had energy, were swimming around a lot, healthy appetite and doing clownfish things. I did the QT's first 10% water change 2 days ago (including vacuuming the sand bed). 2 days later (today) one of the clown's labored breathing really picked up and almost looked like it loss a lot of weight (zombie-ish) and looked faded. It was not swimming as well as it had been and was darting sporadically. It finally sank to the bottom and died. The other clown is fine, still swimming around and curious of things as well as still have it's appetite. This has been happening for sometime now when I get fish and put them in the QT and I really am at wit's end trying to figure it out. My water parameters for the QT are as follows:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 22ppb (Hanna ULR)
Nitrates: 1.8ppm (Hana HR)
PH : 6.8 (Hana)
Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 78 F

All saltwater and RO water is purchased from the same LFS I get my fish from.

I have also attached pictures of the current clown alive and post mortem. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Pics are quite blurry to detect anything. Is your Tidal 35 being used with carbon?
Have you noticed fish fighting, as their tail damage suggest Possible aggression. I also see circular rings on body which may be previous stings or bites.
One of the clowns are thin in pics and what foods were you offering them?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet?

 

[JayM]

Is your QT medicated, or are you doing observation only? If medicated what are you using and how are you checking for proper dosage?

 

[kempec98]

Pics are quite blurry to detect anything. Is your Tidal 35 being used with carbon?
Have you noticed fish fighting, as their tail damage suggest Possible aggression. I also see circular rings on body which may be previous stings or bites.
One of the clowns are thin in pics and what foods were you offering them?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet?

Sorry for the poor pics, was the best I could do with the time I had with the guy before he expired.

The Tidal 35 is NOT using carbon.

No fish fighting was witness, just typical submission shaking.

The circular dots are body markings on both fish at the exact same location on both sides of both fish (body markings of the species???) Attached a picture of the species.

All the pictures are of the same clown, FYI. I am feeding the Sustainable Aquatics Dry Hatchery Diet pellets.

I use RODI water from the same LFS I got the fish from (same for the saltwater).

 

[kempec98]

Is your QT medicated, or are you doing observation only? If medicated what are you using and how are you checking for proper dosage?

No medication, just observing.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

No medication, just observing.

That is always a mistake unless you are prepared to medicate at the very first sign of any issue.….the fish have no protection from diseases they may pick up going through the supply chain. You should really just proactively treat all new fish for the common diseases. We discuss the method here:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[kempec98]

That is always a mistake unless you are prepared to medicate at the very first sign of any issue.….the fish have no protection from diseases they may pick up going through the supply chain. You should really just proactively treat all new fish for the common diseases. We discuss the method here:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

That's fair, I guess I just really need to be more proactive in that department.