Cause of Death?

[Irishman]

Set up one of my 10 gallon tanks last night to heat up to start my TTM on the fish I have in my DT. Started off this morning with 3 chromis and added 8 red stripe trochus into the mix, since my snails are breeding and we would like to some in the permanent QT where the fish are going after the TTM. Been checking them through out the day and they are of course stressed and breathing real fast, just checked on them again and found one dead, probably from a heart attack. Checking parameters now but figured nothing would change in 12 hrs.

In the TTM tanks I am only running an air stone and heater with a PVC elbow in it for hiding. Is this set up sufficient? Can someone give me insight on this of what I should change or am doing anything wrong.

 

[Balz3352]

Any filtration? Are you running an air stone or a sponge filter

 

[Irishman]

Just running an air stone. Tested parameters and they were all zero.

 

[sethsolomon]

Chromis always die. IMO the rule of thumb is get 3 for each 1 you want to have in your tank because 2/3 of them die.

 

[Balz3352]

Imho you need some sort of filtration whether it be hob or sponge filter... Something that can grow bacteria to convert the nh3 nh4 and stuff

 

[Balz3352]

Although I agree chromis are prone to dying
But the ones that make it are pretty hardy

 

[Irishman]

I'll probably hook up the HOB filter on the next set of important fish. I can't seed from my DT since it has ich

 

[Walter White]

While I myself use a sponge filter and biospira for TTM, technically I don't think a newly started tank should have had enough build up of ammonia at that point to be an issue. Did you be sure to match the salinity and temperature then acclimate for at least 20 minutes?

Could one of the snails died right away when you put them in? If I understood you correctly you had some snails in there too?

I assume you used fresh salt mix made from ro, not old tank water?
I do agree though chromis can be weird that way.

 

[Irishman]

Salinity matches DT and so did temp. I just threw them in since there is no dramatic change. Snails are still there, just paranoid transferring ich to QT with snails, that's why they are in TTM as well. The TTM tank is fresh mix of salt from RO/DI as well. Sk8er on RC said that if there isn't enough hiding and sleeping spots in the tank they will kill each other off so I think that might be the case.

 

[Irishman]

Well found one dead this morning and the last one died after I went to work so I'm at a loss on what it is

 

[szavoda]

Just a quick note, if I am reading this correctly - you will not want to have snails in the tank during TTM. When the ich goes through its cycle and attaches to the substrate, it will just as easily attach to the snail. when you transfer the snail, you will transfer the ich too...

Shawn

 

[szavoda]

Salinity matches DT and so did temp. I just threw them in since there is no dramatic change. Snails are still there, just paranoid transferring ich to QT with snails, that's why they are in TTM as well. The TTM tank is fresh mix of salt from RO/DI as well. Sk8er on RC said that if there isn't enough hiding and sleeping spots in the tank they will kill each other off so I think that might be the case.

The only way to make sure that the ich is no longer on the snails is to keep them fishless for 72 days. PITA, I know!

 

[Irishman]

Yea I plan on putting them back when I get home. Going to look at some more stuff as well before I start another tank transfer. I have another set of chromis but I don't want my other fish dying on me.

 

[szavoda]

One additional note: I have had a difficult time trying to keep fish alive during QT due to ammonia build up. I am not sure why my QT builds ammonia faster than others, but it does seem to. So - I would highly recommend seeding from the DT (which you cannot because of the ich) or using a product like Bio Spira to add bacteria to the QT. Throw some filter floss in and your are good to go.

 

[szavoda]

Last note, lol: I am getting a bunch of fish from Live Aquaria for this Saturday. If you want any fish ordered, let me know. Shipping should be free. Chromis are $5.99 I think.

 

[Irishman]

Last note, lol: I am getting a bunch of fish from Live Aquaria for this Saturday. If you want any fish ordered, let me know. Shipping should be free. Chromis are $5.99 I think.

I think I'll wait and see how this TTM goes before I do anymore fish lol. Elite got some pretty cool black stripped chromis in a while back ago so I think I might do those next if I lose any more of them.