QT tank killed all new fish

[scott11106]

ok, i may be dumb but i just got 4 new fish, drip acclimated them for the proper amount of time yesterday and today they all died, i noticed this afternoon all were breathing rapidly. The QT tank has all new water at the proper level and tested 1.025, not sure what i did wrong...

i did notice the heater i have showed 78 degrees but i threw a separate digital thermostat in and it showed 76 degrees so i bumped it up, not sure if this would cause the death sentence but i am very sad about this. i am pretty sure it is my lack of intelligence but not sure what i am doing wrong.

the couple fish i have in the main display are doing fine and all looks well there

 

[Dennis McGrath]

What are you using to measure salinity? Refractometer? If so, did you try recalibrating it just in case?

 

[ZachR32]

Did you cycle the QT tank?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Were you monitoring ammonia? Was there any ammonia present?

 

[scott11106]

What are you using to measure salinity? Refractometer? If so, did you try recalibrating it just in case?

i am using a MILWAUKEE DIGITAL SEAWATER REFRACTOMETER and i just recalibrated it and tested my main display, my salt resevior and the qt tank and all tested 1.025 as planned... i calebrated it as i was getting higher readings on my apex, but thats a different story as i think it is fine with readings of 36.5 as when water is 78 that math works, anyway back to qt tank

 

[scott11106]

Were you monitoring ammonia? Was there any ammonia present?

i did monitor it and fish were in there 48 hrs, i also have the ammonia alert. tests were zero

 

[scott11106]

Did you cycle the QT tank?

ok, wait a minute i did not cycle the qt tank, i did not know i had to cycle it as it gets new water and complete setup for every load of fish?? crap would that be it ? and do i have to cycle that tank every time? i thought if all perameters were in line it was fine and with new water freshly mixed everything was perfect...am i dumb?

 

[Dennis McGrath]

ok, wait a minute i did not cycle the qt tank, i did not know i had to cycle it as it gets new water and complete setup for every load of fish?? crap would that be it ? and do i have to cycle that tank every time? i thought if all perameters were in line it was fine and with new water freshly mixed everything was perfect...am i dumb?

That tank needs to be treated just like your main tank. It needs to be ready at a moments notice. Think "hospital for fish"...

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Why did you title the thread "qt killed my fish" when it wasn't the fault of the qt process?

Sorry for your losses, we've all been there. Learn and move forward!

 

[scott11106]

Why did you title the thread "qt killed my fish" when it wasn't the fault of the qt process?

Sorry for your losses, we've all been there. Learn and move forward!

well, at the beginning of the thread i did not know what happened, now i know what the problem was, my bad, my cost and now i need to learn a bit more on cycling a qt tank apparently. i do thank you all and any links to something so i can read up to make sure i dont repeat the error would be greatly appreciated

 

[DLHDesign]

Newly mixed saltwater works for FISH cycling. When possible, you should let it run in the tank (with filtration, etc.) for ~24hrs, but this is mostly so that the pH can equalize with the environment.

Check out this post to compare with what procedure you followed to see if there's anything obvious.

Sorry for your loss. :-(

It's possible that you had a really bad strain of velvet (either in all or one fish), which could quite possibly kill newly traveled fish that quickly. The heavy breathing could indicate that (velvet often attacks the gills first). If you have pictures of the fish before they died, that might help determine what happened?

 

[scott11106]

Newly mixed saltwater works for FISH cycling. When possible, you should let it run in the tank (with filtration, etc.) for ~24hrs, but this is mostly so that the pH can equalize with the environment.

Check out this post to compare with what procedure you followed to see if there's anything obvious.

