1 Damsel dead, another popeye

[chypriss]

I had Domino 5 damsels and 1 FP clown. Now im down to 4 Damsels and the Clown. 1 died last night (found by the coral banded shrimp at night), i kinda think the CBS might have gotten him at night, they tend to sleep on the bottom. As of this morning all off the fish are doing fine, except for 1, it has pop eye. I had a problem with Ich the last week and a half, and as soon as i added the cleaner shrimp its going away thanks to his help. But im just curious as to why 1 might have died all of a sudden and the other has pop eye. My tank is still cycling im about 3 weeks in, i also have live rock to help out and various inverts to help the cleaning. But as far as the pop eye goes, shouldnt the clown havent gotten it before the damsels since they are more hardy than the clown. Im going to remove the 1 damsel and place it in my QT tank, but is there anything i should do to the main newer tank besides wait and see.

 

[arkey.d]

Well, I am sorry to say that your moving to fast. You shouldn't have anything in your tank until it's done cycling and then add your cleanup crew then a fish every couple of weeks not all at once.....
When the Ammonia and Nitrite levels peek, they burn the gills of the fish that are in the tank and some may die just from those levels.
With that said, I'm not sure on the medications for ich/pop eye and what they will do to a tank that is still cycling. Maybe someone with experience with those diseases can chime in here. Or ask in the Deseases and Treatment forum.
Also, Welcome to the Forums! Good Luck with your tank.

 

[chypriss]

Ahh ok, i have another tank setup thats been going for over a year, from what i was told that you let your tank sit for a couple of days to let the salt and the water mix properly then you add damsels to help start the cycling. I did that with my last tank and it worked just fine. But i will move a few of the fish back to the other tank and slowly introduce them.

 

[arkey.d]

The best way to cycle the tank is with a one raw cocktail shrimp per 55 gallons, just add it and let it rot.
If the fish have ich/popeye don't add them to your other tank and contaminate that one.

 

[chypriss]

I have never heard of that before, i wish i would have found these forums sooner. My other tank is running with no problems. So i assumed i could go the same route, gues i shouldnt have. So should i take the non affected fish and move them out of the tank to the already established tank, and just let the other tank go through its course.

 

[arkey.d]

The still may have ich, just not showing signs of it. I would just leave them in there and let the tank run its course and see what happens.
Keep an eye on your Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. Once the Ammonia and Nitrites are zero the nitrates will rise then do a 10% water change to bring down your Nitrates.
Yes these forums here hold a tremendous wealth of knowlege. Use the search feature to tap into some great threads.

 

[chypriss]

I will and thanks for the advice.

 

[arkey.d]

Off subject here - but how long have you worked for UPS. I spent 12 years with them here in PA.

 

[smshep01]

Hello there and welcome to the forum. IMO, I would not put any of the fish in your new tank back into your established one. If one of them has or had popeye and/or ich, chances are the others may have it too, even if they are not showing any signs of it. Your best bet is to quarantine all of the fish in your new tank and treat them with a product called Cupramine. It is safer to inverts than just copper. Treat them in a quarantine tank for about 6-8 weeks, keeping a close eye on the copper levels. DO NOT put any of your inverts in the quarantine tank, because the copper levels will kill them. Also, keep your SG at around 1.018-1.020. This is called hypersaltinity. This will also help with ich. While the fish are in a quarantine tank. I would recommend raising the temperature on your new tank to above 80 deg. This will help speed up the process of getting the ich out of your new tank.
I agree with the other post. Let the tank finish cycling before adding any fish or inverts. Add 1 pc of raw shrimp cocktail to every 55 gal of tank. Also, your LR and LS will also help aid in cycling. Once your levels have plained out, you can SLOWLY add your fish to your tank. Adding them all at once will spike your Ammonia, nitrates and nitrite levels. add 1-2 fish every couple weeks, but only after treating them with Cupramine.
I had an reoccuring ich problem in my tank within 3 months of getting it up and had to treat the fish a couple times before getting rid of the ich. These steps I just gave you helped me permanently get rid of the ich. Hope this helps.
Sheppie