what did I do wrong during QT

[Toledofishguy]

Okay, so I was QTing a 3 inch Kole tang. He was in there for about 2 weeks until he/she passed away yesterday morning. I have had a successful and thriving reef tank for going on 5 years. I lost a coral beauty due to injury 3 weeks ago. What did I do wrong in QT?

Filled a 20 gallon long with 10 gallons of water from reef and 10 new, added pvc pipe and hang on filter and a tiny hagen power head
Added fish a few days later
Fed nori, flake, pellet, mysis, cyclopeeze
Fish never really ate agreesively, just picked at nori
Every 2-3 days I would change out 5 gallons of water with new water with about a gallon of current reef water to acclimate him to my tank conditions.

I know this is why we QT to avoid these situations happening in our displays? I'm thinking next time I wont add water from my current reef as I am worried I started a mini-cycle. The water paramaters tested great. However, the last week I didnt check them since I was doing frequent water changes.

Any advice?

[ralphie16]

YEA, CYCLE YOUR QT FILTER LONGER..MOST LIKELY DID NOT HAVE ACTIVE ENOUGH BACTERIA POPULATION

[Vitaly]

I would doubt that harvesting water from your display, assuming substrate was not disturbed, created enough of a cycle that you ended up introducing ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites into the QT tank.

Since you said that the "water paramaters tested great"...I doubt that the QT needed to be cycled longer...and though you did not test during the last week, I think it is unlikely that you suddenly had a spike in the QT. Though there is no way to be sure. Do you still have water from the QT tank...can you test it now?

What salinity was your QT tank at...and how was it measured. I wonder if your salinity may have been way off and that caused some type of renal/organ stress?

Did the fish appear sick or show signs of disease (physical, behavioral, etc). I think it is odd that the tang only picked at the nori and was not eating the other foods you were offering, but I have not kept any tangs so I cannot be certain.

Is it possible the fish wasted away from malnutrition because is was not eating? Did the tang appear emaciated when it died?

Sorry about your loss...

[ambaratur]

I have found that also using one of thos cheap ammonia monitors helps. The plastic type that hangs in the tank. That allows you to keep track of the ammonia level and react fast without testing every day.

[Toledofishguy]

The tang's face looked a little sunked in and it was breathing heavy the last day. I did change 5 gallons of water with fresh mixed salt water (24 hours). So that should have brought my levels down. I was running my salinity a bit low at around 1023 using a hydrometer just as prevention for any hitchhiker parasites. Water temp was about 80. Should I not add the current reef water next time?

I plan on keeping up water changes and letting the QT tank run for another week or two before adding another fish. I have never lost a fish due to my error. One to injury and one to power head.

[Vitaly]

The tang's face looked a little sunked in and it was breathing heavy
That definetly suggests that the fish was ill and/or stressed. Rapid breathing could suggest poor oxygen saturation in the water (though unlikely) or perhaps inflammation of the gills...causing poor oxygenation of the fish itself. The sunken face...from what I have read tends to be a sign of malnutrition, but I have not had my own personal experience. Maybe somone ele can chime in on that.

So that should have brought my levels down.
What levels were you bringing down?

I was running my salinity a bit low at around 1023 using a hydrometer just as prevention for any hitchhiker parasites.
From what I have read, hyposalinity treatment to rid parasites needs to be very low...in the .008-.012 range. Obviously, the fish species needs be be considered as they can not all tolerate the low salinity environment.

Should I not add the current reef water next time?
I sincerely do not see how this would be problematic and contribute to the fishes demise. You are adding "conditioned" water and if anything this is the best solution. The caveat, and possible reason to not add water from your display is if it is high in nitrogens or contaminited with free living parasites that would infest a weak fish in QT.


I don't know...to me it really sounds like the fish either did not eat due to transport stress (I hear this this can happen) and thus gradually weaken and succumbed from malnutrition OR the fish arrived infected (gills, GI, etc) and because of the inflammation did not eat and died. I would think that two weeks sounds like a reasonable timeline for a fish to waste from starvation, particularly ones with high metabolic rates...like tangs.

Was this tang from and LFS (was he eating there) or did you get him online?

.

[Vitaly]

The tang's face looked a little sunked in and it was breathing heavy
That definetly suggests that the fish was ill and/or stressed. Rapid breathing could suggest poor oxygen saturation in the water (though unlikely) or perhaps inflammation of the gills...causing poor oxygenation of the fish itself. The sunken face...from what I have read tends to be a sign of malnutrition, but I have not had my own personal experience. Maybe somone ele can chime in on that.

So that should have brought my levels down.
What levels were you bringing down?

I was running my salinity a bit low at around 1023 using a hydrometer just as prevention for any hitchhiker parasites.
From what I have read, hyposalinity treatment to rid parasites needs to be very low...in the .008-.012 range. Obviously, the fish species needs be be considered as they can not all tolerate the low salinity environment.

Should I not add the current reef water next time?
I sincerely do not see how this would be problematic and contribute to the fishes demise. The caveat, and possible reason to not add water from your display is if it is high in nitrogens or contaminited with free living parasites that would infest a weak fish in QT.

Was this tang from an LFS (was he eating there) or did you get him online? I am guessing he was ordered/shipped.

To me it really sounds like the fish either did not eat due to transport stress (I hear this this can happen) and thus gradually weaken and succumbed from malnutrition OR the fish arrived infected (gills, GI, etc) and because of the inflammation did not eat and died. I would think that two weeks sounds like a reasonable timeline for a fish to waste from starvation, particularly ones with high metabolic rates...like tangs.

[Toledofishguy]

I bought the fish from at great LFS, although I did not ask to see the fish eat while at the store. Next time I will do so.