Crisis... Hopefully averted

[bgbeards]

Well on monday I successfully moved my clown pair to the display tank from quarentine and I removed my blue velvet damsel from display. When I took Blue Velvet back to LFS I found a Midas Blenny which is exactly what I wanted next. I put him quarentine and he even ate some brine shrimp monday night. Great I think. Also he is pretty brown almost molted?? but when he was eating he turned much more yellow. I read they change colors. I was gone all day yesterday and when I got home today he would not eat. No mysis, brine or flake. I got a little concearned. I later checked water and nitrate was up to like 80 and nitrite to 10. (check with quick dip strip) I quickly did a 5gal(50%) water change. Now reading like 20 and 3. I am making up more RO/DI as we speak so I can mix some up tonight and do another 50% tomarrow. Hopefully he'll make it. Is there anything else I should do? I thought about throwing him in the display, but I really don't want to do that. I can tell he was glad to get the new water, seemed he relaxed a little, hopefully I can get him to eat tomarrow. Here is a pic I just took.

[bcrum51]

I wouldnt trust those strips that would be the first thing I would do get a different test kit

[Fat Tony]

take piece of rock out of the display and put in the QT..

[bgbeards]

Well he did not make it .... I do have a real test kit, I just use those for quick and dirty testing. The numbers might not be accurate, but I know they were high. Should I throw a damsel in my quarentine to fully cycle? Add a piece of LR? I want to get another fish but don't want to lose another.

[Fat Tony]

never us e a fish to cycle... even if it is a damsel. just toss a piece of LR in there and call it done.

[Loverotties]

I agree with Tony,I don't want to hurt any living fish!

[bgbeards]

How is the quarantine supposed to work?? I set it up for a new fish and was changing a few gallons every other day. What is the difference between a new tank and quarantine? My quarantine happens to have been up for a while now so I may as well let the cycle finish, but you should be able to set it up whenever. I don't want it running all the time.

[Fat Tony]

Here's a tip. Keep a couple filter sponges in your sump of you main tank. When you are ready to cycle the QT, toss them in the freshly mixed SW for the QT and then add fish. It will have more than enough bacteria colonized to hold and QT fish.

[cutietwo]

Originally Posted by Fat Tony

never us e a fish to cycle... even if it is a damsel. just toss a piece of LR in there and call it done.

I have never liked that idea. What if the fish you are quarantining has a parasite/disease and it goes in the live rock? Then when you put the live rock back in the main tank it's in the whole tanks systems now.

[Fat Tony]

that's why you leave the rock in the QT tank from then on, but you have to leave the tank up and running. The sponge idea (thanks to Hop) works well. what you do, is when you take one set out of the sump and put it in the QT you put a new set in the sump and then once you break down the QT you take the other set and either dispose of it or disinfect it.

[bgbeards]

I pulled a small piece of LR from tank and sacrificed it to my quarantine. I plan on stocking my tank wiht the fish I want then I can break it down. Till I get all my fish I can keep it up. I noticed some algae today so hopefully near the end of cycle. Thanks for the suggestions.