PDA

View Full Version : Tank is CRASHING - what can i do


jaredp
09/06/2006, 07:30 PM
I noticed a few weeks back that my Blenny went missing. I thought he was just hiding under rocks or whatever. Anyway BOTH of my clownfish started getting sick, and im not sure if it was Ick or Brook, but i couldnt cure them, and this week they both passed away.

As of today, my Leopard Wrasse is extremely ill looking. He hasnt got any signs of disease, but he is just sitting on the sandbed. hwill swim off if i disturb him, but then just goes back to sitting on the sand.

I only had time to check Nitrate and Nitrites this morning, and the Nitrates were a little high (15-20).

I have a larger tank that is housing another wrasse and a coral beauty from the sick tank (i rescued him a week ago) and no corals.

Is it a bad idea to transfer my sick wrasse into the large tank.? If there is some sort of disease in the sick tank, will it be transferred if i move my corals into my large tank?

chaseracing
09/06/2006, 07:45 PM
Be careful transferring. This will probably infect the other tank.
Think of it like this....If you are going to buy a fish from a questionable source, you would quarantine it first, right?

Think of it the same.

I have found that you can usually put out a lot of fires before they get out of control by doing regular water changes over the next few days.

I usually start with 20%, then 10%, then 5%. Check tank after a few and see if the problem is going away.

Hope that helps,

-=E=-

jaredp
09/07/2006, 12:41 AM
no one else wanted to help? well i checked my tank at lunch and my wrasse died. So i just lost the last fish. Oh well im moving my corals into my large tank when i get home i suppose, and seeing as no one has said not too, im going to. If they get sick, they get sick.

Steven Pro
09/07/2006, 06:38 AM
Moving anything wet (fish, corals, hands, nets, buckets, hoses, etc.) from one tank to the other could bring the disease with it.

Sk8r
09/07/2006, 07:18 AM
Create a dip tank, be it only a bucket, with the new water. Acclimate as if coming from fish store, place in bucket, then in new tank.

You need test kits in the worst way. If you're showing any nitrate or ammonia, that's a serious matter: it can start a dieoff in your live rock and sand, and deprive your fish of oxygen in the process.

I use test strips for nitrate/ammonia [which should be 0---a little more forgiving on nitrate with fish-only, but not at all on corals] and I use Salifert for alkalinity and calcium.

To avoid another catastrophe, get a log book and make entries: check water params daily for a while on a new tank. If 2 days' entries establish a direction [up or down] you know the trend and the RATE at which it's going there; if 3, you're sure of it. You can get a handle on how your tank behaves, and whether it's trending lower or higher and what buffering it's going to need, etc, before it actually hits a bad number.

coralnut99
09/07/2006, 07:33 AM
I don't think you've done enough to figure out what happened in the tank. Before you start moving adding or subtracting you need to get an understanding of what might have happened. I'm not a big fan of the disease wiping out a tank theory. Parasites and pathogens are ever-present. Healthy fish with healthy immune systems in tanks with good water quality have all tools to keep them at bay. As suggested above, it would be best to start a log of your tank's water parameters and monitor them for a period of time until they stabilize within acceptable ranges. This goes way beyond just testing for nitrates and nitrites.

outta names
09/07/2006, 08:22 AM
I would suggest water changes and a lot of them before adding any other livestock. Make sure to do you water test also. Something went wrong for sure, you might even want to take some water samples to your lfs for testing.

WinkeyWoneye
09/07/2006, 08:53 AM
Sk8r I believe you have nitrates and nitrites mixed up. Nitrites is the one that is extremly important because nitrites are toxic. Nitrites are the direct result of ammonia being broken down, both are toxic. If there is nitrites present this means there was or still is ammonia present. Nitrates are the direct result of nitrite and ammonia being broken down into a non toxic form. A high nitrate level indicates a build up of fish waste and organic compounds, resulting in poor water quality and can contribute to the likelihood of fish disease. However nitrates themselves are not toxic. When my tank was a FOWLR tank I was extremely bad about water changes and my nitrates where well up past 160ppm with no signs of stress to any of my fish or inverts. However anemones and corals will not tolerate your nitrates being that high, it should not affect the fish in any way shape or form unless there immune system wasn't strong to begin with. You will have serious algae bloom if your nitrates ever get that high, trust me I know.:eek2:
Jared I wouldnt move anything over to the clean tank until you have found the cause of the problem, otherwise you risk infecting that tank also. Being you havent said your corals are looking stressed, I'm guessing fish disease. I wouldnt move your corals at all if they arent looking stressed.
You must test all your parameters, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate,ph,specific gravity(salt level) ...etc those are the 5 most crucial as far as fish are concerned. If your tank is in fact cycling than the best thing you can do is water changes up the wazoo, until the cycle has past. If you have any fish alive still that are looking diseased or sickly I would recommend QT'ing them by themselves(sick fish ONLY) with no other inverts or corals present in the QT. This way if it is a disease you can treat the fish only, without risking killing LR or inverts. If you dont have a QT tank, goto your local Walmart and buy a 10 gal for like $10.00. A airstone in the QT isnt such a bad idea either. Good luck with it. If you need anything else dont hesitate to PM me.