Unfortunately my first post has to be this

[MnFish1]

As far as having coral in a tank - in a well established tank with a lot of coral - its postulated that parasites are less of an issue since some will eat parasites - however, I would still do the QT protocol, etc.

 

[BrightReefer]

As disease can or may be a possibility, I highly suggest to leave the tank running without any fish for 6-8 weeks which any parasites or protozoans, if present will die off without a fish to host on. You can set up a quarantine tank which will be useful now and in the future and place potential fish in it adding coppersafe and monitoring copper level with a Hanna brand copper test kit at 2.15 - 2.25 for 30 days and then doing a good water change and then dosing tank with prazi Pro at 85% of recommended dosage applying the liquid and let it run 8 days, do a water change and dose one more time for another 8 day period and fish are deemed cleansed of parasites and then you can enter them into the display tank. Add air stone when using prazi as it depletes oxygen slightly

My local fish store is saying the copper safe is banned where I live. They have ruby reef rally pro and ruby reef rally ick kick. Is what I got to work with.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My local fish store is saying the copper safe is banned where I live. They have ruby reef rally pro and ruby reef rally ick kick. Is what I got to work with.

Kich ich doesnt do much and Ruby Rally pro is great for most anything. . BUT. . . . Ich (go figure)
I see youre in Canada. You may be able to get these through Pet drug Mart and possibly Amazon. Other source in I believe in Ontario or Quebec is Canadian Fish vet

 

[old_salt]

Ovecrowding, water issues, light issues etc. can be stressful to livestock, decrease their immune response, and make them more prone to disease.

 

[Kolorblind]

Big Al's is iffy. I'd suggest checking out Fragbox Coral in North York

 

[BrightReefer]

Ovecrowding, water issues, light issues etc. can be stressful to livestock, decrease their immune response, and make them more prone to disease.

I changed my light and played with templates alot last week.. so this may have the problem… but other then waiting 8 weeks and trying again with one less fish. I don’t see what can change in my Dt. Unless water issues… not snails are ok.

 

[PhilT]

My local fish store .. I don’t think it is a Canada wide franchise, big al’s aquarium they have multiple locations in My province The clowns were great for months. Unless it possible the cleaner shrimp was keeping it up bay?

Cleaner shrimp really don’t prevent disease from parasites. Especially something like ich or other diseases.

 

[albano]

My local store said their supplier does qt before they get them?

IMO there is 0 chance of a supplier QTing all of their inventory before shipping to retail shops.

 

[bluemon]

IMO there is 0 chance of a supplier QTing all of their inventory before shipping to retail shops.

Yea the only thing suppliers (and most LFS) do is maintain sub-therapeutic level of copper so it’s easy on the fish but they show little to no symptoms

Without actually treating ich

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yea the only thing suppliers (and most LFS) do is maintain sub-therapeutic level of copper so it’s easy on the fish but they show little to no symptoms

Without actually treating ich

And often this is missed with assumption they are at the typical treatment level for disease control. Glad you are aware.

 

[BrightReefer]

Thank you everyone for your help! I was very hesitant to giving salt a try. I’m gonna to continue with it but feeling pretty low at this point.

I’ll fallow the tank for 8 weeks and think about next steps The more I read on coral, qt and everything else the more it’s feeling like I can’t..not to mention cost. Maybe fresh water didn’t feel so bad due to plants grow with ease and worse thing I had was bettas and fin rot.


thanks everyone.

 

[Kooma]

Thank you everyone for your help! I was very hesitant to giving salt a try. I’m gonna to continue with it but feeling pretty low at this point.

I’ll fallow the tank for 8 weeks and think about next steps The more I read on coral, qt and everything else the more it’s feeling like I can’t..not to mention cost. Maybe fresh water didn’t feel so bad due to plants grow with ease and worse thing I had was bettas and fin rot.


thanks everyone.

Talk to Dimo over at Reef Paradise before you throw in the towel. He goes through extensive QT process and I would trust his fish to go straight in honestly. If you keep it to one or two fish and there’s nothing else in the tank you really don’t need to QT, your main tank IS the QT.

The kids love memos, try another pair of small clown in a few weeks and keep it simple, keep hands out, and let the fish get used to the kids tapping the glass slowly.

 

[boyofmystery]

Thank you everyone for your help! I was very hesitant to giving salt a try. I’m gonna to continue with it but feeling pretty low at this point.

I’ll fallow the tank for 8 weeks and think about next steps The more I read on coral, qt and everything else the more it’s feeling like I can’t..not to mention cost. Maybe fresh water didn’t feel so bad due to plants grow with ease and worse thing I had was bettas and fin rot.


thanks everyone.

Don't give up! I am also from Canada and jumped from fresh water to saltwater on impulse as well. If you do not want to QT yourself, Ethical Aquatics (based out of Alberta) only sell quarantined fish. Obviously, their fish is more expensive but in return you get a peace of mind. As for plants growing with ease from your fresh water days, might you consider a macroaglae tank instead of a coral tank then? Grows faster, helps with nutrient export, and no coral finnicky hassle.

