Please help dead fish

[Rosa25]

I still have bristle, and fan worms. How about the media on my filter should I change some of it or all of it? I got the new carbon.

Ive read a lot about skimmer on this web site I dont have one but for my 50 g tank which one will you guys recommend and will it help to clean the copper now?

Another question if its ok to put a single fish on a qt tank with copper why did all of mine died from the copper ? When I checked the levels right after they all died the ph was very low was that the reason?

 

[Awibrandy]

Rosa25, I am sorry you lost your fish, I am sure you did everything humanly possible but it does happen. I also have lost fish to ich, and other circumstances, (like a heater going bad when I wasn't home). Also, I have treated my 75 fowlr, (with good success) while understanding that once copper was added into the tank, the tank would never be used for anything other then fish. I don't believe it was the copper treatment that killed your fish unless you accidentally over dosed. It may have been that by the time you got to the ich it was to late. Ich I found to be a pretty nasty, and fast killer. As far as your lighting is concerned I would run them for short periods of time in the evening, nothing big just a couple of hours. I also agree with fritz, excellent advice.
Best of luck.

 

[RareZ]

Hi Rosa, sorry to hear about your loss, I am no expert here but I went thru the ich cycle and stuff, and even sometimes they appear if the fish gets stressed.

Your lighting can be limited to your viewing purpose, since there are no more fish or corals that require lights. Fan worms, bristle worms really dont need light for any photosynthetic reasons, but they do react to light. With your lights being off most of the time you will see more crawlers and pods(if any exist) crawling in your tank. Basically leave your light on for the time you wish to view the tank for.

People here on MR are very helpful in everything, if you need any advice or help with anything feel free to post and I am sure someone will answer to your calls.

Btw where are you from? Please fill in your profile info.

 

[Rosa25]

Thanks again everybody today I feel much better I changed the water and the media Im hoping the next 40 some days go fast I cant see my empty tank for long. Im from Clearwater Florida.

 

[ReeferGoneMad]

ich can manifest itself because of alot of reasons. stress, low temp, quick changes etc. it gets a hold of fish when they are stressed. marine animals need stability. having a low ph them adding the copper could have stressed the fish enough for their immune system to let ich get a hold. Fritz is right follow what he said. but remember the copper will be there.i would stop treating the antibiotic. and leave the lights off. IMO i think its the best thing. if u do wat fritz says and u test ur water maybe the copper will be gone within time. but its hard to say. anyway leaving the lights off will prevent nuisance diatoms and algea to grow. dont worry bout the fan worms and brittle stars they lik the darkness. also i would say those bristleworms were crawling around trying to find a new home they couldnt reach because ur ph was low. bristleworms are cool unless its a fireworm. the ones u have sound like they are the good ones. fireworms are real bushy and bigand colorful. regular bristles should be a red color with thin bristles coming from them. just follow what fritzs said and test ur water for coper after those 45 days. Good Luck and sorry for ur loss

 

[Tonyscoots84]

i wonder why the fishes died :arg: :irked: :grumpy:

 

[DRZL]

Rosa,

Look into getting a product called Cuprizorb made by Seachem, its made specifically to absorb copper. Carbon and polyfilters, are good for various contaminants but lack the type of chemical absorption cuprizorb has. The great thing about it is that it turns greenish as it absorbs and it lets you know when it has been exhausted. Ive used it on my own LR (im OCD w/ my stuff) its good stuff

 

[jasno999]

I hate PetCO people sometimes.

 

[Seadog09]

:dog: What about a Utraviolet Sterilizer ? I had a ich problem when i added a tang from petco. I purchased a UV Sterilizer from the doctors and i 've seen no ich since.It's been almost 2 years now.My water is also a lot clearer .

 

[drunktank]

All previous posts were valid and true to every word. I just a few things I want to point out that weren't said (i think)

#1. The store was wrong to take the fish back for 4 days. Their system is probably crawling w/ ich and it wouldn't have gone away, and the life cycle of ich is much longer then 4 days. Which is why we QT for a weeks to a month.

