New Coral Beauty

[richl]

I have a new coral beauty in my 20 gal QT for 18 days. He has been in hypo at 1.009 for 11 days as I always hypo new stock as an ick preventative measure. The water parameters are good at 8.3 PH,0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrite, but Nitrates are about 40. I changed 7 new SW at 1.009 three days ago. I have been feeding Ange/Butterfly formula, mysis, seaweed sheets, brine with spirulina, most soaked in Via-Chem or Selcon. For the last several days, he doesn't seem interested in eating much and seems listless. Also, his color is changing from mostly dark blue/purple to lighter orange/yellow with the blue/purple just around his fringes. I really can't tell if he is sick or just stressed because he is by himself in a small tank. Any ideas about what I can do to improve his health? Could it be that he isn't handling hypo well? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[levinjac]

try to raise it up again and feed algea sheets there is no algea in a qt so you need to feed algea sheets

 

[levinjac]

wait sorry do you try vitmins

 

[levinjac]

could u post pics

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by RichL http:///forum/thread/381120/new-coral-beauty#post_3318303
I have a new coral beauty in my 20 gal QT for 18 days. He has been in hypo at 1.009 for 11 days as I always hypo new stock as an ick preventative measure. The water parameters are good at 8.3 PH,0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrite, but Nitrates are about 40. I changed 7 new SW at 1.009 three days ago. I have been feeding Ange/Butterfly formula, mysis, seaweed sheets, brine with spirulina, most soaked in Via-Chem or Selcon. For the last several days, he doesn't seem interested in eating much and seems listless. Also, his color is changing from mostly dark blue/purple to lighter orange/yellow with the blue/purple just around his fringes. I really can't tell if he is sick or just stressed because he is by himself in a small tank. Any ideas about what I can do to improve his health? Could it be that he isn't handling hypo well? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks
A nitrate reading of 40 in a QT with only one fish leads me to believe that you may be over feeding.
Have you seen it eat the algae sheets?
I would only feed the Angel/Butterfly formula on alternating days with mysis shrimp and an algae sheet daily. MAKE SURE he is actually eating the algae.
Can you post pictures?
I would suggest raising the salinity back up, just to rule out him not handling hypo well.

 

[beth]

I agree. That level of nitrate is not good. Why is the nitrate so high? What are you using to circulate the water?

 

[richl]

He is definitely eating the algae sheets. I attach a one inch square piece to a strong clip every night and it's gone the next morning. There was a fair amount of uneaten food when I siphoned the tank to change the 7 gallons (about 35%). He doesn't seem very interested in the shrimp, so I'll make sure to minimize that and emphasize the algae. I also treated the water with Vita-Chem (2 drops per gal) after the water change to see what that does. The 40 read on Nitrates was before the water change. I'll test again tonite and plan another water change. I'm very reluctant to cease the hypo treatment since he's about half way through. I absolutely refuse to add a new fish to my DT without completion of hypo. I've only been in the hobby for two years and the first 6 month or so were hell with battling ick. My DT is healthy and I want to keep it that way. The QT tank has 2 drip filters, a low output Coralia and a surface power that agitates the surface pretty good. The water I use for changes has been airated by airstone a couple of days. Any other comments will be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[btldreef]

Don't cut out the shrimp completely, these fish are omnivores and need both.
Have you actually seen it EAT the algae strip? I ask this because, overnight, a 1" square algae strip will basically disintergrate.
I'm not suggesting that you place this fish in your DT, but if he's having a hard time with hypo, at least raising it back up slowly would rule that out.
40ppm nitrates even before the water change is not good, especially in a QT. You may need to kick up how option you are doing water changes. I have a 40G QT, and I usually do water changes every 5 days, but if I have a Tang or Angel in there (even the dwarf angels), I do a water change ever 3 days. Fish that predominantly eat vegetation produce much more waste than most carnivorous fish.