Stupid mistake.

[Marinemom]

I have a 60 gallon reef that has been set up for five and a half months. It has 89 pounds of live rock in it with several soft corals and a few stonies in it as well. It also has a seabae anemone in it too. Currently it has one small green chromis and a gold striped maroon clownfish in it. I have a six line wrasse in qt. waiting his turn to be added to the main display. Now for the big mistake. I made an impulse buyand bought three large figi blue green chromis and seeing as they were flying through the tank at the lfs and appeared to be very healthy(since they have had them for awhile), I made the stupid mistake of adding them to the main display without quarentining them first. I know, I know that was really a bad move but I can't change what I did. I have a 10 gallon quarentine that my six line wrasse is in right now and I know there's not enough room for these fish. Now there are only two of them since one of them died the first night. He seemed to run into things as if he was blind and couldn't swim very well. (he did not display this behavior at the lfs). Now it appears that the other two fish are sick as well. One of them just sits on the bottom of the tank and the other one seems to swim around in a circle at the top of the tank. These guys only act normal at feeding time. The last two nights I have been feeding them and my other fish thier food with a few drops of garlic extreme added to it. I have been giving them frozen formula one or marine cuisine mixed with some flake and pellet food and the garlic extreme. They eat like there is no tomorrow. I'm glad they still like to eat. So now what do I do about thier weird behavior?If I put them in qt. with the wrasse, I'm afraid that the wrasse will get sick too and there is limited space in the 10 gallon qt. tank. If I move the wrasse to the main display and qt. these two fish in the ten gallon, I'm afraid that there may be something or a parasite now in the main display and the wrasse and my clownfish and the small green chromis will get sick. This is a reef so now what? All of this because I wasn't thinking straight. Man, I could just kick myself but I have to focus on the fish and How I'm going to treat the sick fish and the fish in my main tank. I guess I should mention that there was an ich outbreak in the main display a few months ago and the small green chromis and the gold striped maroon clownfish were in qt. at this time while the main display was allowed to go fallow for nine weeks. What to do. I'm really confused. Sorry this is so long winded but I thought that I should give as much information as possible.

Also when I acclimated them, I did so for more than two hours with drip acclimation so I don't think that the acclimation procedure was the problem.

I checked the water and the ammonia is 0, the nitrites are 0, and the nitrates are 0. PH is 8.1 and the S.G. is 1.025. Temp. is 78 degrees.

Please help! Advise. Yell at me because I know this was a really dumb thing to do. I am confused and sickened by this mess I have created.

Marinemom

[r0bin]

I will tell you one thing, I think you acclimated them too long if you bought them locally.

I would just leave things alone right now, unless you positively know they have ick b/c your other two fish could get it, as you know. If they are just unhealthy for whatever reason, honestly I would just let them go and chalk it up to a lesson learned. I would not upset what I was already doing by moving the other fish around. Again unless you KNOW ick is a factor then I would make some changes. I never risk a fish that I am already attached to b/c I have had it for a while, for a new fish.

[brians_224]

Why would a two hour acclimation be a bad thing?

[jeffnsa]

more stress.

[r0bin]

I just think when you buy fish locally the sooner you get them in the tank the better. An hour acclimation at the most. I actually only acclimate for like 15-20 minutes. I am not suggesting everyone do this but my fish usually eat the first day. I think if you order online and the fish has traveled then an hour or two is fine. BUt if you buy locally the less time they are in a bag the better. I like get them in the tank ASAP and cut off the lights and leave them alone to let them get adjusted. Of course this is after I float the bag, to adjust temp. and mx my water etc.

I am not suggesting everyone do this, it just works for me.

[Sk8r]

2 hr acclimation means the ph in the bag water can go bad. They may be suffering from an extreme ph change. It's a hard balance between long enough to adjust the salt level and too long and the ph going off. Best ask the lfs what salt level they're at if you don't have your own meter, and study various methods of acclimation for different species. If you're right dead on the lfs salt level, a 30 minute acclimation will work in most fishes. Even a few .001ths isn't going to matter that much...except for shellfish and shrimp. I'm not sure they're diseased, I think they're suffering from an event. Eating is hopeful. Offer them cyclopeeze and minimize stress.

[Marinemom]

They were not in the bag. They were in a bucket with a heater and a powerhead and the airline driping water from the main tank. If this is PH shock(and I suspect that it might be based on thier behavior and no outward signs of disease), how do I fix this? Will they recover or should I consider euthanizing them. I want to give them every chance to get well but if all they are going to do is suffer, I don't want that either.

Marinemom

[Sk8r]

They're tough little fish. Give them a chance.

[r0bin]

Yea I would not euthanize, you never know, they are tough. Don't write them off yet. Also, even though they were in a bucket, ect, I still think a 2 hour acclimation is too long. I feel fish should be put into there new tank as quickly as you can following proper procedures.

[mickyfin]

You'll probably be fine.

Any groups of blue green chromis i have ever bought always seemed to be reduced to one survivor within a few weeks min. few months maximum.

Just QT more religously in the future. lesson learned :)

[Teremei]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7587326#post7587326 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
2 hr acclimation means the ph in the bag water can go bad. They may be suffering from an extreme ph change. It's a hard balance between long enough to adjust the salt level and too long and the ph going off. Best ask the lfs what salt level they're at if you don't have your own meter, and study various methods of acclimation for different species. If you're right dead on the lfs salt level, a 30 minute acclimation will work in most fishes. Even a few .001ths isn't going to matter that much...except for shellfish and shrimp. I'm not sure they're diseased, I think they're suffering from an event. Eating is hopeful. Offer them cyclopeeze and minimize stress.

You don't really even need to ask them their salt level. Just test the bag with your refractometer when you get home.