 

[Ziggy17]

You can absolutely buy Copper Power in Canada. Order from Amazon. I did.

 

[BrightReefer]

Well here’s an update i fallowed the tank from March to Aug 2. Snails were ok and I didn’t change the water More then a hand full of times.

Aug 2 i picked up 2 new clowns. The store had them in stock for almost a
Month. They have been going ok until today.

Breathing heavy lethargic , a few hour later the small one is laying on the sand now. I just did approximately 20% water change on Sunday.

Just over a week ago I added 4 coral mushroom, acan, zoa, and Duncan.

Temps 78f
Salinity 1.025sg
Ammonia 0.25 and the seachem ammonia card is 0
Nitrate 0 confirmed with 2 different tests
Nitrite 0
Phos 0 , but is api kit but for what it’s worth.

I just can’t win and I want to learn.
I’m mixing more water up now
View attachment 20250909_220342_FD9EF4FB-2E22-4EB2-A395-D90DB8A485F8.mov

View attachment 20250909_220410_34F7BF8D-4C38-4F30-A012-54A937BF7923.mov

 

[Kooma]

Ok do you have an air stone and pump to add oxygen? Can you open a window near the tank? Can you point a powerhead at the surface, even if it makes bubbles in the tank that’s fine.

I would mix up some fresh saltwater and get it up to temp and move the clown over to the fresh water, even if it’s in a bucket. Match salinity and temp. It will take a couple days for any ammonia to build in a 5 gallon bucket, just keep the bucket heated with a small heater if the room is below 76F.


Zero nitrite and nitrate with ammonia to me says your nitrogen cycle is not happening. Aug 2nd to now with two clowns and .25 ammonia lines up if you don’t overfeed with a stalled cycle.

Get the clowns in fresh saltwater that’s temp and salinity matched tonight. Tomorrow, see if you can pick up some bottled bacteria. We want to see that ammonia zero and nitrates come up.

 

[Kooma]

Do you happen to have any seachem prime? If you do, double dose it tonight. You can continue to dose it daily while your cycle gets started. Be sure to dose bacteria as well.

https://www.petsmart.ca/fish/food-a...BsWutA2c-m1RS9lUaAktMEALw_wcB&redirected=true

 

[BrightReefer]

Ok do you have an air stone and pump to add oxygen? Can you open a window near the tank? Can you point a powerhead at the surface, even if it makes bubbles in the tank that’s fine.

I would mix up some fresh saltwater and get it up to temp and move the clown over to the fresh water, even if it’s in a bucket. Match salinity and temp. It will take a couple days for any ammonia to build in a 5 gallon bucket, just keep the bucket heated with a small heater if the room is below 76F.


Zero nitrite and nitrate with ammonia to me says your nitrogen cycle is not happening. Aug 2nd to now with two clowns and .25 ammonia lines up if you don’t overfeed with a stalled cycle.

Get the clowns in fresh saltwater that’s temp and salinity matched tonight. Tomorrow, see if you can pick up some bottled bacteria. We want to see that ammonia zero and nitrates come up.

I don’t have an air stone I currently got 2 gallons mixed and up to temp. I was about to drain 2gallons and put that in the tank. I Put both the clowns in the bucket with wave maker facing up to make bubbles. I also dosed prime in the bucket. I also regularly dose my tank with stability.

 

[Kooma]

Ok do you have an air stone and pump to add oxygen? Can you open a window near the tank? Can you point a powerhead at the surface, even if it makes bubbles in the tank that’s fine.

I would mix up some fresh saltwater and get it up to temp and move the clown over to the fresh water, even if it’s in a bucket. Match salinity and temp. It will take a couple days for any ammonia to build in a 5 gallon bucket, just keep the bucket heated with a small heater if the room is below 76F.


Zero nitrite and nitrate with ammonia to me says your nitrogen cycle is not happening. Aug 2nd to now with two clowns and .25 ammonia lines up if you don’t overfeed with a stalled cycle.

Get the clowns in fresh saltwater that’s temp and salinity matched tonight. Tomorrow, see if you can pick up some bottled bacteria. We want to see that ammonia zero and nitrates come up.

I don’t have an air stone I currently got 2 gallons mixed and up to temp. I was about to drain 2gallons and put that in the tank. Put both the clowns in the bucket?

I would move the clowns to clean water personally and try to find a way to add oxygen to the bucket. See how the clown does in the new water and if he perks up. That heavy gill movement looks like he is struggling to breathe. If the ammonia has burned the gills it still may not make it.

How large is your tank? Can you do a 75% or greater water change tonight to dilute the ammonia?

 

[Kooma]

If you have a reef store near you, see if you can buy a chunk of rock from their system to seed your display. Doesn’t need to be overly large.

Or could dose bacteria to eat the ammonia and start the cycle.

Can also dose that prime product while doing the above to keep the ammonia safe from the fish. I dose prime daily in my quarantine system to reduce water change frequency needed.