# Setting up a Fish QT tank



## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

No one was interested in my 65g sump in the FS section so I am going to use it as a QT tank. I have never set up a QT tank before but want to give this a go vs risking issues in the DT this round. 

I plan on using Prazipro for 2 weeks, (ordered from JL I don't know who carries this in the GTA) then move to Hyposolinity for 5-6 weeks.

Does anyone here have any tips to be careful on or experience to share?

I read the "how too" on Reefcentral so understand about keeping a close eye on ammonia and salinity.


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

Ok so I'm starting this today. I picked up 5 new Fish  for my QT tank from Aquatic Kingdom. This was the first time I have been in this store and the service was freindly. You could tell the store was well picked over fpr the sales over the holidays as could be expected but they have the exact fish I was looking for. 

2 Banggi Cardinals(small, and it looks like a pai,r the last 2 they had and apparantly these are not the bread versions n atrual from the reef, they alos said they had this batch now for about 2 mths and these were the last 2)
2 Fire Gobbies
1 Diamond Gobbie med.

The QT tank has 25 gallons of water running for about 4 days now, 
SG is 1.022 no ammonia, 
1 Fluval 2 
1 Hydor 2
1 air stone

Fish were added about 1:30 pm, I added 3.1ml of the Prozipro in 2 lots about 2 hours apart Starting at about 5pm.

Fish look ok lights out and no feeding today. I have no idea how you can tell if the Banngi have ich they have those shinny spots on them as natrual, hoppefully they dont but they have been exposed to lots of other fish over a while.

Hyposolinity will start after 2 doses of the Prazipro. I have very very little evaporation in the room they are in pluss some glass tops so i dont expect managing the SG will be an issue once i get there.

Now lets hope they survive the night


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Your QT is bigger than my DT 

Nice work and glad to see you care alot about your fishies!


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

Well I'm sad to report I lost one Fire Gobbie. He was looking a little weak the first day but I thought it just might have been the stress. Stress or not he is gone. 

The other Fire gobbie looks ok but does not swim around much mostly sits on the bottom close to a pipe for shelter. The other fish look ok, I gave them a small amount of brine shrimp ( cut about a quarter off a cube and then only used about half of that) and saw the Banggi eat a few and the Diamond Gobbie take some off the bottom. I didnt see the second Fire Gobbie eat anything not a good sign. 

I added about 5 small flakes to see if they would take it but not while I was watching anyway. I need to be caerfull on adding food as I dont want the ammonia to build. 

My Ebo jager heater stopped working  It was old so.... Temp down to about 76 when I noticed. Good thing I ordered a new one as a spare and it arrived today just in time.


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

altcharacter said:


> Your QT is bigger than my DT
> 
> Nice work and glad to see you care alot about your fishies!


Thanks I think this will save DT as well. I just hope I can manage this for the full duration. If I lost a fish in the display it could be very difficult to get it out without dismantling a lot of the rock work and I might not even see it behind the rocks at the back.


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

Well holly crap the second Fire Gobbie is now dead! His gills were protruded. 

I hope whatever they had does not effect the Banggai and Diamond Gobbie. 

I'm down 40 bucks now and will have to try these again at some point. Very disappointed.


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## Tim (Dec 11, 2011)

Sorry to hear of the problems. Sucks when you lose some fish. Were all 5 in the same water system @ AQ?


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

True the Fire gobies seem to be in one system, Front west side, and the Banggai and gobbie back last row, I noticed one of the banggai ( The smaller one ) limping in the current and not eating so I shut off the Hydor so he would not have to use energy. Just the air stone in his area. The gobbie and other baggai are eating both som e flake and some brine shrimp same qtys as before

I really hope he is ok, I will see in the morning, I will test for ammonia as well and do a water change if required.


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## Tim (Dec 11, 2011)

ReefABCs said:


> True the Fire gobies seem to be in one system, Front west side, and the Banggai and gobbie back last row, I noticed one of the banggai ( The smaller one ) limping in the current and not eating so I shut off the Hydor so he would not have to use energy. Just the air stone in his area. The gobbie and other baggai are eating both som e flake and some brine shrimp same qtys as before
> 
> I really hope he is ok, I will see in the morning, I will test for ammonia as well and do a water change if required.


To save you continuously testing, get an ammonia badge. I have it on my Qt tank and all it takes is a quick glance to know that everything is ok. Ammonia can spike real fast.

