Quarantine tank of death!!!! Help

**scotchbonneteater** · 06-22-2012, 09:30 PM

I had 10 white clouds in my qt tank, i now have 1 left as they have all died in the space of 7 days!!!!!

Firstly I thought they were attacking each other as their tails were lacking in colour then the rear of the body would lose colour just before they died, the rear part of the body would then get white fluff on it if they died overnight.

Any ideas peeps ?

Do I strip the pump before putting it back in my main tank or does anyone know what has killed them.

Thanks,

**madagascariensis** · 06-22-2012, 09:34 PM

I would check your stock.
When I bought a bunch of low-quality feeder minnows(for a pond),
some had really advanced finrot and it progressed onto the rear end of their bodies and it looked just like what you described.

Have you cycled the quarantine tank? you could always squeeze an old filter sponge into the tank water and it will then be instantly cycled.

**scotchbonneteater** · 06-22-2012, 09:56 PM

I transfer a filter from my main :-) when I need to use qt tank, they all die within 1 day of showing signs!!!! I thought fin rot was a lot slower.

**Honey Badger 1** · 06-22-2012, 10:25 PM

Fin rot does take more time. Neon tetra disease does not, it kills quickly and has some of the same symptoms you are describing. I hate to mention this disease because every time it is mentioned a bunch of people on the forum go on a ntd frenzy because their fish are pale, and suddenly every diagnosis is ntd, so I also want to remind everyone that ntd is quite rare and must be introduced into an aquarium by an infected fish. However, because of the symptoms you are describing, how quick the fish are dying, and the fact that they are newly introduced, you may want to research this.
If after you research and you conclude it is ntd, sterilize everything those fish have come in contact with, and if it were my tank, I would cull any fish left in QT.

**Fishguy2727** · 06-23-2012, 12:29 AM

I don't like QT tanks, they usually do more harm than good. There is an article in the link in my signature all about the problems with QT tanks. Ask the shop if they had any trouble with them. Even the best shops who purchase from the best suppliers will have a bad batch from time to time and they should be happy to replace them.

**Lady Hobbs** · 06-23-2012, 04:44 AM

Are you sure the filter for your QT tank had enough bacteria in it to support those 10 fish? Sorry you lost them. The tank was the right temp and had good oxygen, right?

**Lady Hobbs** · 06-24-2012, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by Fishguy2727

I don't like QT tanks, they usually do more harm than good.

And I can think of not one reason to not have one. Why would you want to treat a main tank for illness and all the fish in it for something they do not have because one fish may be ill that's in that tank? Some of the meds are expensive, like treating with Maracyn and Maracyn 2 plus worrying then about losing the cycle on the main tank.

If everyone quarantined fish for a couple weeks, they wouldn't be dumping ick meds in their main tanks and allowing the ick to infect their entire stock.

I can understand not liking them perhaps but to say they do more harm than good is goofy.

**Goes to 11!** · 06-24-2012, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by Fishguy2727

I don't like QT tanks, they usually do more harm than good. There is an article in the link in my signature all about the problems with QT tanks.

This is utter and complete piffle and here's why:

A QT tank is a tool, A tool is only as effective as the person using it.

Operator error is most emphatically and explicitly not a reflection on the tool in question.

**scotchbonneteater** · 06-24-2012, 10:06 PM

The first minnow died within a day! I've found the problem to be parasites! The last 1 died yesterday, I went back to the LFS and they had the same problem with their stock but worse as they have 6 freshwater tanks linked to the same water/pump. Lucky I had a QT in this case otherwise I would have a big problem in my 270litre. Just a bit sickening watching the minnows die not knowing why.

**Cliff** · 06-24-2012, 10:16 PM

It's never easy to loose fish when you don't know why. Sometimes these thing are hard to identify. At least you did find out in the end what caused it.

Thank goodness you used a QT tank. The sitution could have been a lot worse, and you could have lost a lot more fish if you had added them directly to your main tank.