Sapelo
11/05/2015, 04:57 AM
I am not the mover of this tank, but I did provide support and suggestions so now that things have gone wrong, I would appreciate any advice or thoughts on how things went quite so badly wrong so that I will not repeat the same disasters in the future.
I personally have moved two established tanks, a 90 and a 300, and have never lost a fish. That's not what happened this time.
The tank in question is a 6 month established 55 gallon. It needed to be moved 2 hours from one house to another. I advised the owner to set up a QT tank in the new house, to match salinity, PH and temp to the DT, and to place all fish into the QT tank upon arrival until the DT could be thoroughly established. The owner decided to replace the sand bed as well.
The tank inhabitants were: scooter blenny, damsel, gramma, yellow tang, a bonded pair of firefish, and one ocellaris clown plus various CUC members.
The QT tank was a 20 gallon, established 48 hours prior to move with a simple HOB filter and heater. PVC pieces were provided for hiding.
For the move, all fish were caught and transported in a large plastic container with a bubbler running constantly.
Catching the fish was reported to be no more difficult than expected since the tank was drained for the move.
Most of the old sand was removed at this time.
Upon arrival at the new location, the fish were temp acclimated to the QT and placed inside. The old DT was set up using new sand and 1/2 old water, 1/2 fresh water. The rock work was replaced in the tank and the tank was left running.
The following morning, I was contacted because one of the fish, the damsel, was in distress and having difficulty breathing. We discussed temp (78), ph (8.4) and any other factors but the owner could think of none. He wanted to add some rock to the QT for more hiding places and this was done.
Later in the day, more of the fish seemed to be showing signs of distress and a bubbler was added in addition to the HOB filter.
On day two, many of the fish appeared to be dying. It was at this time that I learned the tank had been covered in sheets due to a lot of ambient lighting that the owner felt would disturb the fish.
I advised that the coverings be immediately removed and that a fan be used in the room to circulate air. My thinking was/is that trapped gases under the coverings were causing the fish distress.
The owner felt that all of this was caused by the QT. He suggested that the QT was of cheap quality and that either it or the PVC (both of which were washed in RO water prior to use) were the cause of the fish distress.
Eventually he moved all of the fish to the DT. The losses were dramatic. Of the original 7 fish, only three survived: clown, tang, gramma.
The owner has used this as proof of toxin contamination since the larger fish were the ones to survive the QT.
I am at a loss. Honestly I am the one who said get a QT, don't put fish back into the DT for several weeks, wait for a cycle.
I will be the first to admit that I am on my second reef tank, two years into this hobby and there is a lot (A LOT) that I don't know. Still, I believe in QT tanks and their usefulness in a variety of situations.
It's hard for me to believe that in 24 hours there was a spike in a 20 gallon big enough to kill 4 fish. My mind still goes back to covering the tank but I'm just not sure.
Any thoughts, suggestions or insights would be appreciated. I would hate to see this series of events ever repeated again.
I personally have moved two established tanks, a 90 and a 300, and have never lost a fish. That's not what happened this time.
The tank in question is a 6 month established 55 gallon. It needed to be moved 2 hours from one house to another. I advised the owner to set up a QT tank in the new house, to match salinity, PH and temp to the DT, and to place all fish into the QT tank upon arrival until the DT could be thoroughly established. The owner decided to replace the sand bed as well.
The tank inhabitants were: scooter blenny, damsel, gramma, yellow tang, a bonded pair of firefish, and one ocellaris clown plus various CUC members.
The QT tank was a 20 gallon, established 48 hours prior to move with a simple HOB filter and heater. PVC pieces were provided for hiding.
For the move, all fish were caught and transported in a large plastic container with a bubbler running constantly.
Catching the fish was reported to be no more difficult than expected since the tank was drained for the move.
Most of the old sand was removed at this time.
Upon arrival at the new location, the fish were temp acclimated to the QT and placed inside. The old DT was set up using new sand and 1/2 old water, 1/2 fresh water. The rock work was replaced in the tank and the tank was left running.
The following morning, I was contacted because one of the fish, the damsel, was in distress and having difficulty breathing. We discussed temp (78), ph (8.4) and any other factors but the owner could think of none. He wanted to add some rock to the QT for more hiding places and this was done.
Later in the day, more of the fish seemed to be showing signs of distress and a bubbler was added in addition to the HOB filter.
On day two, many of the fish appeared to be dying. It was at this time that I learned the tank had been covered in sheets due to a lot of ambient lighting that the owner felt would disturb the fish.
I advised that the coverings be immediately removed and that a fan be used in the room to circulate air. My thinking was/is that trapped gases under the coverings were causing the fish distress.
The owner felt that all of this was caused by the QT. He suggested that the QT was of cheap quality and that either it or the PVC (both of which were washed in RO water prior to use) were the cause of the fish distress.
Eventually he moved all of the fish to the DT. The losses were dramatic. Of the original 7 fish, only three survived: clown, tang, gramma.
The owner has used this as proof of toxin contamination since the larger fish were the ones to survive the QT.
I am at a loss. Honestly I am the one who said get a QT, don't put fish back into the DT for several weeks, wait for a cycle.
I will be the first to admit that I am on my second reef tank, two years into this hobby and there is a lot (A LOT) that I don't know. Still, I believe in QT tanks and their usefulness in a variety of situations.
It's hard for me to believe that in 24 hours there was a spike in a 20 gallon big enough to kill 4 fish. My mind still goes back to covering the tank but I'm just not sure.
Any thoughts, suggestions or insights would be appreciated. I would hate to see this series of events ever repeated again.