Royal Gramma Died in QT, dont know why.

[Kronic]

So I have A biocube 29 thats been set up for a week and is still cycling. About 4 days ago I set up a QT and read that using Seachem Stability, I could get my first fish and let him chill out in the QT until the DT was ready. We went to the LFS 2 days ago and bought a Royal Gramma to put in the QT. He was very active in the store and during acclimation but, after being placed in the QT, started just chilling in a corner on his side. Before I continue let me explain my QT set up. I have a ten gallon tank with a HOB filter, a 50w heater, a whisper 10g pump and air stone, a couple pvc elbows, and I put in a bit of seachem matrix as the bottle of stability suggested. I also have an ammonia alert badge in the tank and a thermometer in there. I have been using the stability as directed on the bottle and I put in some Prime yesterday. His first day in the QT I mostly left him alone so I didnt stress him out more than he already was. I tried to feed him some marine flakes that night, but he didnt want anything to do with that. Yesterday he seemed a bit more active but mostly still hiding in the corner around some of the matrix. Last night I used a turkey baster to shoot in some thawed mysis shrimp, which he ate a little bit of. This morning my 3 year old daughter dropped here bracelet into the QT, but I got it out right away. After that he had been more active than I have seen him since the store, swimming back and forth and looking generally happy. When I left to run my errands for the day he had taking up a spot underneath one of the pvc elbows. After I got back home, he was in the same spot, but his fins were not moving and he was not breathing. I don't know what happened. The ammonia alert never changed color at all. I am very upset thinking I killed this poor fish, but I can't figure out what went wrong. Can anyone maybe shed some light? He was brightly colored and had no signs of any disease or spots or anything like that.

 

[chrisely24]

I am about 4 months new to the sw hobby myself.
What i can tell you is "TIME" is the only thing that will make a sw tank cycle. there are no magic chemicals in this game. i bought some too and stupidly added a couple of fish to help cycle faster. Sadly only one fish a PJ cardinal made it and he is missing an eye and one of his fins but he is alive and happy.

Go by the advice of the guys here even though their advice has differed a lot i took there advice and they have been very helpful.

Please do not add anymore fish until the either the cube or the qt have fully cycled. A small piece of raw shrimp or feeding a little every few days should help kick start the ammonia process.
do you have any live rock for the cube to build bacteria on?
Sorry about the fish, I know you are as anxious as I was to see something swimming in there but it is gonna take 4 to 6 weeks for bacteria to build and the parameters to level out.
Hope you got a sw test kit to check with. I was so anxious I was checking every day lol.
Good luck!

 

[Bryce E]

Yeah agreed. You want to cycle the QT the same as you would the DT. Don't add any fish to either until fully cycled and fish ready. Some people keep their QT'S free of sand and rock kinda like a "hospital tank" with a pvc tube for the fish to hide and feel comfortable. Depending upon the filter you're using u can grow enough bacteria in that alone and don't need to add the rock. It just depends upon what u plan on using that setup for. The reason some people don't add the sand and rock to the QT is so that you have the ability to use the tank to medicate your fish as well. I always setup my qt the same as I do any tank... Live sand and rock. But a hospital setup would be nice too as I just recently was reminded the hard way. But yeah.. there are things you can do to speed up the cycle process (in my opinion) but you should certainly make sure that the cycle is complete before adding fish. That's likely why he kicked the bucket.

 

[Kronic]

yea I tested the water and sure enough, there was an ammonia of 0.25ppm. The Ammonia alert didnt work because its still saying the water is ammonia free. Lesson learned, I'm just sorry I had to kill a fish to learn it.

 

[chrisely24]

I have that ammonia thingy too never worked even when I had ammonia. I know it reads cause I put it over an open bottle of windex, it turned in seconds.

 

[Kronic]

Yea i wont be relying on that thing anymore. I'm cycling the QT now. Gonna be patient and make sure all water parameters are safe before adding fish. Thanks for the help and advice

 

[jay0705]

A gramma isn't a great starter fish either. While hardy they need good water quality

 

[Kronic]

What would you suggest as a starter fish? I know I want clowns but I was gonna wait on those cuz I kinda wanted designer clowns and they are a bit pricey.

 

[jay0705]

Hmm for a 29? Clowns yes, if a gramma is a fish you want your fine. You just need a fully cycled tank for them. I started my 75 w a pair of clowns and a gramma but it ran for 2 months before hand.
Fire fish are hardy. Once cycled in theory any fish should be ok. Its just new tanks can be a bit unstable at first.

 

[Kronic]

Yea ideally I'd like a pair of clowns, a nem (prolly BTA), a YWG and pistol shrimp, a royal gramma, and a purple fire fish. Plus various Inverts and corals. I know the nem cant be added till the tanks been established at least 6 months. I was hoping to get the clowns and the nem around the same time, so they hopefully host the nem. Would the purple fire fish be better to start with than the gramma? And how soon after the cycle can I add corals? I'm going to Reef-a-palooza in Orlando on April 11th and provided my QT is ready to go I was hoping to bring home a frag or 5 lol

 

[chrisely24]

Clownfish will never host a nem. The nem might host the clownfish though

 

[jay0705]

Ha ha always a smart ass in the group lol.
The fire would be good. Aslong as the qt is cycled a few frags should b ok

 

[Kronic]

lol Awesome

 

[jay0705]

i feel like I should say. Alot of folks don't qt coral tho. Most don't have qt set up w the correct lighting and such.

 

[Kronic]

Yea I was gonna ask about lighting in QT. Right now i just have the cheap lights that came with the hood. So if the biocube is cycled I'll prolly just put em in there. They should be ok so long as i get corals that were grown in a tank right?

 

[jay0705]

Most coral are aquaculture now. That said they will be fine aslong as the cube has enough lighting for them. Each coral likes diff things. Light, flow, ect

 

[Kronic]

Right now it's just the stock lighting in the biocube, which I am told will grow Zoa's, mushrooms, softies, and some LPS no problem. For flow this weekend I'm ordering the Jebao RW4 and upgrading my pump to the Maxijet 1200. And, as soon as it's available, I'm getting the new Current USA Orbit Marine PRO led kit, which says it will even grow SPS. I want to start with some kool looking Zoa's and maybe a Kenya Tree, as I've read these are good beginner corals.

 

[jay0705]

Agreed, I looked into mushrooms myself