WarDog's Tank Thread : Episodic Trial And Error

[Wretch]

Originally Posted by WarDog

I've lost countless numbers of fish during my freshwater days, but as this is my first salt tank, it really stings. Probably the worst part is that the clowns were my wifes favourite part of the tank. She really started to come around once they went in. The poor girl had to flush her favourite fish today. I'll need to buy her something shiny.



Unfortunately I wont know what it is unless I can do a biopsy under a microscope, which I don't have. Lots of telltale white spots, but also a white sheen that appears under blues.

If and when the last fish dies, I'll be putting him on ice until I can get my hands on a microscope.

Completely ruled out Velvet based on the fact that the tank from which the Flame came, has mild Ich, but all fish are fine.

Can Ich wipe out an entire tank once introduced in 7 days? Symptoms began after the Flame was introduced, so I assume he was patient zero.

Also considering poisoning, and use of tap water for rinsing certain tools etc. Pretty hard to believe any poisoning would show the same symptoms as Ich. Confirmed with the wife and mother in law that no cleaning/spraying was done near the tank.

Still haven't mounted any frags, and I wanted to thin out the sandbed. So yeah, lots of stuff to do in the meantime. Maybe even set up a QT because, you know, I'm an idiot.

Well fish die in quarantine as much as in a display tank but everyone has there opinion on that. Maybe yours has changed now after this icky episode.

Make your tank nice and pretty in the next 3 months. Get good growth on your sps then when you add fish they will make the tank even better looking.

[gregzz4]

Sorry to hear about your losses Warren
It definitely hurts losing fish

[Aquattro]

FWIW, I set up a QT after losing a bunch of fish. I lost more fish in QT than not, so now my tank is full of non quarantined fish, all happy and healthy.
I don't even have an opinion on it anymore, I think it's a good idea, but not for me.

[WarDog]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

FWIW, I set up a QT after losing a bunch of fish. I lost more fish in QT than not, so now my tank is full of non quarantined fish, all happy and healthy.
I don't even have an opinion on it anymore, I think it's a good idea, but not for me.

Oh yeah... that's why I didn't bother with a QT.

[Aquattro]

I got lucky so far, and not pushing it. Fish list is complete, so fingers crossed nothing happens. If I lose another tank full, I'm probably done!!

[F.H]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

FWIW, I set up a QT after losing a bunch of fish. I lost more fish in QT than not, so now my tank is full of non quarantined fish, all happy and healthy.
I don't even have an opinion on it anymore, I think it's a good idea, but not for me.

FWIW, I lost all my fish, about 4 of them when I was new to saltwater about 3 years ago to ich, or a similar "white spot" disease, although I'm pretty sure it wasn't velvet.

Left my tank fallow for 3 months, vowed to QT everything wet that goes into my tank from then on.

I haven't lost a single fish since, and currently have 7 in my tank.

As with every other aspect of this hobby, you'll have stories on one end of the spectrum such as Aquattro's and then stories on the other end such as mine.

My experiences have convinced me that QT is the way to go, his have convinced him otherwise.

Good luck with moving forward, I know probably every single reefer on Canreef has lost some livestock one way or another. Right now is the perfect time to ask around, maybe do some research and figure out exactly which direction you would like to take.

[Aquattro]

Absolutely 2 views on QT. If anyone asks me, I recommend it, I just don't practice it myself anymore. Mostly out of frustration.

[daplatapus]

That totally sucks. Sorry to hear. I agree about all the views expressed with QT. I think it's a good idea in practice. I do a modified QT
Here's my rationalization, wrong or right or somewhere in between. My QT consists of a full tank change every 72 hours for two weeks. So a full cycle of the TTM. That, in theory should get rid of ich.
If anything else should show, I figure the stress of that should make it apparent and I can deal with it. If nothing shows in that two weeks, into the display it goes.
I've tried a full 6-8 weeks QT and I've not been able to do it. That's when I've killed fish. So far since I've done the TTM, I haven't lost a fish due to my negligence, and I actually have seen few sick fish. Prazipro has been able to take care of anything else so far.

But I know the TTM isn't easy if you don't have a fish room or somewhere you can set up an entire system...

[Myka]

Quarantine is all about risk factor. If you have several thousand dollars worth of fish in a large tank then it doesn't make sense to NOT quarantine. One little fish can wipe out all of them. If you have a small tank, and few fish, then maybe quarantine isn't as dire.