Parasites??

[jerseyjess21]

Hello. I have a 75 gallon tank that I set up this past Christmas. I have had problems up and down with the tank since then. Ive followed all the proper steps cycling the tank and starting with damsels and such. Ive also talked to many people about the tank while I was having problems and my water would test fine then all the sudden the ammonia would spike up (did water changes, changed filter media monthly, didnt over feed). Ive lost almost all my fish within those months do to various things. All I have left now is my snowflake eel. Ive moved him into a smaller tank by himself and Id like to start the 75 gallon with smaller, community saltwater fish. But someone told me its possible I have a parasite - I want to make sure before I add new fish that there are no chances of the parasite (if its there) killing my new fish. Sooooo my question is how long should I wait before adding any fish in the tank? It is still fully running - filter, skimmer, heater, powerheads- it just has no fish in it. Any other suggestions on what the problem could have been would be great also!
Thanks in advance!
Jess

 

[perfectdark]

ALthough I am not an expert in diseses it would be difficult to nail down a specific parasite without any physical description or habits of your fish prior to them dying.
A sudden amonia spike in your tank typically indicates die off of some type. The obvious is a fish dying but what sometimes goes over looked is your total bioload. If you had more waste being produced than your nitrifing bacteria could handle, it would indeed stay as amonia until it could catch up (if at all). I would seriously doubt your water chemistry was perfect if this was the case. I would bet that just before your amonia spike your nitrate levels were off the chart along with alot of other things. Just my 2 cents...
Knowing what your stock was before everything died would help and what types of filter etc you are using. Also your feeding schedule.. what was it, alot of people who think they are not over feeding find out that they are.

 

[mr. limpid]

Leave your tank fish free for six weeks, this enough time for any parasite to die off. during this time set up a QT tank, in a thread above this form is direction on how to set one up. Qt all your new fish in that thread or the thread above that one are two ways of QT your new fish I Hypo all my new fish I say better safe than sorry. Take a bit longer but after fighting ick for a year I think its worth it. Good Luck

 

[jerseyjess21]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
ALthough I am not an expert in diseses it would be difficult to nail down a specific parasite without any physical description or habits of your fish prior to them dying.
A sudden amonia spike in your tank typically indicates die off of some type. The obvious is a fish dying but what sometimes goes over looked is your total bioload. If you had more waste being produced than your nitrifing bacteria could handle, it would indeed stay as amonia until it could catch up (if at all). I would seriously doubt your water chemistry was perfect if this was the case. I would bet that just before your amonia spike your nitrate levels were off the chart along with alot of other things. Just my 2 cents...
Knowing what your stock was before everything died would help and what types of filter etc you are using. Also your feeding schedule.. what was it, alot of people who think they are not over feeding find out that they are.
Thank you. i think in the begining of the tank I was over feeding but shortly after I started having big problems I switched to feeding every other day to every 2 days. Ive had (not all at the same time. ive had 4 fish in there at once TOPS)
2 yellow tang-BOTH tangs each died after getting an infection that I treated and then came back (I dont remember the name but they had the red lines)
juv. clarkii clown-got an eye infection which I tried and tried to cure and no luck, he eventually stopped eating and died
a marine betta- refused to eat since I got him
juv. picasso trigger-was doing awesome and then my ammonia spiked out of the blue and he seemed to get a slight slight case of ich but I didnt realize it was ich until it was too late. He was hanging around the bottom and I guess became weak- I woke up one morning to him having bite marks all over his head. Apparently the eel tried eating him. He died that day.
snowflake eel- Still alive, in his own tank.
juv. dogface puffer-got sucked to my powerhead and got ich which I also tried to cure by dropping the salinity and raising the temp, I fw dipped him and nothing
As far as my set up- I have/had....
-mix of live sand and crushed coral (I have taken the crushed coral out of this tank and am getting more sand)
-about 60lbs of liverock
-prizm Skimmer
- 2 powerheads (that now have the filter carts. on them)
-Rena XP 3 (I am purchasing an additional filter for the tank before putting new fish in)
So some people have told me it is the water quality causing these problems- other told me parasites. I am almost at wits end with the tank but dont want to give up on it. Im kind of leaning twards it not being a parasite because all this was over a 10 month period and the eel is doing fine still-Ive had him for about 4 months and the store I got him from had him for about a year . so what can be causing my water quality to go bad so suddenly if im not changing anything? Im gonna have a head of grey hair before this tank is normal I think.
And thanks to Mr. Limpid- I figured it would be 4 weeks or so- so waiting 6 sounds good.