Ok for the update; cinnamon clowns

Converted to Saltwater · Jan 10, 2019

Ok so, I used Artemis microbe lift with an insulin syringe as to be very accurate with the dosing since it is a very small tank. I am using two power heads one on each side set on medium. Cycling about 5 times an hour. This is to be my QT tank and I will post a picture of the extreme progress made with the female she is definitely in remission. Before dosing I used cichlid water (keep it brackish) boiled it first brought down to tank temp and did two three minute dips. She was breathing heavily after the second and I gave her about a half hour before administering treatment. I did not administer treatment in the QT (5gal)tank at first because the male was exposed and she was loosing white parasitic looking larvae from her gills. One gill had stoped moving all together. As risky as it was I have used this before on a royal gramma and it worked. So knowing she was not going to make it I went with my risky apple cider vinegar dip the second round. You would not be live what came out of her gills. This fish had to have been unwell considering how short of a time I had her. Now she is being medicated with the male as of about thirty minutes ago I notice they do not like to be separated. So far no parasites have come out in the QT and I've been closely monitoring this since about three morning although in order to reduce stress I just used a moonlight during the night. But even now with a flashlight I cannot find anything in the QT tank.
Now she is back with the male and he is getting a dose of of natural homeopathic remedy along with her for safe measure although he shows no symptoms...better safe than sorry. I have never bread saltwater fish before (does condy infestation count)? So I am a bit confused as to the eggs. Stress? Just the right time at a bad time? Not sure gonna dig into that and find out. I was almost out of the Seachem LFS was out so I went with what i new had been beneficial when I sold my nano reef in 2013 (that's why I'm so rusty and am frantically trying to kelp the fish alive). What I dosed the QT tank with was Kent EE and Kent Pro dKH. I don't like adding calcium along with the two so tonight ill add a small very small dose of magnesium as the water is slightly deficient in that. And then really only because the water is a tad soft. Macronutient deficiency only included manganese. But no coral so not very concerned however they came from water with high concentrations of this-if I can trust a test from about 12 hour old bag of ammonia loaded water. I tend to be live it though as he was very knowledgeable about acropra and that says a lot. So between treatment and managing quality of water I belive this is a success. I purchased some live brine and they did eat I didn't feed them much as in my personal experience ill fish and a full belly don't really mix.
They liked the brine(good sign as they stopped eating). But the guy I got them from said he always had a hard time getting them to eat well. But with water quality approaching 1.03 I'm not that surprised. At least it tested around that with my hydrometer I did not use my refractometer (I think I spelled that right...lol). I make myself laugh. Anyway much of the "cotton" has fallen off of the female and I don't fear for the male so for now I can relax. And you all are now updated thank you for all of the lucrative advice I really appreciate the helpful comments. I am going to go to my sons soccer game and ill give some pics and check in tonight. Thanks again I think ill brush up really quickly with this forum (and I'm bored of live plants

Converted to Saltwater · Jan 11, 2019

Alive and healthy. Water kind of cloudy but I am not going to use any carbon I'm going to do small water changes. Very good appetite. The female ended up dropping what looked like a small cotton ball from one gill. But hey for for all the doughters out there a little bit of effort and a lot of faith goes a long way. And for all the advice I got thank you all i kinda mixed it all together into one solution. I will say this this fish was VERY VERY ILL. I have had very poor success with copper I do not recommend it. Yes it cures, but I've never had a copper cured fish live a full life span. There are many less harsh more natural remedies out there now (I remember dropping pennies into my tank as a little kid). There are better healthier ways. I do not want to step on toes here but well copper is a strong dangerous MACRO I think of chemo when there are sometimes first resort options. I used the mildest stuff I could find and then the vinager dip (it really works) and this morning I've got a playful pair of clownfish. I'm actually very inspired and currently in the process of breaking down the freshwater tanks probably use my 20 as a sump and larger for the display hang onto this little 5 for dust I guess but I broke out my old issues aquatic life and am already daydreaming. Now I just need a better job .

SDK · Jan 11, 2019

Good luck and I really hope they make it. The one thing I would say (besides welcome) is with that tank being only a few days old, you are not even nearly out of the woods. Stay extremely vigilant. Did you get some mature rock yet?

If it was me, I would mix up a five gallon batch of well aerated, temp matched water and do a half gallon water change daily until the tank fully stabilizes. Drip the replacement water in over the course of an hour or two with a cheap, pinched airline drip line...

Converted to Saltwater · Jan 11, 2019

SDK said:
Good luck and I really hope they make it. The one thing I would say (besides welcome) is with that tank being only a few days old, you are not even nearly out of the woods. Stay extremely vigilant. Did you get some mature rock yet?

If it was me, I would mix up a five gallon batch of well aerated, temp matched water and do a half gallon water change daily until the tank fully stabilizes. Drip the replacement water in over the course of an hour or two with a cheap, pinched airline drip line...

I actually just checked water parameters again and I don't even know wht level of ammonia was in the QT but it did not show clear it Mabry was .10ppm barely registered. But! That's good enough for me so yes the water change is coming. Now I'm sorry can you explain the drip line I didn't catch that?

SDK · Jan 11, 2019

I can explain now. If you want a visual that will be later when I get home. A drip line is just a slower way to add the water back when you are dealing with already stressed fish. Its also a good DIY way to acclimate new fish to your tank when you bring them home.

1- Drain the amount you want to change from the main tank
2- Set the change water in a small container up a bit higher than the main tank
3- Use a piece of airline tubing to drain the change water into the display tank. You can use an airline control valve, hemostats or just a knot to restrict the flow. Set it up so it takes and hour or two for the new water to drain in.

I'm not sure its necessary, but it can't hurt. I think anything that can be done to minimize fluctuations in your situation would be a good thing...

Converted to Saltwater · Jan 11, 2019

SDK said:
I can explain now. If you want a visual that will be later when I get home. A drip line is just a slower way to add the water back when you are dealing with already stressed fish. Its also a good DIY way to acclimate new fish to your tank when you bring them home.

1- Drain the amount you want to change from the main tank
2- Set the change water in a small container up a bit higher than the main tank
3- Use a piece of airline tubing to drain the change water into the display tank. You can use an airline control valve, hemostats or just a knot to restrict the flow. Set it up so it takes and hour or two for the new water to drain in.

I'm not sure its necessary, but it can't hurt. I think anything that can be done to minimize fluctuations in your situation would be a good thing...

Ok that's where I was confused so your recommending a tenth daily but don't immediately replace it acclimate them to the replacement water with a slow siphon. Your right the small tank and fast fluctuations do have me on my toes would you add meds to the drip line or straight in?

SDK · Jan 11, 2019

Exactly. Others can chime in on the meds, but I would just dose the tank after the refill is completely done. The drip method above is not going to dose with the precision of a meter, so I would not add meds to the equation...