My first big blunder -- fish wound help needed

[blackdog]

I went against the promise I had made to myself and bought some fish without being certain about the quality of my water. I had just gotten back from vacation and my SG, temp, pH, Amm, Trite, Trate were all optimal. So when I stopped by LFS two days ago, I decided to get some fish, though I had told myself on the way in I wouldn't.
Bought 5 green chromis and 1 tomato clown. These are my first fish in the tank (55 gal 2.5 months old). All appeared to acclimate quite well, began immediately picking at the glass and swimming happily. I dubbed the Chromises N'Sync.
The observant among you will have noticed that I didn't mention Alk or Calcium in my first paragraph. That's because I didn't test them until this morning when I looked in my tank and saw two of the Chromis have a red welt on their sides surrounded by a light area:

Turns out my Calcium and Alk are both quite low. Ca=350ppm, kH=100 mg/L (can't remember conversion to DkH, but I know this is low, should be around 140-150)
pH=8.3, temp= 80F, SG=1.023, Amm Trite Trate all 0
I have added buffer and Calcium, and will continue slowly until levels are good.
My questions:
Is a water change better than adding buffer and Ca? I don't have any water mixed yet, so it would take more time. Second, is there anything else I should do to help the sore on the Chromises? Did it come directly from the low Alk, or perhaps banging against rocks at night, and not healing well bc of water conditions. Can you add a stress-coat like liquid to the tank? I have freshwater stress-coat, not sure if it is used in SW.
TIA for help,
Dave
On the plus side, I decided against the Atlantic Carpet Anenome, despite LFS guy telling me the Tomato would take to it

 

[mr.bubble]

I think you shuld ask this question on the diseases and treatment form. just a thought.

[hr]
WARNING: I AM A NEWBIE! I MIGHT GIVE INCORRECT ADVICE! CHECK WITH SOMEONE ELSE BEFORE YOU TAKE MY ADVICE!

 

[broomer5]

Dave,
Adding the (6) fish all at once was not the best thing to do in my opinion, although I don't think this has much to do with these 2 chromis present condition.
The mark on it's side does look to me like an abrasion - but I am no fish disease expert, it could be something else for sure.
Did the lfs person have a hard time getting these guys out of the sale display tank ?
Like maybe chasing them around and banging them with the net ?
Ca=350ppm - actually that is not so bad, although most reefer's tankwater calcium levels are kept higher - this I don't believe is a problem here.
kH=100 mg/L or 100 ppm CaCO3 ??
Sounds like your alkalinity may indeed be low - around 2.00 meq/l or 5.6 dKH.
Again I don't think this would cause any damage to the chromis.
These little guys are damsels - and pretty darn bullet proof.
But if you smack around any fish with a net, or they do rub against rocks and damage the scales, underlying tissues or mess with their slime coats - they can develop some problems.
I will move this over to the disease forum as well - and see if Beth, Frank or any others can help you.

 

[blackdog]

Thanks for the help, Broomer and Terry. Unfortunately, the two affected fish didn't make it through the night. One of the others has a small raw spot near its dorsal fin. At this point I can only keep an eye on it and hope for the best. Terry, the infection you describe does match the appearance of the two fish that died.
I understand the need for a quarantine tank, and why it is strongly recommended by people on this board. However, I guess I don't understand how it would have helped in this instance. If it was a latent infection, it would have simply appeared on the fish in the quarantine instead of the display. To me it seems like the main point of a Q tank is to protect the fish already in the display, which in this case was none.
I will need to do some more reading on setting up a Q tank because I'm just not getting how you set up a stable environment without the biological filtration that you have in the display tank.
Not trying to be contrary -- just still working through how to get started. Thanks again.

 

[blackdog]

Forgot to mention that netting could have been the problem with the chromis. Netting at the store went smoothly, but I botched it at home. One of the poor guys got stuck in the bag as I poured them out into the net, and I didn't realize it until I counted four in the tank.
I can hear you rolling your eyes.

 

[kev]

In a QT tank, your trying to see if your fish has any diseases(if any). It will be ALOT easier to treat a diseased fish in the QT tank than in the display tank(hyposalinity, copper, antibiotics, etc...). By doing this, you will keep your main tank free of diseases. This will also let you keep inverts/corals in the display without having to worry about removing them to treat the fish(as they are more delicate). But if your going to be running an entirely FO tank I could see not having a QT tank.

 

[ophelia]

I have heard good and bad things about Melafix, but my experience with it has been all good. It has never hurt any of my inverts and seems to speed healing time of minor injuries. I'd try that, and the whole garlic thing. It's antibacterial.

 

[ophelia]

On a side note, there are always pathogens in any tank. The quality of the water and the stress level of the fish are by far and large the determining factor in the outbreak of diseases. Stress equals low immune system equals sick fish. I quarantine all my fish and a few weeks ago, after making it to the display tank, one came down with coral reef disease. I posted for advice on catching him in a tank stuffed with live rock I didn't want to pull apart (stressing the other fish and possibly making them more prone to catching it) and received nothing but a supercilious comment that I should've quarantined. I did! It's not a cure-all! It absolutely does not guarantee you a disease-free tank!
Anyway, I ran the idea of quarantining the first fishies placed in the tank by both my personal fish gurus (one has had a 400 gallon reef going on seven years, and the other has a 180 gallon and works full time at a store that sells nothing but marine fish, corals, and supplies) and they both thought that it was pretty much pointless. What next, a separate QT for each of the new specimens you buy? If I ordered one of the package deals they sell on this site my apartment would be littered with small tanks filled with rapidly fouling water and very peeved fish.

 

[ophelia]

On a side note, there are always pathogens in any tank. The quality of the water and the stress level of the fish are by far and large the determining factor in the outbreak of diseases. Stress equals low immune system equals sick fish. I quarantine all my fish and a few weeks ago, after making it to the display tank, one came down with coral reef disease. I posted for advice on catching him in a tank stuffed with live rock I didn't want to pull apart (stressing the other fish and possibly making them more prone to catching it) and received nothing but a supercilious comment that I should've quarantined. I did! It's not a cure-all! It absolutely does not guarantee you a disease-free tank!
Anyway, I ran the idea of quarantining the first fishies placed in the tank by both my personal fish gurus (one has had a 400 gallon reef going on seven years, and the other has a 180 gallon and works full time at a store that sells nothing but marine fish, corals, and supplies) and they both thought that it was pretty much pointless. What next, a separate QT for each of the new specimens you buy? If I ordered one of the package deals they sell on this site my apartment would be littered with small tanks filled with rapidly fouling water and very peeved fish.