Blue velvet damsel

[frizman86]

Hi I am new to this site and have been running my aquarium for a little over 4 years now. It has had it's ups and downs but I like the challenge.
I just recently got a few fish to add to my 55 gallon fish LR tank and one of them was a blue velvet damsel. I had him for three days now in my tank and found him this morning dead. I am wondering if he was just two stressed out or if it is something I did. I had him acclimating for 4 hours in a separate container then the flame angel. And seemed to be running around the tank quite happily for 2 days.
The other fish in the tank are
Saddleback clown
Purple dottyback
Royal gramma
Manderain dragonet
I am also testing my tank with API saltwater kit and reef master kit. All of the levels are good. I also do a water change every three weeks (to try and cure my green hair alge problem that I will post about in a different thread). Along with the water change I use calcium reactor additive, and reef essentials.
My biggest concern is the damsel not compatible with another Fish and I don't want this to happen again this is why I decided to join a fourm.

 

[kiefers]

Hi, I am sorry to read about your new addition.
Stress could have played a role in the loss of the fish however I do have a questions for you.
Did you QT this fish prior to adding it to the tank?
How long did you acclimate to the DT before letting it go?
I am leaning towards the dottyback getting a hold of this fish. Dottybacks can be aggressive to new additions.
By the way..... welcome to the site. Lets see if we can help ya.

 

[frizman86]

No I never qt the fish I know I should have and I do have a separate 10 gallon tank I use for raising copepods for the dragonet. Could I also use that as a qt tank?
I used the drip method acclimating him for 4 hours.
Thanks for the reply.

 

[geridoc]

I would not recommend using the copepod culture tank as a qt tank also. Culture tanks are relatively low in oxygen and you will not be able to treat for things like ich without killing off all of your pods. A 10 gallon dedicated qt is inexpensive, easy to set up and run, and will always protect your dt.

 

[kiefers]

I do agree with Geri on this QT.
You can get a good sized QT very cheap with the HOB filter. The QT is merely for observing the new fish for diseases and treating if needed. You don't want to introduce a parasite or microorganism to the DT that will infect your other fish.
You will have to cycle the QT for several weeks and test just as you would your DT.
I hope this helps you.

 

[frizman86]

Thanks for the reply, I think I have a 10 gallon tank in the garage that I used to have freshwater fish in so I already have most of the stuff. I have never really heard of people qt fish until I started looking online. And makes a lot of sense, not to use my copepod culture tank.

 

[clown-keeper99]

It surprises me that a Damsel died do to stress
As for the Hair algae you have phosphates
The API test kit doesn't register until .25ppm, at which point things are very bad
Turn the lights off for three days and run some GFO

 

[frizman86]

After my algea outbreak I switched from a hang on the back filter and sump. To a canister filter with nitrate sponge. And a phosban reactor. I also use a turkey blaster to blow off the rocks every three days. When doing this I plug my power head from my wave maker to a regular outlet, and have my wife hold a fish net dedicated to algea removal right in front of the power head. I have also adjusted my lights from 8 hours a day to 6. Increased my amphopod population, and doubled my snail population. The flame angel is also eating the small bits off the rocks. I also do water changes every three weeks and replace all filter stuf (filter pads and media) every three weeks. I also changed to using RO water and add Kent's reef essentials to add back the good minerals the RO water takes out.
This has cut my algea problem down drastically. It has taken about two months but I can now see about 80 percent of my live rocks. And it is getting better every day. I can also tell my fish are loving it they now don't hid in one spot when the lights turn off. They will hid in different areas of the live rock sometimes on one end of the tank and sometimes the other end.