Tank Crashed

[Tom2257]

My LFS installed my 90 gallon tank, live rock,live sand, their water, proclear filtration. He stated it would be cycled in 10 days. My first addition was 2 banded shrimp, 3 turbo snails. The following week I added 2 clownfish. Next was a Bannerfish. My wife was wanting to surprise me and bought 7 more fish and added them all at once while I was gone. When she returned home with the fish the bannerfish was already dead, likely from overfeeding I was told. Next, one of the clownfish was gasping for air at the surface and it died. The new fish she added was red sea desjardina tang,red sea purple tang,coral beauty (2),tricolor fairy wrasse (2),pintail fairy wrasse, lawnmower fish. 3 days passed with no issues. Yesterday the purple tang was 100% covered in white spots, had lost its purple color. This morning the other tang had the same look. The other fish are the same condition except the remaining clown. The tangs are falling over on their sides, running into tank sides, the rock, leaning over. Last night I was in a panic and put a Petco medicine for ick in there. Active ingredient is copper it said.
The shrimp seem ok.
Today I am reserved to the fact everything will die.
My question is what next steps should I take regarding this tank? Drain and begin entire process all over again?
I will set up a QT today but will not use any of the water from this DT. Kicking myself in **** for making every major mistake due to my impatience
I was doing regular water testing and my last readings yesterday was: nitrate 40-nitrite 0-kh 120-ph 7.4-ammonia 0-salinity 1.026.
During the time to compose this, one of the tangs has died behind my reef so it will be difficult to remove without moving some rock.
Thanks for reading.

 

[Harold999]

Don't even know where to start. The LFS where your wife bought the fish from should have told her it's a very bad idea to add that many fish at once. This is animal cruelty.
Can't believe these things still happen.

 

[chipchipbro]

Well, first I feel so sad for all the fishes and animals died to this.
Thats an example what happens by impatience and bad guidance; especially from the LFS.

Theres no way to introduce that many fishes at once. And I must say I had the same "problem" with my wife... She went to an LFS and bought fishes for my 20g tank few weeks ago, god bless it were only a small pair of gramma loretos...

But yeah.. I think reefing is a hobby where patience is KEY. I do also lack patience sometimes I must confess.

I'd suggest to go to another LFS to ask for guidance and help.

 

[Tamberav]

Disease is a very big issue in this hobby for new tanks. By new I mean ones that are not many years old. Adding that many fish and Tangs will certainly end like this.

All fish need to be removed to a QT tank, even if this means draining and removing the rock to catch them. The rock will absorb copper and make it difficult to treat and make adding inverts or corals later a huge headache as it will leech copper back out. Whatever you are using clearly isn’t therapeutic or going to work since the shrimp and inverts would be dead. Perhaps because of the rock absorbing copper is keeping them alive so far.

Tank needs to be left without fish for 45 (83 degrees) to 76 days. This is to starve and break the life cycle of disease.

You will risk wiping a new tank with any fish you add so consider reading up on how to QT fish.

Spouses are not allowed to buy surprise fish. Good intentions but can be tank ending. Even one sick fish snuck in can wipe a tank. Often times they won’t look sick at the LFS because the LFS runs low dose copper to hide disease.

Disease is an enormous hurdle for new people. It wasn’t always this way but the supply chain is garbage these days and new tank owners suffer.

 

[brandon429]

1000% spot on based on years of post trending T.

 

[TCoach]

So sorry this happened. But as has already been stated, adding that many fish at once is a recipe for disaster.

Love on your wife, and suggest next time she want to surprise you with stuff for the reef that she either takes you along, or buys you a gift card.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Like other mentioned, its too many fish too fast. Proper way is to add 1-2 fish then wait 1-2 weeks before adding another.

 

[brandon429]

One tweak to that offer: even that slow add kills the fish via disease. Staggering the addition doesn’t prevent total disease wipes. The biofilter wasn’t in challenge

 

[aws2266]

There is nothing like doing your own research. It's good to ask for advice from various sources, but please research what you're being told before you make a decision.

 

[kittenbritches]

Where are the tang police?!

Your LFS seems opportunistic, if not downright predatory. Everything about this scenario is cruel and irresponsible.

I would A) find a reputable LFS, and B) sit down with your wife and research fish you are interested in, ensuring they are appropriate for your tank size. You've been offered good starting advice for restoring your tank (running fallow, setting up a QT). In case it's not already abundantly clear, you cannot add copper to your display tank with rock and inverts.

