Fish dying in quarantine

Kmsutows · Oct 12, 2018

Then again, I dont QT and this is why. I feel a lot of people kill fish in QT that wouldn't have died in the display. You just have to be ready if something does make it's way to the display. Like an oversized UV or other mechanism

PapaWhisky · Oct 12, 2018

Please read and follow this: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-properly-quarantine-fish.170878/

Tear down your QT tank, bleach it, refill with freshly made salt water, get a HOB filter and don't reuse any of your stones/filter material from earlier.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I follow the above procedure and have had zero fatalities.

Lizfrank1234 · Oct 12, 2018

Hello PapaWhiskey,i set up the quarantine tank by following the instructions on here from a well known member. If you go back and read my posts,you will see that after the first fishes died,i did strip down my tank,cleaned it all with vinegar and used different air stones and filter media. I have an internal filter in the tank so pretty much everything you have suggested except i used water from my Big tank instead of fresh saltwater which i am sure is ok as there are things living quite happily in there. I think that there is more likely a problem with my acclimating than a problem with the way my Qt is set up and as far as i know, i am not quite insane yet but hats off to you for your zero fatalities.

Lizfrank1234 · Oct 14, 2018

Well i am pleased to say that the Starry Blenny is still with us. He has been eating really well and is pretty active. This morning when i was feeding him, he flicked himself off the tank a few times so i dosed the tank with Prazipro which i was intending to do anyway as soon as i was confident that he looked ok. So,fingers crossed!

Rcpilot · Oct 14, 2018

Where did the QT tank come from? Was it purchased new? Could be there is a chemical in the silicone from a previous owner, if purchased used.

Have you placed a coral in this QT tank to see if it will survive? Maybe a small frag that is currently healthy... see if it will survive? Does the QT have enough light to even do that? I know some people run minimal lights on a fish-only QT.

Just some thoughts. Hope you find the answers soon. So sad for you two.

Lizfrank1234 · Oct 15, 2018

Hello Rcpilot, the qt tank was purchased new,in fact we purchased two the same and set one up as a fish qt and one as a coral/invert qt. The coral one has a prime hd light and the fish one has a hood with a led built in. The coral tank has frags and inverts living quite happily in it,frags are growing new heads etc,its just the fish one,thanks

Rcpilot · Oct 15, 2018

Lizfrank1234 said:
Hello Rcpilot, the qt tank was purchased new,in fact we purchased two the same and set one up as a fish qt and one as a coral/invert qt. The coral one has a prime hd light and the fish one has a hood with a led built in. The coral tank has frags and inverts living quite happily in it,frags are growing new heads etc,its just the fish one,thanks

Sounds good.

I looked back and read my 1st post to you. I apologize for not being clear on my thought process.

You have a healthy coral QT. You have corals living in there right now, I'm assuming. If not - you've had corals or frags living in there and prooved the system is healthy.

Have you tried to place a small, cheap coral frag in the fish QT? Take a frag out of the coral QT and place it in the fish QT.

Have you tried to place an invert in the fish QT? Take a snail from your display or frag QT and put it in the fish QT.

If an invert and a coral can survive in the fish QT - that would make me look more at the fish as the source of disease/death -- rather than your setup or methods. It sounds like your QT is set up okay.

If you don't have any corals currently living in the coral QT -- then I'd start there. Get a couple small frags and put them into coral QT -- to prove once again that is is healthy and the corals will thrive. After you feel confident the corals are thriving in the coral QT (couple weeks? couple months?) -- acclimate them and move them to the fish QT. If they survive - I'd think the fish you're buying are already sick or dying before being placed in your system.

artieg1 · Oct 15, 2018

In my experience, you just get better at QT with practice. But there's no way I will ever put a fish in my DT again without full QT protocol. Also, for what it is worth, I have better QT results using fresh saltwater rather than reused DT water. I know it should not make a difference, but there you have it.

Lizfrank1234 · Oct 15, 2018

Thanks for the advice Rcpilot and artieg1. I do have corals living in the other qt tank but also my starry blenny is looking ok in the fish qt. I am going to wait and see how he goes as he is in his first round of Prazi now. I think thats a good idea though if the blenny wasnt in there. I totally agree artieg1 about never putting a fish in my DT without QT. Its taken us a long time to set this tank up and we have left it running/cycling for over six months so really want it to be right,thanks

