@Blaise006 has had a hell of a time with Dr Reef fish.
Help tangs has developed spots
- Thread starter MichaelB
- Start date
I have had great experience with Dr. Reef’s—-particularly their customer service. Health wise the specimens were great. Dr. Reef’s and High Tide Aquatics have been bulletproof for me thus far. I do buy fish from other places but those go through 4+ week quarantine which I find somewhat enjoyable. The QT tank pretty much runs itself. I just clean the glass and do a water change with copper dosed water once a week. Dose other meds and suck out detritus if needed.
I'm going to guess you had Marine Velvet and this was patient zero: https://www.ultimatereef.net/threads/ich-velvet.843363/#post-7953400
"Swimming into the flow of a powerhead is a strong indicator of Marine Velvet Disease. Unfortunately, that parasite is not often successfully managed and there are no reef safe treatments.
I would QT all of your fish, and treat with copper or Chloroquine phosphate. A 5 min FW dip en route to QT will buy you some time by providing temporary relief."
PizzaOven
Supporting Member
Man, when it rains it pours. Sorry to hear about this.
As someone who doesn't QT fish, I feel like I've been playing with fire. I'm going to set up a QT tank or buy from pre-QT sources from now on. I appreciate you posting this kind of stuff, it will help us all in the long run.
As someone who doesn't QT fish, I feel like I've been playing with fire. I'm going to set up a QT tank or buy from pre-QT sources from now on. I appreciate you posting this kind of stuff, it will help us all in the long run.
I can't honestly say I will start buying only quarantine fish even after this. I have limited budget in general the tangs were probably my biggest cost fish wise in single purchase so that hurts.
But after this i know i need to learn this quarantine stuff considering i don't want a repeat of this. Also lots of the fish i want tend to be ick/ velvet prong.
There are a few special specific fish I do plan to get from kenny. Definitely couldn't afford ever fish I eventually want from him.
So quarantine tank will be on the list. As well as getting saltwater mixing part set up. So far i only have the 55 rodi barrel set up.
I couldn't have done a 50% water change without going buy the water how i'm currently set doing things. Still mixing salt by hand in 5gallon buckets.
I have the barrel already for it just need to get the full setup hooked up and whatever parts i need to do it.
Taken as a harsh learning lesson, sucks but not discourged.
H2OPlayar
Supporting Member
I know it's hard, but patience and waiting for fish to come up on the bst side, or from tank breakdowns is a good way to expand your fish list at an affordable rate. I'm guilty of not being great here too, and learned a few lessons just this week on it with having to pass on a really good local deal because I added a few fish over the last two months.
SupraSaltyReefer
Supporting Member
Damn sorry to hear about your fishes bro. I can say with complete confidence the one spot foxface, 2 pj cardinals and magnificant fox face did not have ich. They came from a BAR members tank that had them since before 2020. The yellow tang, black tang, purple tang, blue tang, 3 copperbands, 2 Molly miller blenny, and 3 filefishes still has never showed ich in my friends tanks or my tank.
Tbh, I think you just have too much going on. You should hold off on getting any new fishes and corals until your 210G tank is set up. In my opinion, unless you plan on quarantining ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING (fish, corals, inverts, frags, rocks, etc….) that goes into your tank don’t spend the extra money on buying quarantined fish or learn to QT yourself. Ich is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. In the meantime read up on QT methods, setup a QT system for the future, and setup a rodi system with 50g+ rodi water reservoir ready to go for emergency like this. Also, have dedicated nets and tools for each tank it will lessen the chances of cross contamination and ich is airborne so if your tanks are not 10ft+ apart it will spread.
Tbh, I think you just have too much going on. You should hold off on getting any new fishes and corals until your 210G tank is set up. In my opinion, unless you plan on quarantining ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING (fish, corals, inverts, frags, rocks, etc….) that goes into your tank don’t spend the extra money on buying quarantined fish or learn to QT yourself. Ich is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. In the meantime read up on QT methods, setup a QT system for the future, and setup a rodi system with 50g+ rodi water reservoir ready to go for emergency like this. Also, have dedicated nets and tools for each tank it will lessen the chances of cross contamination and ich is airborne so if your tanks are not 10ft+ apart it will spread.
