Farewell, my best little buddy, Spot

[OneThunder]

It was black saturday. Spot went to fish heaven. No matter what I tried, hyposalinity, Kick-ich, nothing worked. I am so on the verge of giving up. I am glad there is a meeting tomorrow if only to meet all of you. He was the last to expire because of the ich. Beauty still has spots, but she eating and bopping around the tank. Angel has no spots, never did. Bob and Tom don't either. If I get the nerve to start over, my first purchase will be a qt tank. Next will be a refractometer. The lfs talked me out of it, said he used a hydrometer for 20 some years, never failed him. I should have known better. My husband said I should pick a store and only trust them. This is such a total bummer.

[broden]

sorry to hear that :(

[Dubbin1]

Major bummer Julie. What kind of puffer was spot anyway

[zaireguy]

if you have a fo tank you should run uv..you wouldn`t have to worry then

[OneThunder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7140582#post7140582 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dubbin1
Major bummer Julie. What kind of puffer was spot anyway He was the most beautiful and gentle dog face puffer I have ever seen.

[MACDad]

Sorry for your loss Julie. Hang in there!


Fred

[Andrew]

Sorry for your loss. :'(

[MBuck]

I'm so sorry Julie......I can understand your excitement in having him, he was a very special fish....

Please don't give up though...you obviously loved him very much, and got tons of enjoyment out of him....

Just keep reading, and set your tank up as a reef, like you originally wanted, and when you're in the LFS, another DFP will capture your heart, and then you can set up that 125 or 150, and build it around him/her....or "them"....

Don't lose faith... sorry won't ge to come to the meeting today, I have to go to work, they will not let me off....I'll have 72 hours this week, just trying to get today off...

Will talk to you soon...if you want to talk, feel free to PM me....I am a very good listener!

:D

[jenghes]

Julie - I am close. Anything you need, let me know. I have a QT setup that you can use too :)

[OneThunder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7142505#post7142505 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MBuck
I'm so sorry Julie......I can understand your excitement in having him, he was a very special fish....

Please don't give up though...you obviously loved him very much, and got tons of enjoyment out of him....

Just keep reading, and set your tank up as a reef, like you originally wanted, and when you're in the LFS, another DFP will capture your heart, and then you can set up that 125 or 150, and build it around him/her....or "them"....

Don't lose faith... sorry won't ge to come to the meeting today, I have to go to work, they will not let me off....I'll have 72 hours this week, just trying to get today off...

Will talk to you soon...if you want to talk, feel free to PM me....I am a very good listener!

:D I know it sounds stupid, a fish and all.... but I really did care a lot about the little guy. Well, big guy. I couldn't even dispose of him-I made my husband do it. I wish you could have made it to the meeting. The next one is in Sylvania at Jen's. Hope to meet you then, and thanks for caring.;)

[MBuck]

Never stupid to care about something you love, admire and enjoy...no matter how big, or small it's brain is!!:D

You're a hospice nurse, you're supposed to care...that's what you do!!

Do we have a date for the next meeting.....????

I am going to have all of next weekend off....first days off we've had in 8 weeks....supposed to get 3 days Fr Sat Sun...too bad it's Easter wkd, everyone will be busy!

Well, going to go finish plumbing my tank, finally have everything to get it done....been a long stratch of time with an empty tank!

Take care, and will talk to you again soon!

[OneThunder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7142520#post7142520 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jenghes
Julie - I am close. Anything you need, let me know. I have a QT setup that you can use too :) Jen, you are the best. I just went and told my husband about the great people in our club. Wow. I said our club.

[Dubbin1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7142529#post7142529 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OneThunder
I know it sounds stupid, a fish and all....

Its not stupid at all. Even though it is a fish, it is still a pet and something you take care of.

[HotMermaid]

I am so sorry and I can totally relate! I'm really not into reefkeeping like Ron is, but I LOVE my clown fish!

Ron and our son went to a coral swap some time ago and my son picked up a pair of mated clown fish for me. He was so proud of himself that he found me a pair and I was happy to have a pair once again.

Once they got to know me, they would come up to the top of the water and I could "pet" them. :D Plus the big one would race you from one end of the tank to the other when you walked past.

