- Joined
- Nov 14, 2019
- Messages
- 195
- Reaction score
- 202
I will post the whole story later but this i just the practical stuff. There was an ad on our version of craigslist for a free 750L aquarium with everything included. Fish, equipment etc. But it had to go that day and everything had to go, extra tanks, sumps etc. On the photos it looked bad, you couldn't see the back of the aquarium due to the algae.. When we got there i saw immediately that all the fish were sick, about 20 of them, from ocellaris to emperors. White dots on multiple fish and most were breathing heavy or showing erratic behavior. He already took 2 big fish out that same morning.. When i started taking stuff out i found multiple fish in different states of decay.. I never planned this, didnt even want to take anything with me, but the guy had a medical issue, couldnt use his hands, so everything was going to die in a matter of days..
Anyway I took everything home and set up the QT system. Only used around 10% of the old aquarium water, and added 90% newly mixed saltwater with the same levels (38ppt/24C).
Dosed HW Odinex to the manufacturers instructions (this also contains copper). Upped the temp to 27.5 as they advise. Cant add any live rock. Already had multiple sponge filters going from the start, but i have no DT running atm so no live bacteria (cant use that with the medication anyway).
Tried feeding the first night with 5 different foods, 3 frozen, pellets and flakes. No response. Next day (monday) got up early to find 4 dead fish. Tried feeding again, only the blue tang and 1 or 2 clownfish will eat anything. Changed 30% of the water (60 liters roughly) as a precaution.
Today (Tuesday) after the third dose of Odinex hooked up the UV (30w) and added the skimmers (according to the manufacturer this can be combined. Tried feeding, the clown are eating, but thats about it. Tried two more types of frozen food from another brand but no luck. Put in the the Seneye and found that the ammonia level is still green but high, 0.048 ppm. Tried verifying with the Hanna Ammonia LR but that comes back with a reading of 3.00, so it is above the max. Which doesn't make sense, they both measure in ppm. Redid the test on the Hanna, same result. (also tested Hanna nitrite @ 47PPB) Now im unsure what to do. If the ammonia is getting to high (it already is) that will kill the fish, but if i add live rock or bacteria that will stop the effect of the medication?
Maybe do 50% water change with the medication already in? Or add live rock/substrate from the LFS and go into hypo? Im not seeing the white spots anymore, the fish that had it clearly visible are the ones that died. Anything i can do to help them start eating?
Video, you can clearly see the heavy breathing
Anyway I took everything home and set up the QT system. Only used around 10% of the old aquarium water, and added 90% newly mixed saltwater with the same levels (38ppt/24C).
Dosed HW Odinex to the manufacturers instructions (this also contains copper). Upped the temp to 27.5 as they advise. Cant add any live rock. Already had multiple sponge filters going from the start, but i have no DT running atm so no live bacteria (cant use that with the medication anyway).
Tried feeding the first night with 5 different foods, 3 frozen, pellets and flakes. No response. Next day (monday) got up early to find 4 dead fish. Tried feeding again, only the blue tang and 1 or 2 clownfish will eat anything. Changed 30% of the water (60 liters roughly) as a precaution.
Today (Tuesday) after the third dose of Odinex hooked up the UV (30w) and added the skimmers (according to the manufacturer this can be combined. Tried feeding, the clown are eating, but thats about it. Tried two more types of frozen food from another brand but no luck. Put in the the Seneye and found that the ammonia level is still green but high, 0.048 ppm. Tried verifying with the Hanna Ammonia LR but that comes back with a reading of 3.00, so it is above the max. Which doesn't make sense, they both measure in ppm. Redid the test on the Hanna, same result. (also tested Hanna nitrite @ 47PPB) Now im unsure what to do. If the ammonia is getting to high (it already is) that will kill the fish, but if i add live rock or bacteria that will stop the effect of the medication?
Maybe do 50% water change with the medication already in? Or add live rock/substrate from the LFS and go into hypo? Im not seeing the white spots anymore, the fish that had it clearly visible are the ones that died. Anything i can do to help them start eating?
Video, you can clearly see the heavy breathing