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Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
Mantra:
Keep less fish…LONGER
Keep less fish…LONGER
MarcosD
Supporting Member
IMO. The stock tank fish deaths and the frag tank fish deaths weren’t related. There’s no way those fish you got in the stock tank were healthy and suddenly spread ich/velvet to the rest of the fish and your other tank. Stock tank died from an ammonia spike. Frag tank got ich/velvet from the blue tang you got from Aqua Plus. Technically yeah it could’ve been the Yellow Tangs from Biota, but I doubt it.
I agree with @SupraSaltyReefer that you should be able to hold a good amount of RODI/Saltwater to have on hand. That probably would’ve been my focus before even setting up the frag or stock tank. Hard to do water changes on either of those with just a 5 gallon bucket. Even a large brute can with a powerhead and heater would do, nothing too complicated.
Also agree on the part that if you’re not buying everything QTd, there’s no point in spending the extra money because a cheap not QTd fish would cross contaminate with the QTd fish.
Very unfortunate experience but definitely a learning lesson. Thank you for sharing this side of the hobby. It’s very real and sometimes people tend to not want to share it. Goes without saying- run tanks fallow and no trading/DBTC coral
I agree with @SupraSaltyReefer that you should be able to hold a good amount of RODI/Saltwater to have on hand. That probably would’ve been my focus before even setting up the frag or stock tank. Hard to do water changes on either of those with just a 5 gallon bucket. Even a large brute can with a powerhead and heater would do, nothing too complicated.
Also agree on the part that if you’re not buying everything QTd, there’s no point in spending the extra money because a cheap not QTd fish would cross contaminate with the QTd fish.
Very unfortunate experience but definitely a learning lesson. Thank you for sharing this side of the hobby. It’s very real and sometimes people tend to not want to share it. Goes without saying- run tanks fallow and no trading/DBTC coral
Baykes
Supporting Member
First of all so sorry to hear about the fish loss it really sucks.
Of course it is impossible to say with certainty but it is very possible or even likely the ammonia spike was a result of the fish death. Especially if there was any cross contamination between the two tanks with equipment, hands, water change buckets, etc.
Agree with all of this 100%.
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
Agree 99%, -1% since these 55g brute containers are SO HARD to get. Still waiting on mine to be shipped after several weeks.
Thanks for clarifying that it was most likely the blue tang from Aqua Plus.
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
44 gallon brute cans…Home Depot
Get the wheels too
Yea I have the 55 rodi barrel running, I don't have the other barrel setup to use to mix the salt yet. Watched a few videos on it but hasn't made me confident enough to drill holes in the barrels yet.
Not implying I got ick or vekvetfrom those fish from break down by any means, just put out a detail timeline of how things went.
I have tanks to set up a quarantine tank. Issue is finishing mixing station so at the least I have water already heated. I only keep 5 gallons mixed for the water change on main tank currently.
With the other 55gallon mixing station set up barrel it would give me a option to quickly have 110 gallons if saltwater fairly quickly if needed. Especially if I can have both already heated to temp around the clock.
I do plan to get maintenance tools for each tank soon. Also i will think harder on the 10feet separation of all tanks. Afternj finish my floors. In addition to quarantine station in garage. All added to my many projects.
I used water from stock tank to top up frag tank in addtion to taking rocks from it for frag tank sump. Plus shared tools for all tanks. In hind site i did a millon things wrong. I screwed up so much It's Impossible to single anything out as the cause of either tanks fish lost. I can only be alot more mindful of my future actions.
I plan to have both barrels in my kitchen near 200 so only need to un roll hoses, and can just use buckets for main tank in my room like i always have. Currently only rodi barrel is in my kitchen.
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
Tagging on to what @SupraSaltyReefer said, I would use this event to significantly (!) reduce complexity in your reefing endeavors, and slowly build up everything. I could not do what you do unless this was my full time job.
I also think that some of what needs to be done is too expensive, and shortcuts might costs you more at the end. I would step back and determine what you really want to do and what is affordable. I had concerns with the 200-gallon tank project from the beginning, but I know this is not a popular opinion.
