Help! B-Ionic 2 Part System Reaction to Yellow Tang.

digital_dragon · 12-21-2002, 07:16 PM

How long after you add Part 1 of B-Ionic 2 Part System do you add Part 2? Has anyone seen an adverse reaction to your fish. I put already mixed Part 1 diluted with additional RO into my tank and added Part 2 about 5 minutes later. My Yellow Tang started getting a red line under his skin going down the circular part of his head where it joins the body just past the gills. In a panic I did a 10% water change and after about 2 hours the red went away and he looks like he has a burn where the red line was. Could the B-Ionic have done this? Did I put part 2 in too soon. I would like to start dosing with B-Ionic but not at the expense of my fish. Anyone who uses it how long do you wait until you put Part 2 into your tank?

Earl

Rick O · 12-21-2002, 07:19 PM

You can add part two as soon as the clouding from part one is gone. If you add in a high flow area this should ba almost immediately. I wouldn't think the condition was caused by the B-Ionic but FWIW I always dose it in the sump.

HTH

seahawkjohnny · 12-21-2002, 08:39 PM

I dose part 1 in the morning, and part 2 in the evening.....and always in the sump.......

MUCHO REEF · 12-21-2002, 09:25 PM

B-ionic is by far the best out there, I have tried them all. I've been using it for 8 years now and I have never had, heard nor seen any adverse reaction by fish, inverts or corals. I doubt very seriously that the red line was attributed to part 2.

tdwyatt · 12-21-2002, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by digital_dragon
... Yellow Tang started getting a red line under his skin going down the circular part of his head where it joins the body just past the gills. In a panic I did a 10% water change and after about 2 hours the red went away...

Hmmmmm...

Sounds like a reaction to ammonia to me, although I suppose it could be some unusual reaction to the b-ionic (I have never heard of such a thing and unless you're adding it in deciliter quantities, there is no physiological basis for such a reaction). Keep in mind that if you do have occasional issues with ammonia, or you've just added a large number of SNAILS that occasionally die and increase your ammonia, that this may be the problem. You most likely have a small ammonia issue, and increases in pH exacerbate the toxicity of ammonia such that it may not appear to be a problem until you add the alk part (Part A) of the B-Ionic. I would think that in a fairly new tank that this would be what is happening. Check your ammonia, then look at the nitrITEs. Even very small reactions of the test solutions are cause for alarm. Your ammonia may be transient if you have a cleanup crew that is disposing of the carcasses, but you should then see a small NitrITE peak following the ammonia as a tell-tale sign.

If I remember correctly, you have a small tang in the sump as well as an adult in the display. Find a home for the sump fish, then use your sump as the site to add your additives. Use the section where you have the highest flow for your addition site, and dilute the "A" part as you are with RO to minimize precipitation/floculation.

B-ionic has been used for many years in many systems to boost alk and Ca safely, I do not think that it is your problem at this point.

Hope this helps.

digital_dragon · 12-21-2002, 10:43 PM

I tested my ammonia this morning and it was 0 and tested my nitrite and it was 0. If you dump part 1 and part 2 together too quickly in the tank could it possibly create some chemical reaction. On the bottle it states never to mix the two together. I just finished checking on the guy and the red is gone. He is eating fine and I checked the tank and nothing is dead. Also if it was ammonia would not the other tang in the sump have the same symptoms? I did not notice the redness until after I dumped both parts. Maybe it was a coincidence.

Earl.

MsReeReee · 12-22-2002, 04:16 AM

Hi i just started using B-Ionic yesterday

tdwyatt · 12-22-2002, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by digital_dragon
I tested my ammonia this morning and it was 0 and tested my nitrite and it was 0. If you dump part 1 and part 2 together too quickly in the tank could it possibly create some chemical reaction?

The reason NOT to dump the two in at the same time (or to mix them prior to dilution in the tank) is that they will form Calcium Carbonate and precipitate out of solution, almost immediately. This will prevent the solubilization of the calcium ion and the bicarbonate, as the solubility and saturation for calcium carbonate is very low in seawater (around 500 ppm) and solubilization is necessary for these ions for them to be biologically available for the corals. Testing for biologically volatile substances after the fact may have little value, although the ammonia may NOT have ever been the problem. The fish's reaction is both a sign of stress and a sign of possible ammonia toxicity (and other toxicities as well, not necessarily ammonia), although the sudden onset of simptoms so close to the addition of part A would lead me to believe that it IS ammonia. This is STILL a shot in the dark, though...

Quote:

On the bottle it states never to mix the two together...

yup, see the explaination above.

Quote:

I just finished checking on the guy and the red is gone. He is eating fine and I checked the tank and nothing is dead. Also if it was ammonia would not the other tang in the sump have the same symptoms? I did not notice the redness until after I dumped both parts. Maybe it was a coincidence.

It will depend on the stress level of the individual and its age as well. Older fishes tend to react more so to stressors, wheras the younger fishes will tolerate a wider range of conditions that might otherwise adversely affect older fishes. The older fish was the rescue from the abandoned system, I believe, and was exposed to hypersaline conditions and rising ammonia. It would most likely respond to small changes in water parameters that might not even affect tangs from normal tank situations. With that particular fish, it may be succeptible to such changes for quite some time until it has had a few months of good water parameters and appropriate diet to fully recover. In addition, the tank was located in a motorcycle shop, there is no telling what all this fish has been exposed to in the past.

Just my 2 cents on this, mostly speculation with some knowledge of the conditions.

digital_dragon · 12-22-2002, 11:18 PM

Thank you for the insightful answers. I am going to resume the B-Ionic tomorrow as everything and everyone has stabilized. The coraline growth is really starting to take off in my tank and I really want the boost that the B-Ionic will give my coraline growth. I will keep everyone updated as to any issues or problems that may occur.

Earl

Help! B-Ionic 2 Part System Reaction to Yellow Tang.

Re: Help! B-Ionic 2 Part System Reaction to Yellow Tang.

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