My 20 Gallon QT Tank

[9g]

20gal Tank.

2 Butterflies
Blue Tang
Clown Fish

 

[Innovator]

How long has this tank been up and running? Hope you have filtration of sorts? Probably would suit the animals best if rockwork had some arches or cave structures to allow the fish to hide and/or create a territory. Looks to be a couple Heniochus (acuminatus?). Either way, they will outgrow your system as will the Paracanthurus hepatus (Blue/Hippo Tang)...just so you know

 

[9g]

2 days. No filtration yet but i change 5 gal per day and siphon the bottom. Salinity is about 1.009 and temp is 82*.

3 of them have icks and my nemo has not been eating and has been breathing hard but he has no sign of ick or the other one that the skin is peeling of. He looks fine but he is very weak.

 

[melosu58]

Either way, they will outgrow your system as will the Paracanthurus hepatus (Blue/Hippo Tang)...just so you know

I agree that these fish will outgrow your tank if not already. Blue tang are very suseptable to ich let alone being housed in a tank of less than 75 gallons. I would suggest a larger tank because they need plenty of swimming room. If not I would think about taking them back if they survive. Sorry about being the bearer of bad news.

 

[roka64]

My FO tank

If you have skin peeling off of your fish, this could be the fatal stage of ich.

+++EDIT+++
Have you already cycled this tank?
BTW, you have a FOWLR tank...since you have the rock in there....

 

[austinsdad]

Your salinity is waaay off where it should be. And I also agree that you fish choices are not good at all for such a small tank.

You have room for a clown and a goby maybe, that's it.

 

[roka64]

I believe 9g is attempting hypo in the tank, due to the ich outbreak.....

 

[9g]

This is my QT . I made the mistake of putting those butterflies in my 72 gal bowfront tank a few days after acclimating them and they have caused ick to my blue tang. Actually, i did QT them but only for like 4 days until the visible ick went away but then they came back and affected my blue tang(should have left them there for 3 weeks or more (ick cycle))

Oh, those are base rocks(marco rocks) so I only put FO cause the rocks arent really live.

Also, I couldnt hypo my tank since i have a red and cleaner shrimp and some snails in there.

 

[austinsdad]

I see.

 

[roka64]

"Live" means containing the nitrifying bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrItes and then into nitrAtes. You will need to let your 72 go fishless for 8 weeks, to break the cycle of ich. I would also suggest soaking their food in garlic guard, selcon and zoe. Garlic will help to boost their immune systems and the other two will give extra nutrience.
Since you are treating sick fish, I am going to move this to the sick fish section.

 

[9g]

I have a flame angel fish in the DT. He has no ick. should i move him to a QT tank too? Or should i wait for visible signs of ick before i move him too?

 

[Innovator]

This is alot of fish for a 20g qt. Here is some information on qt procedures:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php

As for fish selections, I personally would not hesitate in trading back the Heniochus and Paracanthurus. These will all outgrow a 72g IME.

 

[austinsdad]

If you had ick in your main, you've still got ick in your main IMO. You've probably moved the ick to the 20g also. Get the inverts out of the 20g and try the hypo.

I think you've got a problem that will ony get worse unless you take some more drastic and consistent action.

BTW, what was your most recent reading for nitrate in the 20g?

 

[melosu58]

Ok I see also that that was your QT. Sorry I misunderstood. I agree with James that still ise too much for the QT. The best thing to do is to QT your fish and treat with hyposalinity and keep your main fishless for 8 weeks to break the life cycle of the parasite. But as I said your QT will be too small for all of them.

 

[9g]

Ok thanks for the info. I will get another 20gal for another QT and leave my main 72gal fishless.

My QT has 10 nitrate but ill change 10 gallon tonight.

I have been using the garlic with marine cuisine and frozen formula 2.

Im planning to get another tank in a year or so so i should be ok in the future. Now, they have plenty of space to swim.

Thanks for the help!

 

[roka64]

Props, for you taking the great advice that has been given. I always like to see that!

 

[9g]

well, ived dumped alot of money in this tank/livestock and im not about to loose them !!

I have already gone through 300Gal of ro water and salt in a month just to keep my water parameter in excellent condition.

What's worst about all of this is that my ro water is in the basement and the aquarium is on the top level of our 5 level split foyer house so I get alot of exercise.

I wanted to get more lr but my seaclone 150 was not working for me so i invested in an Aqua C protein skimmer.

Hopefully, this would be my last big investment for a while.

 

[roka64]

Cool deal! Make sure you cycle your new QT.