I also think that some of what needs to be done is too expensive, and shortcuts might costs you more at the end. I would step back and determine what you really want to do and what is affordable. I had concerns with the 200-gallon tank project from the beginning, but I know this is not a popular opinion.
H2OPlayar
Supporting Member
I thought we covered this.
Keep fewer fish...longer
Unless you are counting just the general mass of fish, then I guess it can be less.
I tend to agree here too. I have multiple tanks, but the 2 fresh and 2 smaller salt are very low maintenance. Soft corals only and not many fish so minimal water changes. I am home all the time and still struggle to find time to do everything I want with the tanks. (Baby problems, she's great though)
I don't want to pile on here, especially given Michael you're probably bummed, but this is the key theme to take from the thread. There's other valuable stuff too, but using tech industry speak, if you do a root cause analysis or 5-whys analysis, the source of these issues are likely this.
So to ensure I don't do anything utterly stupid. Posted what I found from a google search below. I also saw several articles from other fourms saying similar.
Just to be clear, I wasn't planning to use the skimmer on one of my existing tanks with fish.
However The 40gallon Tank I have gotten to replace my current main tank biocube32. The 40 gallon actually includes a sump (one of the main reasons I wanted a different tank over the biocube32 for better filtration over the biocube32. ) it my hopes that will allow me to finally get Po4 lower than .8 and with luck help sps color up more in addtion to adding better lighting.
The 40gallon doesn't have a skimmer currently. The frag tank has a curve 5 skimmer.
I also have a Eshopps S-150 protein skimmer that I used in the stock tank.
I also have a redsea rsk 300 skimmer. That I originally thought that one would be large enough for the 210gallon tank. After research I found out that both of those options would be way undersized for a 210gallon gallon tank. Unless I possibly used both at the same time?
Not sure if that would work or be pretty dumb? Still looking out for a larger skimmer.
I mentioned that to say I wouldn't consider using the eshopps one same as I wouldn't risk using the curve 5 skimmer from frag tank, on the 40gallon cube.
Would the redsea rsk 300 skimmer be too crazy over powered for a 50gallon system?
Based on this search it seems safest not to use the skimmers from either of these tanks.
So any recommendations on a skimmer I should consider to be on the look out for?
I want something that's at least decent hopefully used, but not opposed to a brand new one. I'm not inclined to spend a few hundred bucks on one either.
So open to leads on a used one, a new one at decent price.
I figured if i leave the ones in affected systems alone for several weeks no fish etc like i intend with the tanks themselves they should be safe to use again at some point in time?
Just to be clear, I wasn't planning to use the skimmer on one of my existing tanks with fish.
However The 40gallon Tank I have gotten to replace my current main tank biocube32. The 40 gallon actually includes a sump (one of the main reasons I wanted a different tank over the biocube32 for better filtration over the biocube32. ) it my hopes that will allow me to finally get Po4 lower than .8 and with luck help sps color up more in addtion to adding better lighting.
The 40gallon doesn't have a skimmer currently. The frag tank has a curve 5 skimmer.
I also have a Eshopps S-150 protein skimmer that I used in the stock tank.
I also have a redsea rsk 300 skimmer. That I originally thought that one would be large enough for the 210gallon tank. After research I found out that both of those options would be way undersized for a 210gallon gallon tank. Unless I possibly used both at the same time?
Not sure if that would work or be pretty dumb? Still looking out for a larger skimmer.
I mentioned that to say I wouldn't consider using the eshopps one same as I wouldn't risk using the curve 5 skimmer from frag tank, on the 40gallon cube.
Would the redsea rsk 300 skimmer be too crazy over powered for a 50gallon system?
Based on this search it seems safest not to use the skimmers from either of these tanks.
So any recommendations on a skimmer I should consider to be on the look out for?
I want something that's at least decent hopefully used, but not opposed to a brand new one. I'm not inclined to spend a few hundred bucks on one either.
So open to leads on a used one, a new one at decent price.
I figured if i leave the ones in affected systems alone for several weeks no fish etc like i intend with the tanks themselves they should be safe to use again at some point in time?