Fin/slime issue on QT'ed anthias

xDARKSIDEx · Dec 25, 2020

First, just want to thank everyone on this forum. I've been able to learn/resolve a lot of things over the years through the information shared on here. This is my first time posting for help.

I've got five 1.5-2" lyretail anthias going through QT. I'm doing the tank transfer method (thanks for sharing that info HumbleFish). They are in a 10 gal tank. I dose Amquel because the ammonia is getting higher than expected (unless API GC is in for flukes). I received the fish a week ago, on December 18. They have been transferred four times (once every 36 hours).

I didn't look at them closely under lights the first day because FedEx dropped the ball and I got them way later than I should have. I've been observing issues with some of the anthias' fins over the past few days. The anthias affected and the degree to which they are affected changes based on the day.

I first noticed some frayed fins. Since then, there's some slime coming off the fins (appears to only be coming off of the fin areas). Some days they look great and I don't really see any slime. Days like today, when I have GC in and no Amquel, it's more noticeable. They are not lethargic or breathing heavy, so I'm thinking it's not brook (got burned by that right out of the gate when I made the switch from freshwater to marine).

There's been no other noticeable symptoms. I was kind of coming to the conclusion that it was due to ammonia presence (highest measured was .5 ppm) and anthias bickering. I took some pics yesterday that revealed there might be some small (like only seen through phone magnification, then magnification of the image) bumps.

Anyways, take a look and let me know what you think:

Jay Hemdal · Dec 25, 2020

Ammonia is a huge issue during TTM. Housing 5 anthias in a 10 gallon is another byproduct of TTM. Another problem is that TTM doesn’t do anything for flukes (but your GC will help with that).
I guess all I’m seeing here is slime production from the ammonia, combined with some fin damage from fighting.
You may find that the Amquel doesn’t work as well on subsequent additions. I’m not sure why that happens, but water changes are a good way around that (but be aware that some brands of salt mix up with as high as 0.25 ppm ammonia due to contaminants in the salt...IO is one that does)
Jay

xDARKSIDEx · Dec 25, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
Ammonia is a huge issue during TTM. Housing 5 anthias in a 10 gallon is another byproduct of TTM. Another problem is that TTM doesn’t do anything for flukes (but your GC will help with that).
I guess all I’m seeing here is slime production from the ammonia, combined with some fin damage from fighting.
You may find that the Amquel doesn’t work as well on subsequent additions. I’m not sure why that happens, but water changes are a good way around that (but be aware that some brands of salt mix up with as high as 0.25 ppm ammonia due to contaminants in the salt...IO is one that does)
Jay

Merry Christmas, Jay. Thank you for the quick response. It’s my first time doing TTM. I thought it would take ammonia a little longer to rise and I’d be able to get around it with the frequent transfers. Still learning/tweaking.

I started doing water changes in between transfers. I don’t fully trust ammonia locks and know it’s a bandaid.

They had some slime on a couple fins this morning that was gone by noon when I brought my phone down to take pics.

Thanks for the heads up on the salt mixes producing ammonia. Totally forgot about that.

Looking forward to getting them out of TTM and into DT. Appreciate you lending your expertise.