Sick fish....QT tanks and the headaches... how do you cope?

[daniella3d]

Ok but be very carefull with any ammonia neutralizer because some will bind with Cupramine and release the copper into a toxic form. It is documented on the Seachem site.

Things like Prime only neutralize the ammonia for 24 hours so it must be taken out of the system by water change if there is no biological filtration or redosed on regular basis. It also affect the level of oxygen in the tank if the temperature is high.

Originally Posted by Myka

Ammonia is easily and inexpensively controlled using AmQuel ($12 for a 1-5+ year supply depending how often you use it) or other ammonia detoxifiers. Ammonia is easily and accurately monitored using a SeaChem Ammonia Alert ($10 for a year). No need for large, expensive water changes.

Live rock can't be in a tank with copper because it will absorb the copper and make the treatment ineffective (not to mention ruin the rock). Not that I believe any fish should ever be treated with copper though.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

Ok but be very carefull with any ammonia neutralizer because some will bind with Cupramine and release the copper into a toxic form. It is documented on the Seachem site.

Yes good point, this is just another reason to not use copper.

Originally Posted by daniella3d

Things like Prime only neutralize the ammonia for 24 hours so it must be taken out of the system by water change if there is no biological filtration or redosed on regular basis.

This is simply not correct, it needs to be redosed because there is more ammonia added to the tank via the fish pooping. I use these types of products everyday in high volume. I prefer to use AmQuel though because it is cheaper and strangely enough it is twice the concentration of Prime.

[daniella3d]

No sir I am right about this that Prime dissipate in about 24 hours:

from SEachem web site:

http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Prime.html

"Prime dissipates from your system within 24 hours"

That too has been well documented. I was quite surprised when I first learned about it. So what happen to the ammonia when it dissipate? Do they mean it's been consummed by the bacterias? and if there are no bacterias what happen after 24 hours? not quite sure.

Originally Posted by Myka

This is simply not correct, it needs to be redosed because there is more ammonia added to the tank via the fish pooping. I use these types of products everyday in high volume. I prefer to use AmQuel though because it is cheaper and strangely enough it is twice the concentration of Prime.

[Hustler]

Well my main issue that ive come across is when people say the fish should be added at the same time or they will fight.... But then say your adding too many fish at once... One by One they will fight and die... all together its too fast on the system??? ...
Ive got over 400lbs of fully cycled LR in there plus the monster skimmer and bio reactor... Its not the water...and other than the occational nipping i dont see where stress would come from?

[mike31154]

Comes down to that when adding livestock there's no simple or one size fits all solution in salt water. Don't know about fresh, never had a freshwater system. Such a variety of species available with salt water and with it variety of needs, it's hard to know when or how the best way to add them is. I made more than one error as well when starting my system, had a few losses due to not researching & impulse buys. Getting better though. Watching a few beautiful fish die has tempered my impatience.

[daniella3d]

Because parasites are there and they are living and multiplying, it does not mean that your fish absolutelly must be stressed for the parasites to colonize them.

Stress or no stress, eventually the parasites number will grow.

Originally Posted by Hustler

Well my main issue that ive come across is when people say the fish should be added at the same time or they will fight.... But then say your adding too many fish at once... One by One they will fight and die... all together its too fast on the system??? ...
Ive got over 400lbs of fully cycled LR in there plus the monster skimmer and bio reactor... Its not the water...and other than the occational nipping i dont see where stress would come from?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

No sir I am right about this that Prime dissipate in about 24 hours: "Prime dissipates from your system within 24 hours"

You've taken that out of context. Once Prime has bound NH3 into NH4 it doesn't dissipate back to NH3. Excess Prime that has not bound to NH3 will dissipate.

Originally Posted by Hustler

Well my main issue that ive come across is when people say the fish should be added at the same time or they will fight.... But then say your adding too many fish at once... One by One they will fight and die... all together its too fast on the system???

If everything was "perfect" you would have a different quarantine tank for each fish, but that's unlikely. You can quarantine many different kinds of fish together provided you buy a few compatible fish at a time. Make sure the size of the quarantine matches the number, size, and type(!) of fish. Long narrow tank make better quarantines if you are going to quarantine multiple fish at a time because they can maintain a distance from each other. A 45 gallon tank would probably be suitable for many of the fish you are planning to get, but bigger or more active fish (like large Tangs) would need something bigger. You can also use egg crate to make dividers. In a tank your size, you could easily add 2-4 fish at a time depending on the size of the fish. Use water from the display for the quarantine tank to save on the cost of salt. You can keep "old" water from water changes in a barrel, just pour it through a filter sock and use it within a couple weeks.