Are your bengaii's tank bred? If not it can be difficult to get them to eat anything but meat. Same with Pajama Cardinals. Ny PJ will not touch pellets and spits out flake. Keep a close eye to see if they are actually eating. I would also try and either upgrade from brine to mysis (chop it up to make it smaller) or soak the brine in vitimins. Make sure to rinse the brine shrimp before soaking in vits and putting it in your tank (keeps nitrates low). According to my flake food instructions it says they should be for supplemental feedings only and to use pellet as a primary food (NLS)

I don't have any experience with the diamond gobies so can't help much there.

I did a quick search on protruding gills and I saw a lot of mentions of fungal infections (mostly fresh water though) so keep an eye out for the same thing on your survivors.


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

^
Thanks for the advise Tim,

I have been chopping up very fine fresh shrimp yesterday and today. The one Bengaii and Diamond gobie take it no issues and they have both been taking a little flake and brine shrimp. I have some mysis as well but didnt try yet that will be next. 

I was told the Bengaii are wild caught I would have preferrd tank bred for the reasons you mentioned. 

Unfortunatly the smaller Bengaii has just about taken its last breath. It barely swims and leans up against the side of the tank or even lies flat on the bottom but is still breathing. Im so tempted to just take him out and freeze him for a quicker end. I have never seen this one take any food from the start.

I am wondering if I should have maybe started with Hypo vs the Prazipro, but I didnt see an signs of ich on the fish when I brought them home. Thoughts?

I will be at 5 days with the Prazi tomorrow I think I will do a water change and start to bring down the SG for Hypo vs a second dose of Prazi. Does this make sense or should I stick to the plan of a second dose of Prazi before Hypo? I understand that there still could be eggs that the Prazi will not get unless you do the second dose but given the losses so far im wondering if Hypo should be the next step and maybe a dose of Prazi at the end of the QT? 

I will see if I can stop by a pet store for these ammonia strips I need a spare heater anyway now to warm up the water for water changes.


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## Tim (Dec 11, 2011)

ReefABCs said:


> ^
> Thanks for the advise Tim,


no problem happy to help if I can



ReefABCs said:


> I have been chopping up very fine fresh shrimp yesterday and today. The one Bengaii and Diamond gobie take it no issues and they have both been taking a little flake and brine shrimp. I have some mysis as well but didnt try yet that will be next.
> 
> I was told the Bengaii are wild caught I would have preferrd tank bred for the reasons you mentioned.


Well by the sounds of it you are doing a good job then if you are getting a bengaii eating flake. If you have a chinese grocery store near you, check out the back section as they may have fresh fish. Mine get a treat now and then and I find the fish really react well to fresh stuff rather than frozen.



ReefABCs said:


> Unfortunatly the smaller Bengaii has just about taken its last breath. It barely swims and leans up against the side of the tank or even lies flat on the bottom but is still breathing. Im so tempted to just take him out and freeze him for a quicker end. I have never seen this one take any food from the start.


If you think the fish is done, I would remove it and either freeze it or separate it and place it in it's own tank and see if you can work on it. You have to find out what is going on and you need to protect the fish that are alive and doing well.



ReefABCs said:


> I am wondering if I should have maybe started with Hypo vs the Prazipro, but I didnt see an signs of ich on the fish when I brought them home. Thoughts?


Here is what I do when I bring home a new fish. I will do this with anything except a fragile species like a leopard wrasse. But remember everyone has their own way of doing things.

First, I would have only done a couple of fish at a time, like the pair of gobies or pair of bangaii's, since each pair came from the same system.

temp acclimation
Fresh water dip dosed with methylene blue (ph adjusted) and i look into the bottom of the bowl for parasites
into the Qt (already cycled)
get them eating for a week and observe and treat if req'd
prazi treatment x 2
1 week break after big water change
hyposalinity for 8 weeks after last one spot seen. Cupramine or tank transfer works too
bring slowly back from hypo over 2 weeks



ReefABCs said:


> I will be at 5 days with the Prazi tomorrow I think I will do a water change and start to bring down the SG for Hypo vs a second dose of Prazi. Does this make sense or should I stick to the plan of a second dose of Prazi before Hypo? I understand that there still could be eggs that the Prazi will not get unless you do the second dose but given the losses so far im wondering if Hypo should be the next step and maybe a dose of Prazi at the end of the QT?


First I think you need to take a breather.  First I would closely look at your fish. Did you get a look at the dead ones? Is there any sign of anything? Now just so you know, ich won't kill your fish right off the bat. It isn't really evil like velvet.

