White patches on Sailfin. QT time?

[mike22cha]

I have been adding mysis shrimp to their diet, I have done plenty of water changes (My weekly 10%'s) and I still need to install a probe. I think I'm going to change my 125g into an aggressive and plan on adding a UV sterilizer and a Protein Skimmer. Would those additions help at all?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by MIKE22cha
I have been adding mysis shrimp to their diet, I have done plenty of water changes (My weekly 10%'s) and I still need to install a probe. I think I'm going to change my 125g into an aggressive and plan on adding a UV sterilizer and a Protein Skimmer. Would those additions help at all?
I am going to hazard a guess that your water readings are not as "perfect" as you had hoped. Buy a refractometer. They cost about $50. Do your own water tests. You said that you have all of the test kits. Add the buffer to the salt mixand allow it to aerate for 24 hrs before it goes into the tank. Do not bring the ph up more than a point or two per water change. Bump the water changes to 15% every three days. You have not told us your ammonia and nitrite readings. Buy some quality frozen formula foods and pick up some liquid vitamines. Add them to the food while it is defrosting in a small cup designated to the food only. Wipe it clean with a paper towel when you are done each day. Do not use soap.

 

[mike22cha]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
I am going to hazard a guess that your water readings are not as "perfect" as you had hoped. Buy a refractometer. They cost about $50. Do your own water tests. You said that you have all of the test kits. Add the buffer to the salt mixand allow it to aerate for 24 hrs before it goes into the tank. Do not bring the ph up more than a point or two per water change. Bump the water changes to 15% every three days. You have not told us your ammonia and nitrite readings. Buy some quality frozen formula foods and pick up some liquid vitamines. Add them to the food while it is defrosting in a small cup designated to the food only. Wipe it clean with a paper towel when you are done each day. Do not use soap.
Ok I'm going to test again when I'm at my dad's next. Would a plastic cup be fine to thaw the food? Is the mysis shrimp ok? I'll look into the vitamins.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by MIKE22cha
Ok I'm going to test again when I'm at my dad's next. Would a plastic cup be fine to thaw the food? Is the mysis shrimp ok? I'll look into the vitamins.
Mysis is not enough. It is fine for a morning meal twice a week, but you need to buy a few kinds of formula foods. They are better because, unlike mysis, formula foods have a variety of ingredients. They contain different meats and sea veggies all together. You have to feed saltwater fish a wide variety of foods to keep them healthy. Fish in the wild do not just eat a single kind of food.

 

[mike22cha]

I'm feeding formula flakes and pellets and the mysis with the occasionaly live algae. I need to get some more algae sheets which I normaly add to the tank also.

 

[mike22cha]

Ok today is test day:
PH 8.3 (which is suprising because I can never get it to 8.2)
Salinity: high
Nitrite: below 10
Nitrate 10-20
Ammonia: 0
So I'm going to go to WalMart and pick up 15-20g of Distilled Water and go to the lfs and pick up some live algae, algae clips, more pellet and flake, and see if they have a grounding probe. If they don't have one of those grounding probes then I'm going to order it from some doctors.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by MIKE22cha
Ok today is test day:
PH 8.3 (which is suprising because I can never get it to 8.2)
Salinity: high
Nitrite: below 10
Nitrate 10-20
Ammonia: 0
So I'm going to go to WalMart and pick up 15-20g of Distilled Water and go to the lfs and pick up some live algae, algae clips, more pellet and flake, and see if they have a grounding probe. If they don't have one of those grounding probes then I'm going to order it from some doctors.
What does "high" mean for salinity? What is the exact number? The nitrite should be zero. I wouldn't bother with the flakes and pellets. Pick up some frozen formula foods and some liquid vitamines. Let us know how it goes

 

[mike22cha]

I feed mysis this morning and only the chromises and clownfish took it. I'm going to order a grounding probe soon.
I added 5g of DI water and will do another 5 later tonight. I'll also add live algae later tonight.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by MIKE22cha
I feed mysis this morning and only the chromises and clownfish took it. I'm going to order a grounding probe soon.
I added 5g of DI water and will do another 5 later tonight. I'll also add live algae later tonight.
What was your SG reading? What is it now? Why are you adding 10 gallons of RO to the tank? Mysis will NOT cut it!!! Please buy better food for your fish.

 

[mike22cha]

Ok Salinity still high added another 5g and added a grounding probe. How long do you guys think it'll take for them to clear up?

 

[beth]

What salt are you using?

 

[mike22cha]

Originally Posted by Beth
What salt are you using?
Umm I buy my water from the lfs.

 

[mike22cha]

Ok I did tests today,(wasn't able to last week, my dad was on vac.)
here's what I got:
Salinity: 38ppt
Ph: 8.6(realy weird usualy realy low)
nitrates, nitrites, ammonia below 10
So does a 30g DI water change sound good?
Also my clowns scales are kinda looking wierd. I'm realy tired of the tank and trying to get it perfect, so is my dad. We're looking at getting a skimmer and UV within the next week or two.
I'm guessing the problem is stress from parameters. Which I'm working on.
Also I'm hearing that I'm not feeding them right and mysis isn't good enough, then what is? What frozen food do ya'll recommend. I realy don't feel like getting flamed, so please correct me in the nicest way possible plz.

 

[mike22cha]

Ok parameters are stable now.

Going to get a UV within the next month.
But just wondering, should I add some medication?