Sorry for your loss. :-(

It's possible that you had a really bad strain of velvet (either in all or one fish), which could quite possibly kill newly traveled fish that quickly. The heavy breathing could indicate that (velvet often attacks the gills first). If you have pictures of the fish before they died, that might help determine what happened?

i dont have any pictures as it all happened so fast. reading now and if it was my fault i will make sure it does not happen again

 

[scott11106]

well as per the link i did all of the items listed to setup the QT except i did not cycle the tank so i guess if i am wanting to move faster than a standard cycle i can add turbo start 900 or equivalent ?

could it have been the temp? i think the temp on the thermostat was incorrect so i added an additional thermostat and it was below 76

 

[LBReefer]

How do you cycle a qt tank if you are not keeping live rock or sand in there? Where is the bacteria’s supposed to live? I thought you are just supposed to seed the tank and do frequent water changes.

 

[kp1991]

How do you cycle a qt tank if you are not keeping live rock or sand in there? Where is the bacteria’s supposed to live? I thought you are just supposed to seed the tank and do frequent water changes.

You should be able to cultivate beneficial bacteria in your filter media thats how youll be able to obtain that as far as cycling you need to introduce ammonia to start the process such as a block of mysis shrimp to rot and produce ammonia and then when you bacteria grow and thrive they eat the ammonia and nitrites produced from ammonia you can dose seachem stability during this process to help speed up the bio filtration process also seachem stability also helps with new tank syndrome aka shock which alot of the times when fish die for unknown reasons its nts new tank syndrome anyhow good luck man

 

[ZachR32]

Likely an ammonia spike that killed the fish. Temp being at 76 very unlikely to be the prime suspect. Many people maintain tanks at this temp and even lower. When setting up a QT you want to make sure you have some sort of cycled filtration. Some people use a couple pieces of live rock and a HOB filter, others use a sponge filter that has seeded in their display. There are many different ways to do this. Best method of practice is to have some sort of biological filtration that can withstand the inhabitants you are adding. I like to use an ammonia alert badge to check if the levels are rising or are ok. Depending on what you choose to do, you may end up doing daily or weekly water changes on the QT to ensure ammonia levels are taken care of.

 

[Swoody]

Ammonia....... sorry, but as others have stated any tank needs to be cycled before it can handle a bioload. A new tank is probably ok for a day before ammonia starts building up and the inhabitants cannot “breath”.... the temperatures stated are fine and would not kill the fish.

 

[DLHDesign]

so i guess if i am wanting to move faster than a standard cycle i can add turbo start 900 or equivalent ?

That is one option, yes. But as was mentioned; unless you have some kind of filter media involved, then the bacteria won't really have anywhere to settle into and propagate. Some will exist in the water column, but likely not enough to make a huge difference.
One common tactic would be to use water from your DT (assuming you have one cycled that is free of disease) and/or leave a small sponge or two down in the sump area for a month or so and then using this in your QT. If you can do this (again; free of disease being key), then that is a quick way to handle any ammonia generated in a QT. (Note that once you've used a sponge, it's best to throw it away; or else be sure to sanitize it.)

Unless temp went through a significant shift in a short period of time, it's unlikely to be the culprit.

Note that in the past I've run my QT tanks using new-mixed water for ~3 days (TTM method) without an ammonia spike. This is a 10gal tank and I'd only do 1-2 small fish at a time - being very careful to only feed what they eat and siphon out detritus. So it's possible to QT with new water - but you have to really keep the bio-load small and be meticulous on the cleaning. Much easier to use a sponge loaded with bacteria (which is what my normal method is).

I don't recall reading; what were the fish you lost (sizes, mostly) and how large was your QT tank? A large enough tank with small enough fish may not have been able to build up to lethal ammonia levels unless you were over feeding them or the like... I'm still not willing to rule out some kind of disease involvement, myself, in other words....

 

[kp1991]

I would rule out disease 24 death i would lean towards chlorine still in the water, or like i said earlier tank shock also how big was that qt if it wasnt big enough the fish will run out of oxygen to breathe if that being true youll need some heavy airation second were there any hiding spots pvc tubes if not stress couldve done it

 

[kp1991]

This is quite informational while keeping it simple at the same time