Here is a great reference
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/disease.html

You need to focus on their health. Make sure everyone is eating. Watch closely. Food can go a long way to help them fight off whatever they have.

It may have just been poor collection, stress or damage from transport.

But I think to be safe, if you have kept water quality high, you need to consider that your fish have a bacterial or fungal infection. There are the quite a few medications on the market. And a good thing you are using a qt because some of these meds can ruin the cycle.

I wouldn't use pimafix or melafix. It cures some stuff but they don't know how or exactly what it treats lol

Lots of meds on the list @ chucks addiction so match that with what your local store has and I would avoid any meds that require the fish eating it because if they reject it, no treatment. When you are at your local store ask someone in the fish department if there is anyone who is knowlegable about fish disease and treatment. Explain what has happened and ask for recommendations. Have your chucks addiction print out with you so you can look at the info. Keeps everyone honest lol.



ReefABCs said:


> I will see if I can stop by a pet store for these ammonia strips I need a spare heater anyway now to warm up the water for water changes.


ammonia badge. It has a circle in teh middle and surrounded by what looks like a pie chart. The strips are a waste. The badge works for months.

good luck and let us know how things go.


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

Tim 

these are great points I appreciate the feedback and will save that link in diseases.

Ok so I lost the sick Bengaii he was dead this am. and I fished him out.
I tested for ammonia again tonight and its lower than .25 as thats as low as the test kit. I have been sucking any left over food out with a turkey baster so i think this is helping. The store i went to tonight did not have any ammonia indicators. 

When i fished out the Bengaii this am i noticed it had some scales missing on one side. see pic 

I came home tonight and had a really close look at the remaining Bengaii and Diamond gobie. I could not see any signs of any disease at all on the Bengaii, I did notice however bloody patch on one side of the Gobbie, see pic. I think this is an internal bacterial infection and the web site suggests to treat with Maracyn 2. Of course I dont have any, I will have to call Big Als in Kitchener tomorrow to see if they have some other wise i dont know where i can get it, maybe on line but that will take a few days at least. 

I dont have another tank to separate the two. I do have a spare 5 gallon empty salt pail and did pick up another heater today so I could transfer one of them to that if I had to what do you think, keep them together or? 

Maybe this Internal Bacterial infection is the issue of all the others and i just didnt see it cleary. How contagious is it and how much time do I have? The Gobbie seams to be breathing faster than before maybe 1/sec.


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## Tim (Dec 11, 2011)

Do I see a splotch of red on the bengaii's body close to the tail fin or is that just a reflection? (first pic of bengaii)

That blood spot sure looks the same as what they have on chuck's addiction. I'd get the marcyn2 asap. Big Als should have it. If not, ask in the dry goods forum to see if there is anyone close to you that can give you some. Just make sure to check if there is a best before date.

Get a better test kit. You need to test for ammonia nitrIte and nitrAtes. The first 2 are most important. .25 ammonia is still pretty toxic. You need it at 0 if at all possible. So make sure your test kit will measure 0 and up. Big als should have the ammonia badge too by the way. It is where I got mine.

Have a batch of water for emergency water changes ready. Save that pail you have for it.

When you add the marcyn2 really keep an eye on your cycle. (not sure if your tank is cycled or not?)

Whatever this is that you have it seems to be moving pretty fast unless they were all infected before you got them. I am not sure separating your survivors will do much good? Whatever you have it certainly isn't species specific.


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

ok thanks, and yes I have about 20 gal of salt water ready (with heater now) plus 20 gal of R/O 

It could be a red spot on the Bengaii not sure it was a fast pic this am before work, but I would agree its seams to be spreading fast. 

I guess the only good thing about all this its not in my DT because I decided to QT.


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## Tim (Dec 11, 2011)

yes a huge relief you used a QT!!! probably the best thing you did.

sending you a pm too. check it out.


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## ReefABCs (Nov 10, 2012)

I'm sad to report the Diamond Gobbie was dead this am and the infection spread x2 vs the pic.

One Bangaii left and its not even a full week. Such a disapointment.


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## SKurj (Oct 26, 2011)

Ouch bad luck...

I have QT'd all of my fish, though thats not all that many, and never had an issue. I never added any treatments as I was lucky and none of them needed it. 

My setup was (no new additions planned atm) 15g with 2 koralia nano power heads, several PVC elbows and Tees for the fish to hide in and just a sponge filter (oh and glass top with a single flouro tube light)
I used that setup for a few months while several fish passed through it. I did replace the water between fish with water from my DT.

I did use an ammonia badge as well.


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