Ryan_E Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I had a small clownfish in a QT tank for about 9 days. I found him dead this afternoon, but he showed weird symptoms leading up to his death. First of all, he started slowing down a lot about 5 days into quarantine. He would sit barely above the bottom of the tank and was breathing heavily. Then last night, I came home late and noticed he looked extremely pale. I know this is normal for clowns at night, but I had never seen him look like that any other night. This morning, he was still pale and his color slowly came back. I tried to feed him and he wouldn't eat. He had eaten every single day like a pig. I did just over a ten percent water change and left for the day. Came back and he was dead. I noticed that one of his gills looked slightly red around it, but the other gill did not. Has anyone had any experience like this before? I am super bummed because he was a "black ice" occelaris that I got for a regular occelaris price. I tested my water quality every other day and also did a 10% or more water change every other day. My QT process looked something like this: Pull filter floss from sump after being in there for three weeks Week 1: Prazipro 50% water change Week 2: Cupramine (Fish died within 48 hours before the recommended second dosing of cupramine). 50% water change Week 3: Cupramine Off to display Parameters at each check: Ammonia: 0 (I used API and an Ammonia Alert Patch) Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 0 PH: 8.0 Copper: between 0 and .25 (I planned on dosing up to the full dose tonight) I hope somebody responds to this because it is my first QT and this whole process has made me question whether I am doing the right thing. Did I do something wrong that killed him, or did he actually have an issue.... Link to comment
masssnapz Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Well is the quarantine system separate from the main system ? Because 0 nitrate makes me think that your quarantine tank is not cycled. Those ammonia detox chems can reduce oxygen levels in the water and keep the tank from ever cycling because there is no ammonia to cycle. Link to comment
Ryan_E Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Well is the quarantine system separate from the main system ? Because 0 nitrate makes me think that your quarantine tank is not cycled. Those ammonia detox chems can reduce oxygen levels in the water and keep the tank from ever cycling because there is no ammonia to cycle. The quarantine tank is a 10 gallon with a HOB filter, heater, airstone/pump, PVC, thermometer, and an ammonia alert patch. Ammonia detox chemicals? I did not use any chemical to detoxify/bind ammonia. Tank was set up with brand new water and I put a filter pad that had been in my main display's sump for almost a month hoping it would collect enough good bacteria to handle the bioload. I followed a standard process that a lot of people had posted as their procedure. Link to comment
TheDude324 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Sounds like ammonia poisoning. I see what the test says but if the fish was eating well it seems like ammonia should have been higher http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/ammoniapoison.htm Link to comment
Ryan_E Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Sounds like ammonia poisoning. I see what the test says but if the fish was eating well it seems like ammonia should have been higher http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/ammoniapoison.htm It may have been, but he only showed signs of being lethargic. The no eating was this morning, but he had eaten like a pig every day before that. I watched him a lot and he never surfaced for air. Really frustrating though when I did small water changes every other day, then a 50 percent water change two days ago. API ammonia test AND the Seachem ammonia alert test both read 0 the entire time. The seachem patch should have turned green if ammonia went over 0.02ppm.... The filter floss should have picked up good bacteria to nitrify the ammonia as well. Makes me wonder if I should just put new fish in my DT and then use my QT as a hospital tank. Link to comment
TheDude324 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 The filter pad could have brought more waste and junk from your display, in combonation with ammonia free water, starved off the bacteria and then all the newly introduced waste broke down poinoning the water? How old were the test kits? Link to comment
Ryan_E Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 The filter pad could have brought more waste and junk from your display, in combonation with ammonia free water, starved off the bacteria and then all the newly introduced waste broke down poinoning the water? How old were the test kits? The ammonia alert patch was opened and put into the tank a day before the fish. I bought that test about two weeks ago. The API tests were bought about two months ago. The filter pad was in the sump after my filter sock and skimmer, so most waste should have been removed before hitting the pad. Link to comment
Ryan_E Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 The filter pad could have brought more waste and junk from your display, in combonation with ammonia free water, starved off the bacteria and then all the newly introduced waste broke down poinoning the water? How old were the test kits? I am not trying to say you are wrong. Just trying to explain in detail my whole process. I am determined to do quarantine correctly, so I am trying to learn what I may have done wrong. Link to comment
masssnapz Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Sorry when you said you used api and and ammonia alert patch i thought you were referring to this http://www.amazon.com/API-Ammo-Lock-Ammonia-Detoxifier-16-Ounce/dp/B000255N0A Link to comment
Ryan_E Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 I am thinking it was some sort of ammonia spike. Frustrating when you have two tests for ammonia and neither one gives you a reading.... What a bummer. Losing an awesome fish for something that is completely your fault sucks. Link to comment
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