#2. Understand that your canister filter will give you problems in the future. you might want to do some research on it, we've discussed it in great detail in many thrads

#3 although I believe skimmers are needed (some dont) It helps remove waste products and organics from the water if you can't do water changes as often as you'd like.

#4 Is it possible the scallop died anad you didnt notice? They don't survive in closed systems and are rather difficult to feed. If it died it could have polluted the tank.

#5 Even though your readings were normal, your test kit could be crap basically, which are you using? Also whats your SG and nitrite readings?

#6 Did you only have 2 fish in your tank? Hippo and clown? You could have brought something back with you from the store the second time around.

#7 Did you check the PH readings after you dosed? If you did to much, it could have been a critical factor

Lastely for a question posed about UV.... I find them to be very over rated. They work wonders with killing algae blooms in the water and make your water crystal clear. But they only affect organics/bactria/paracites which are in the water. once ick gets in the sand, fish and rocks. the UV doesnt work.

I suggest in the future, you stay away from ALL lfs advice and come here Our vendors and memebers are over qualified, and very helpful! I hope you find some answers through reading posts and asking questions. And I hope my comments haven't raised to many more questions or confused you

(btw my longest post ever!)

 

[jasno999]

Drunktank you said it perfect.... And I agree the UV may be nice but coudl also be detrimental cuase it kills all the good organics & bactria as wel las the bad.

 

[Rosa25]

Wow I havent been online for a while sorry.

Drunktank I was using strips for my test. My scallop was fine until I put the copper in ,she was the first one to die. My nitrates have been at zero but my ph keeps going down. I test my water at home plus I have a lfs (not petco or petland) that test my water twice a week hes readings have been same as mine . The owner is a very nice person he has another lfs store in orlando. I trusted petland and petco so much that I didnt go to them when I had the ich problem but I learn my lesson. I bought a copper test my levels have been 0 for a week my poly filters are not turning blue no more as they are supposed to if theres copper present. I am so excited that soon I will be able to get new fish !!! Thanks for all the recommendations.

By the way the lfs owner has been giving about the same advice as u guys, hes the one who recommended this web site he says he heard it from a customer in orlando, so I hope hes a good one I cant get online that often.

 

[Harif87]

Hahahaa, aquarium salt.......

aquarium salt to put in the tank

Just shows their ignorance (the people at petco)

Also, hippo tangs wont do that well in a 50 gallon, they get big and like to swim. Just a little advice for the future

 

[drunktank]

Wow I havent been online for a while sorry.

Drunktank I was using strips for my test. My scallop was fine until I put the copper in ,she was the first one to die.

Okay i believe the first problem maybe ur copper dose. Inverts are very sensitive to copper. The scallop (which wouldnt have survived anyway) was probably killed by the copper and lack of food in the tank. Upoon its death, and the death of any snails in ur tank, it probably polluted ur system. Secondly trash the test strips, they are not reliable. The slightest bit of moisture in the bottle and the stripes will be inaccurate. Go out and buy a real test kit.

my final suggestion is to research ur fish online before you purchase them. Liveaquaria.com and saltwaterfish.com and marinedepotlive.com have some pretty good information on what each fish requires and how well it will do.

 

[DRZL]

By real test kit he means:

Saliferts are premium kits, you should really invest some money in purchasing some more kits of your own. Any dedicated hobbyist usually has Nitrate,Alkalinity,Calcium,Phosphate as a minimum requirement. Many more are available but this is a good base.

Make sure you get salifert, the test kits at LFS are usually garbage

 

[DRZL]

Drunktank you said it perfect.... And I agree the UV may be nice but coudl also be detrimental cuase it kills all the good organics & bactria as wel las the bad.

Just a note:

Your water in a reef tank w/ LR is not where your main bacteria is held. Its in your rocks and sand. You can do a 100% WC and the new water will have the same amount of the prior bacteria within 24hrs.

 

[Rosa25]

Wow I did not know that about the bacteria in the sand and rocks. I thught it was in the water.