Did I hypo too quickly? Lost a fish

[guitarfish]

I woke up this morning and my coral beauty was dead. Here's the history:
Monday - discovered ich on yellow tang. Setup QT immediately with tank water. SG was 1.022 when I began, and I lowered it to 1.018 over 4 hrs, 1g per hour. Kept pH stable.
Tues - more freshwater added gradually throughout day, got to 1.014 by Tues night, 24hrs after starting.
Wed - Dropped to 1.010 over 5 hrs. Still keeing pH stable. Fish eating, active, so far so good.
Thurs am - coral beauty dead; Clarkii clown staying in corner, won't eat. Can't find fridmani pseudo, not sure if he's in an ornament alive or dead. Tang is fine, so is blue yellowtail damsel.
Checked calibration of refractometer with RO water at same temp as tank - it's calibrated dead on. QT now measures 1.009, dead on.
It's a 28g tank, btw, presently with 3, possibly 4 fish.
Checked for ammo/nitrite. Ammo is 1ppm. There's a big clue. Put in ammo Lock 2. That's where I am right now, very disheartened. Any suggestions are welcome.
I plan to do water changes each day to deal with water quality.

 

[beth]

The ammonia is the problem. That much ammonia is lethal to fish. You seemed to follow hypo procedure perfectly.
Live and learn in this hobby, so take your disheartened feelings and make something good come out of this exp....QT all fish prior to placing them in your display. Maintain a cycled QT.
Did you read the info on QT in the FAQ Thread? There is some info there on how to aid a new QT with cycle issues.

 

[guitarfish]

Yes Beth, I'm a voracious reader and read the stickys many times. I have some good news - I added Ammo Lock 2 last night. The result today is my clown, who was "shutting down", is now swimming, eating, and happy. The tang is great, as is the damsel, and my missing fridmani pseudo made an appearance tonight at dinner. All are healthy and eating.
The water quality is 1.0 ammo (locked up as far as I know), and 0.25 nitrite. I am doing a 5g water change tonight, and will do this daily if required. The SG is at 1.009 and I think I can succeed as long as I can keep the quality up.
As for the QT tank - it will get a new home in the garage, the next room over, when this emergency is over, where it will permanently run.
MANY THANKS, I nominate you for the Nobel Prize for Fish Health!!

 

[beth]

gfish, you are really on the right track, and its a good thing you like to read. The learning process never ends with this hobby.
How big is your tank? You can do a larger water change if visible, to keep the ammonia and nitrite down.

 

[elfdoctors]

I had the same thing happen when I did hyposalinity. I lost 4 out of 6 fish in an uncycled 20 gallon QT in spite of 25% daily water changes (and starting with substrate and water from the display tank to try to speed up the cycle). When the fish died, and the bioload decreased (and the tank was further into the cycle) my remaining fish recovered and survived the rest of the treatment (and the ich is cured!). It was very disheartening. Even with the best of intentions you can't put too many fish into an uncycled tank.
I would also suggest that you feed the fish very lightly until you are sure that ammonia and nitrites are undetectable to decrease the amount of new ammonia in the tank.