Fish should be added one or two at a time, with at least two weeks between additions to allow your nitrifying bacteria to increase with the new bio-load.

I'm shocked that your vendor didn't speak up or give warnings and recommendations against stocking your tank this way. Even my local Petco vocally advises against adding too many $2.99 fish to a freshwater bowl.

 

[albano]

There is no way that the LFS (in Bedford Hills) should have sold all those fish to a customer with a new tank! I can only imagine the outrageous price tag on those 7 fish. Probably close to $1000!
They’ve been minutes from my home and business for the past 20 years… I don’t think that I’ve been in there for the last 19 years… nuff said!

BTW, the Mt Kisco Petco is not the place to buy livestock either.

 

[Not an IT guy]

You will hear this again and again. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby. Your bio load went from 1-2% to 110% on a 10 day cycle tank. Not your fault but the slow and steady turtle wins this race. There are a lot of posts/ articles on here and other forums with information. Best thing now is to leave it fishless for 80 days

 

[davidcalgary29]

One tweak to that offer: even that slow add kills the fish via disease. Staggering the addition doesn’t prevent total disease wipes. The biofilter wasn’t in challenge

You know, these disease threads are always ich, ich, and ich (and, from there, the inevitable "ich management" vs. "ich eradication" debates). But there's something far nastier circulating in aquarium fish stock right now -- at least in Canada -- and I have no idea what it is. I had a tank wipeout (one survivor, which I caught and treated with copper) in August, with stock acquired from one store; I tried again with another from the same store two weeks ago, and it just died while in quarantine. All fish exhibited the same pattern: fine for a week or two, then rapid breathing and death within a few hours. No observable spots, flashing, mucus coat shedding, streaks, or sores. You've just got to be so careful with any livestock you get these days.

 

[brandon429]

at least freshwater won't let us down lol. you can walk into anyone's pet shop, buy a fat healthy rainbow fish and input him into a typical planted tank and it'll do just fine for eleven years.

 

[bnord]

my condolences

and if the LFS installer and the person who bagged the fish to come home are one in the same, then there is a special place for him/her

 

[Idech]

Unfortunately because of the bad service you got from the LFS and lack of research on your part (don’t worry, we’ve all done that when we started) you compounded just about the worst mistakes anyone could do when starting a tank.

Lesson learned. Now make sure you read about the nitrogen cycle and that you understand it well. Then read about the right way to start a tank and research any new fish, invert or coral you want to buy beforehand. Also read and learn about quarantine.

Last, take your time. Going too fast takes 10 times longer than going slow in this hobby.

I wish you the best. Things will only go better from now on.

 

[Floyd-]

Agreed. My girlfriend did the same thing but it was only 3 fish.
Surprise! Although in a 175 gallon tank its not as bad.

 

[Hellic]

Sorry to hear about your losses man. Definitely sounds like your fish store steered you and your wife wrong. I'd go somewhere else. Your not the only one to have fish losses starting out. Fortunately i learned about fish keeping with a single freshwater betta. Lost 2 of them before i could keep any fish alive. Knowledge and researching will be your best friend in this hobby. Don't give up, just go slow and keep your water clean and parameters stable.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Suggest you dive into Bulk Reef Supply's videos on YouTube that cover most everything on the hobby. Also follow procedures on Jay Hemdal's thread called "Current Quarantine Protocol". Last, I would personally pay a visit to the LFS and discuss this with the manager or owner. He/she needs to be aware that there is an ignorant person on their payroll. If they are halfway decent, they will be grateful that you inform them what has occurred. My LFS owner told me recently that 50% of folks who buy either fresh or saltwater fish have not taken the time to educate themselves about what the hobby requires.

 

[MaxTremors]

One thing I haven’t seen any one mention is what to do about the copper in your display tank. I’m not exaggerating when I say this, but if it were my tank, I would drain and clean the tank, replace the rocks and sand, and run some cuprisorb once I got it back up and running. If you plan on keeping corals and inverts, copper, even at trace amounts, can stunt growth, cause tissue recession, and outright kill corals and inverts. There’s a possibility that running cuprisorb (a couple times) might get it out, but your rocks and sand will absorb it and then leach it back out, potentially for years. Again, if it were my tank, just for peace of mind, I’d throw away the rock and sand (or use in a QT/observation tank), the potential for it to completely handicap your reef is too great, I’d cut my loses and start over.