A long frustrating night...

[dank61]

Okay… so I am new to aquariums. I have the RSM 250. last night I noticed that the 2 Damsel’s I had put in a day ago has white growth on its fins and tail. Sooo…. I freaked out, and decided to take the fish out of the tank. This is where it got “Fun”. I have about 70 pounds of rock in there (WAY too many hiding places). After about 20 minuets of trying to get them out :evileye: :evileye: :evileye: , I really wish I could use foul language.. in the end about an hour later, I had the fish out, along with all of my rock!!!!!
:flaming: :flaming: :flaming:
So my question is, in the future once the tank is established with coral and everything else, what would I do in the same situation?

Lesson learned… there is a reason for the quarantine process!!!

 

[BigAl07]

A) No more damsels LOL! They are terrible for this reason
B) Fish Trap.... everyone needs one
C) How old is the tank and how long has it been set-up and running?
D) How long have you HAD the fish (not just in the tank but had period).
E) Did you quarantine them from the time you bought them?

 

[dank61]

The tank has been running for a little over three weeks. Went through the cycles and has leveled out. I have 15 snails and 15 crabs... had 15 crabs 2 died through this ordeal. Had I watched some guy do this on t.v. and act the same way I did, I would have probably fell over laughing. Also having my wife saying she could do it better probably didn’t help my attitude either, but she seemed to have a good time watching!! I will definitely look into the fish trap!!! I wish I would have known…

The fish were new… I did not quarantine… now I know the importance.

 

[BigAl07]

Ok I think we may have "jumped the gun" on stocking the tank.

What are your test results last night or today?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

What did you use to cycle? 3 weeks could have been a complete cycle, but they usually take longer than a month. If you didn't add any source of ammonia, that's probably the reason they were getting sick.

 

[dank61]

I introduced the fish part because I wanted something in there.. part B, the guy at the LFS said now would be the time to start stocking the tank..?
PH 8.4
SG- 1.025
Temp- 78F
Alkalinity-… I cant remember but good.
Ammonia- 0
Nitrites- 0
Nitrates- 2.5ppm
Has been stable for the last week.

I have not tested today, I am at work.. so as soon as I get home I will test

 

[BigAl07]

Sorry for your problems. This is a classic case of "Do NOT trust you Fish Store". Some LFS are very trust worthy AND knowledgeable but some are one or the other or worse NEITHER! Remember the more stuff you have to REPLACE the more stuff they sell.

Take some time and check out this thread...
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...rs/33555-look-frequently-asked-questions.html


Learn about the Nitrogen Cycle and how it works with your system. It's going to be a part of your tank every single day and the sooner you understand it the better off you are.

The first couple of stages of the "Cycle" can be hard and down right lethal to LIVING animals. This may be the reason why you lost those snails from the get-go. Also the loss of the snails can cause the cycle to get much more HARSH which may be part of the problem with the fish.

Where are the fish now?

What is currently IN the tank?

What are you running for "Filtration" on the tank?

 

[dank61]

The LFS seemed to be a pretty reputable. There has been several times I have talked with different guys and got totally different info… and some of the stuff they were saying didn’t seem right. Like “you can add livestock after a week..” I found one guy that works there that seems to be pretty honest and he is the one I had been dealing with, guess not anymore.

I have had the crabs and snails in the tank for since the 11th and had been doing great until last night, I think I had something to do with that, unfortunately.

The fish are back at the store where they came from.

As for filtration, I am using what came with the start up kit from red sea. The ceramic biomedia, activated carbon and the sponges. I have been reading other threads on changing these out, but I have not figured out what I am going to do yet.

Thanks for the link BigAl, I will read over it

 

[BigAl07]

My pleasure. One word of caution... if you DO decide to "change things out" do so over a long and deliberate period of time. Your system is new but it's already dependent upon the media (sponges, ceramic media etc) and merely "Yanking them out all at once" will create a Cycle. Honestly this early on that's not the WORSE thing as I suspect you're still "mid-cycle" unless you introduced something other than the snails and crabs to "Create/Feed" the cycle.

 

[dank61]

the only other thing I added was NitroBac by red sea

 

[dmyers557]

Sorry about what happened. Since your levels are steady now, I think it would be fine to add a fish. Keep in mind, Damsel's are 1 of the hardest fish to get out of a tank.

 

[BigAl07]

Sorry about what happened. Since your levels are steady now, I think it would be fine to add a fish. Keep in mind, Damsel's are 1 of the hardest fish to get out of a tank.

dmyers how do you call this steady now

..... last night I noticed that the 2 Damsel’s I had put in a day ago has white growth on its fins and tail

That was last night. This tank is ANYTHING but steady and no don't add any new live-stock.

 

[dank61]

Thanks Dmyers and everyone else! As long as I can learn from it and not repeat it, I am okay with what happened. As for the Damsels… I wont be forgetting them for a while!!

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

There has been several times I have talked with different guys and got totally different info… and some of the stuff they were saying didn’t seem right. Like “you can add livestock after a week..” I found one guy that works there that seems to be pretty honest and he is the one I had been dealing with, guess not anymore.

This is why you can't use the LFS as your source of information. This is a highly opinion based hobby, and human beings are very superstitious creatures by nature. When one person gets away with stocking a tank after a week and everything lives, that becomes ingrained in their minds as scientifically verified, undeniable truth, when in all reality it was just luck. They then begin distributing this as truth, when really, probability favored them and it is not likely to favor anyone who tries to repeat their example.

In my opinion, the best hobbyist is one that knows both sides to an opinion or argument, the risks, probabilities and possible outcomes associated with both those extremes, and how to strike a happy medium to produce the best results.

 

[dank61]

BigAl, I think the came from the LFS like this and didn’t notice.. when I brought them back I noticed that some of the other fish also had this. The guys there said that the fish were fine… but I think I know otherwise, I could be wrong

 

[dmyers557]

BigAl- Did not realize that was last night....oops. I just saw that all levels were 0 except nitrates. Could be a coincidence since the fish at the store already had the disease, but I would not chance it yet.

 

[Luukosian]

I would just let the tank relax for a bit. Just because your damsel had a white growth, that in itself doesn't mean your tank didn't cycle, it could have been a fungus or bacterial infection that was just accelerated because of the move or lack of acclimation.

That being said, I still would not add any fish for a while for the following reasons. The bacteria/fungus(or parasite I suppose...if it was in fact ich) is probably still lurking around the tank in some capacity, this in effect could be spread to other livestock that will be added. It sounds like you are getting nitrates and your ammonia/nitrite levels are good, however your tank is still adjusting its bacteria to the bioload of your tank so you want to give it a while to stabilize.

I would just have a good time watching your hermits and checking out the life that comes out of the live rock. You will be surprised by all of the life that is in your tank even now without fish. If in fact it was ich I would give it a lot of time to "fallow", but otherwise just relax and let nature run its course(unless you have the money/resources to obtain a protein skimmer and all the other things you are probably going to want to run a reef...start reading).