Then Ron added a Nazi Naso to the tank and all of sudden I lost the little clown fish {I never did find him}. Then about a week after loosing him, I lost the big one. :( Talk about being emotional over loosing fish, of course the pregnancy hormones didn't help either. :)

My son was pretty upset also that the fish he picked out for me were gone. Ron's Naso was very lucky that I couldn't find any nets or my Ragdoll kitty would have had a very nice supper!

[skippysmind]

good luck with any future fish.

[XeniaMania]

Supplement your tank w/ Lugol's Solution, it works as a disinfectant and cell regenerator. Soak dried food w/ Vitamin C enriched liquid or fresh squeezed OJ. Never lost a fish to ich w/ this method. Feeding is key, you need to keep em healthy but water condition is such an issue that most don't feed as much as they should.

[OneThunder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7144675#post7144675 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by XeniaMania
Supplement your tank w/ Lugol's Solution, it works as a disinfectant and cell regenerator. Soak dried food w/ Vitamin C enriched liquid or fresh squeezed OJ. Never lost a fish to ich w/ this method. Feeding is key, you need to keep em healthy but water condition is such an issue that most don't feed as much as they should. Ya know, I had a feeling I should have been feeding them more. Jim kept saying I was putting too much food in there, and he pointed to a thread about overfeeding...well too late now. I am on a mission to get a hospital tank up and running. I will be converting my tank to a coral reef tank. :mad2:

[skippysmind]

No, overfeeding is not the key. The fish died from ich, not starvation. Overfeeding will cause many more problems than you think, red slime algae, a spike in ammonia, etc. Freshwater dip your fish before adding to your main tank and you should be fine.

[OneThunder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7144938#post7144938 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skippysmind
No, overfeeding is not the key. The fish died from ich, not starvation. Overfeeding will cause many more problems than you think, red slime algae, a spike in ammonia, etc. Freshwater dip your fish before adding to your main tank and you should be fine. I am going to do everything to make sure I NEVER go thru this again. I am going to quaranteen everything for at least 30 days, freshwater dip....Lugols solution...they are going to get it all. I just can't fall in love with a little creature and loose it again. Not like Spot.

[XeniaMania]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7144938#post7144938 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skippysmind
No, overfeeding is not the key. The fish died from ich, not starvation. Overfeeding will cause many more problems than you think, red slime algae, a spike in ammonia, etc. Freshwater dip your fish before adding to your main tank and you should be fine.

If you have a properly designed biological system, you won't suffer from red slime, ammonia, etc, except if it's in a QT tank which is why I don't quarantine.

[bigdaddyadam]

if the other fish still has ich, it is still in danger, despite acting healthy...

2 possibilities here I think...

either it is something else and not ich, which is why hypo is not working....or the hypo is either too low or too high in salinity.

too high salinity will do nothing, too low will likely kill the fish,
it is possible that your hydrometer is wayyyyyyyyy off, they are notoriously inaccurate, especially out of the peak usage range, they are simpley not calibrated well enough, and once out they cannot be fixed, also salt build-up in them can throw off the swing arm, etc. when I bought my conductivity meter and measured against my hydrometer, the hydrometer was off 0.08, which may not seem like much, but it REALLY is.

One last thing, and I don't mean to patronize you at ALL, but one common mistake I have heard before is incorrect top-off water...are you using fresh water not saltwater for top off? people have sometimes used saltwater not realizing that they are adding more and more salt to the tank, also as evaporation occurs over the day, your salinty will rise, taking the tank back out of hypo. for best results you MUST maintain a stable water level as much as possible.

the last ideas are probably pretty out there but when my friend used to do computer tech support the first thing you always asked was for the person to unplug and replug their computer, because 9 times out of ten the problem was it wasn't plugged in, and if you just asked them to check if it was plugged in they wouldn't do it because they thought it HAS to be plugged in, that is so dumb.