Lizfrank1234 · Oct 31, 2018

Hello, i just thought i would post an update. The Starry has had two rounds of Prazipro with a week inbetween. I ran carbon in the filter for 24 hours then started dosing Cupramine. The instructions say to use 20 drops per 40 litres,then again after 48 hours. As i am dosing roughly 55 to 60 litres,it worked out at 30 drops plus 30 drops so 60 drops in total. I decided to spread the 60 drops over 7-8 days so thought i would dose 8 drops per day and in the mean time ordered the Hanna copper checker. I dosed 8 drops for the first 3 days without and ill effects to the Starry which is still eating fine. The Hanna arrived today(3rd day) and i checked the level before which is already at 0.28ppm. So very glad i bought the Hanna because going by the Cupramine suggested dose it would have been way above thr desired 0.5ppm. I will cut back on the amount of drops added daily and slowly raise to 0.5ppm over the next 4-5 days and then fingers crossed for 30 days. Thanks

Lizfrank1234 · Nov 28, 2018

Hello,well the Starry Blenny is still with us and going strong at the moment,feeding well and active etc. On Monday coming,the 3rd,he will have had 30 days of Cupramine after having 2 rounds of Prazipro so i have all my fingers firmly crossed for him and hopefully he will make it as the first fish to go into the display tank. He is about an inch and a half and the tank is 8 feet so i will probably never see him! We have a Royal Gramma,a Suntail Goby and a pair of Common Clowns reserved to try next if he makes it through. I can highly recommend the Hanna Copper Checker,it has been invaluable in getting the Cupramine to 0.5ppm and checking/keeping it there,dont know where we would have been without it,thanks for all the advice

Lizfrank1234 · Dec 17, 2018

Hello,just a quick update. The Starry Blenny has now been in the DT for a fortnight,eating like a pig and growing well. He grazes on algae all day long,only taking a break to eat the frozen foods! We matched the salinity in the QT to the LFS this time and for the last week we have had a pair of Ocellaris clowns,a Royal Gramms and a Suntail Goby in QT. They are all feeding really well on frozen brine with garlic and added Selcon. They are midway through their first dose of Prazipro at the minute and seem good so fingers crossed that all goes well.Thanks

Lizfrank1234 · Feb 4, 2019

Here we go,the highs and lows of reefkeeping. After all the trouble i had with my first couple of attempts at quarantining,i managed to get a pair of ocellaris clowns,a royal gramma and a suntail goby through 2 rounds of prazipro and 30 days of cupramine. All went well apart from the goby stopping eating for 3 or 4 days just as i got the copper up to therapeutic level. The big day arrived and we moved them all into our 8 foot display yesterday. The only fish in there was a starry blenny. There are a dozen or so corals,some snails,crabs etc and a pistol shrimp that we hoped would pair with the suntail goby. So,this morning,i couldnt see the goby anywhere and was hoping he had joined the shrimp in his home,no such luck. He had somehow got out of a tiny gap where the return pipes are in the back corners and died on top of the mesh covers on top of the tank. Absolutely gutted, spent 10 weeks trying to do everything as best we could then that happens,real high and real low in the space of 12 hours

drstardust · Feb 4, 2019

Lizfrank1234 said:
Here we go,the highs and lows of reefkeeping. After all the trouble i had with my first couple of attempts at quarantining,i managed to get a pair of ocellaris clowns,a royal gramma and a suntail goby through 2 rounds of prazipro and 30 days of cupramine. All went well apart from the goby stopping eating for 3 or 4 days just as i got the copper up to therapeutic level. The big day arrived and we moved them all into our 8 foot display yesterday. The only fish in there was a starry blenny. There are a dozen or so corals,some snails,crabs etc and a pistol shrimp that we hoped would pair with the suntail goby. So,this morning,i couldnt see the goby anywhere and was hoping he had joined the shrimp in his home,no such luck. He had somehow got out of a tiny gap where the return pipes are in the back corners and died on top of the mesh covers on top of the tank. Absolutely gutted, spent 10 weeks trying to do everything as best we could then that happens,real high and real low in the space of 12 hours

Man, that is rough, sorry to hear! But truer words were never spoken. Lots of highs and lows in this hobby...for all of us!

Redfoxtang · Feb 4, 2019

Just out of curiosity. When those fish died did you happen throw them in fresh water to see if anything came off? I suspect flukes. They are silent killers because they hard to see and we really don’t suspect them because most of us are worried about ick, velvet etc. Last time I lost a bunch of fish which I detected it was a aerosol space my wife set up and I was freaking out because I lost so many fish. But I had a very tough time with flukes. Killing my fish in 3 days after they ate just fine the day/night before. Also i know your using DT water which is good. But I do highly recommend using freshly made SW with cheap salt like IO with an SG of 1.018. Most LFS like everyone else has had keep it that low and run mild copper to keep parasites low. GL