redhot13 Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 I need to turn my running QT into a hospital tank. I have two baby clowns that have signs of ich which need to go in. The QT seems to have about .50 of nitrite. I did a water change earlier and moved some stuff around in the tank there was a bit of debris earlier. Am I better off holding out on putting them in the QT? This tank has been cycled for 2 months and moved different fish out of it earlier today which are very healthy. The fish do not look good at all. Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 well, for what it's worth, you're going to need to run your tank fallow for a month or two to eliminate the ich parisites which are now living in the substrate, the live in the sand during part of there lifecycle. Seed your QT tanks filtration with some of your mechanical media from the other tank to try to rid it of nitrite, but in any event, the sooner you can get the fish into QT to treat with copper or hyposalinity the better. Just remember that Hypo should only be administered using a refractometer. Much to learn about this at www.wetwebmedia.com hth daniel Link to comment
redhot13 Posted March 17, 2004 Author Share Posted March 17, 2004 the two clowns are now in a reef tank and they are the only fish... My question is, should I leave them in the established reef tank or put them in my QT tank that has .5 nitrites? Please help! Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 I understand your clowns are in your reef tank. Does your tank have an external filter? if so, take some of the media out and put it in the QT tank filter. IF your QT tank uses a internal sponge filter, Take out said amount of water from the main tank and fill the QT with that, but it is important to have a filter on it, other wise you will need to do daily waterchanges. nitrites are bad on fish, and would wait as long as possible. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT TREAT THE FISH IN THE MAIN TANK! Link to comment
redhot13 Posted March 17, 2004 Author Share Posted March 17, 2004 I have had other fish in the QT tank until yesterday and the tank is now experiencing a "mini cycle" after the tank was cleaned. The filter on the QT has been in the tank for two months already...There should be enogh bacteria present, right?" Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 i would think so. If i were you I'd test the water again tommorow and see if the trites have subdued, and act accordingly. I would wait until the trites were as low as possible to prevent the fish from getting worse due to a lax in water quality, however i understand you do not want your fish to succumb to crypto. Maybe haste is the best decision here...I really do not know. Maybe others will chime in with there opinions, but if it were me, I'd wait till the qt tests clear. Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 possibly too little too late, but one does not need to keep fish out for 2 months 10-14 days will be sufficient, i have used this method before and never had another outbreak of the crypto. were the fish QT'd before going into the reef tank? if not you have learned the hard way, If so check the params in the reef usually crypto outbreaks happen because of water quality or something that stressed the fish out. Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 10-14 days for visual appearance of ick to disapear in a QT tank MAYBE, But the lifecycle is much longer than 14 days. YOU WILL RE-INFECT YOUR FISH IF YOU PUT THEM BACK IN SO SOON. Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 10-14 days for visual appearance of ick to disapear in a QT tank MAYBE, But the lifecycle is much longer than 14 days. YOU WILL RE-INFECT YOUR FISH IF YOU PUT THEM BACK IN SO SOON. not true my son, i have spoken to others in my area who have studied this matter and 2 weeks is sufficient i have used this method myself and never had another outbreak since. Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted April 8, 2004 Share Posted April 8, 2004 how did it go with the babies? what did you do? Link to comment
redhot13 Posted April 8, 2004 Author Share Posted April 8, 2004 I am sad to say that they both were unable to make it. The conditions in the QT were just too risky to put them in. So I let them be in my reef tank hoping that they would overcome the ich. My tank has been fish free for almost 3 weeks and I am planning on getting 2 more percs soon and QT them the right way! Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted April 8, 2004 Share Posted April 8, 2004 good luck getting healthy clowns this time of year. kudos on the 3 week fallow period! make it as long as possible. Link to comment
jmt Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 Next time, you will remember this. When setting up a hospital tank, there is NO need for anything in the tank except maybe a couple of PVC pipes for hiding/sleeping. You need water, water flow, and light. You should have dumped out evrything in the tank, cleaned it out, threw in some 3" PVC elbows, and filled it up with 75% new salt water, 25% tank water. Next time you will know. -Justin Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 jmt is definitely right on this one Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 I don't know about 75% new water/ 25% tank water, maybe the other way around. I've always read it's best to use the same water from your tank (ie water change water) so your QT tank matches the conditions in your display tank. If JMT has had success with his method, i say go for it. Link to comment
Tempest Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 pyrrhus - Crypto has a life cycle of approximately 30 days. 14 days is insufficient time for ALL stages of the parasite to die off. In order to rid a tank of Crypto/"Ich" the tank must be fishless for at least 4 weeks. http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-j.../marineich.html http://www.fishbase.org/Diseases/DiseasesS....cfm?discode=14 http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.htm http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/f...ature/index.htm Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 according to the reefkeeping article the life cycle can range from 10-38 days mainly (i assume) on the basis of water temp. i have used the 14 day method on my own tank and have yet to have a reinfestation (been nearly 2months) Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 Pyrrhus, we must remember what works for one tank, may not work for others. Concrete facts and information is what one should learn, as opposed to "half-assing" it. Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 look into tank raised clowns, especially the ORA ones they are very hardy, relatively disease free, and already used to living in an aquarium Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted April 10, 2004 Share Posted April 10, 2004 one other thing i noticed your problem could have been caused by your new lighting increasing the temp in your tank. to go from 50 to 96w of light will increase the heat factor a lot and if you havent already you should get a cooling fan. Link to comment
Domino_Tang Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 alright what the first guy is saying is so correct on a few things 1.Yes a hospital tank is yet a good idear knowing i have one 2.You should never any copper based medicine to your tank 3.No, some medicine can be used in the main tank with no hassel KICK ICH! THAT WILL WORK i have had alot of fish that died to ich tried everything only that helped yes they were perculars .... but when perculars are put in a Qt tank they go through alot of stress water quality is a most ... my qt had better quality then my main 1! ro water! 2! Filter! 3! sponge filter! 4! KICK ICH! 5! LOTS OF LUCK! Link to comment
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