I hope things get better for you soon, I understand how crappy ich can be. I myself am enjoying a huge algea attack that I think is the result of sunlight coming in from the windows

[OneThunder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7146731#post7146731 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bigdaddyadam


too high salinity will do nothing, too low will likely kill the fish,
it is possible that your hydrometer is wayyyyyyyyy off, they are notoriously inaccurate, especially out of the peak usage range, they are simpley not calibrated well enough, and once out they cannot be fixed, also salt build-up in them can throw off the swing arm, etc. when I bought my conductivity meter and measured against my hydrometer, the hydrometer was off 0.08, which may not seem like much, but it REALLY is.

are you using fresh water not saltwater for top off? people have sometimes used saltwater not realizing that they are adding more and more salt to the tank, also as evaporation occurs over the day, your salinty will rise, taking the tank back out of hypo. for best results you MUST maintain a stable water level as much as possible.


I just purchased a refractometer yesterday because in the back of my mind.....I always thought the hydrometer couldn't have been right...see the guy at the lfs told me I didn't need one. He said he has been using the "hydrometer" for over 20 years and never had a problem. I said sometimes it "sticks" and so I have been rinsing it out with tap water- he said that was my problem (????). I don't think I trust him anymore. We checked the other tests and they were all with in range.

[jenghes]

If you want to use my refractometer until yours arrives, let me know. I also have a copper test kit if you want to verify.

[bigdaddyadam]

define "in range".......there are some people who will tell you that any number of things can be above 0ppm when they should not be, what are your detectable levels? ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, pH, alkalinity, etc. these will tell you if something major is off balance here

also what did your salinity turn out to be when tested with the refractometer?

[OneThunder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7150320#post7150320 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bigdaddyadam
define "in range".......there are some people who will tell you that any number of things can be above 0ppm when they should not be, what are your detectable levels? ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, pH, alkalinity, etc. these will tell you if something major is off balance here

also what did your salinity turn out to be when tested with the refractometer? Range: according to the levels specified on the back of the test kit. Ammonia was "0".

The refractometer hasn't come yet...mail order.

[bigdaddyadam]

is ammonia all you test for? on a newer system such as yours you should also be testing nitrite, nitrate, pH, alkalinity, and depending on the type of water you are using for your salt mix, you may also want to test for chlorine and phosphate.

what is your water source? are you using tap, ro, ro/di? if it is treated water, do you treat it and test it's TDS or is it from a store?

ich can explain fish deaths but other contributing factors can also affect whether your fish are fighting off the ich or not.

I still think that when you test with a refractometer you may well find your SG is not as low as your hydrometer is leading you to believe. Also, make sure to calibrate the refractometer as well or IT will also be off.

[OneThunder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7151854#post7151854 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bigdaddyadam
is ammonia all you test for? on a newer system such as yours you should also be testing nitrite, nitrate, pH, alkalinity, and depending on the type of water you are using for your salt mix, you may also want to test for chlorine and phosphate.

what is your water source? are you using tap, ro, ro/di? if it is treated water, do you treat it and test it's TDS or is it from a store?

ich can explain fish deaths but other contributing factors can also affect whether your fish are fighting off the ich or not.

I still think that when you test with a refractometer you may well find your SG is not as low as your hydrometer is leading you to believe. Also, make sure to calibrate the refractometer as well or IT will also be off. no, lets see, without digging them out from under the tank, there is five. Nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, pH, .....
My well water is treated with a salt water softener. I have a very nice reverse osmosis under the sink, it's on the fritz right now.
Jen already clued me into calibrating it with distilled water. I"m just waiting for it to arrive in the mail.
If I do find out that the stupid hydrometer was that much off, I don't think I will go into that store again.

[bigdaddyadam]

lots of people use hydrometers, but there is no way to know whether or not yours is off. I have 2 and one is totally unreliable, the other is pretty spot on, I use it now and again to check whether i need to recalibrate my conductivity probe.

you are using well water? just know that there could be any number of things in well water that you don't want getting into your tank. without a detailed analysis of what is in your water you may be taking a big risk. it could have farm field run-off phosphates that are at levels so low they have no affect on you, but may harm fish. as well it could have ammonia, nitrates, etc.

the main thing that would effect that stuff would be type of well, depth of well, type of piping, age of piping etc. I would really suggest some type if ro/di set-up prior to using it if I were you, I use ro water I get at Meijer and have lately become very sceptical of even that water at this point.