So, I am new to the marine aquarium world, but I have been doing my research and trying to do things right. I have a 55 gallon aquarium that I have been asking my local fish store guy lots of questions about, but he seems to be very full of himself and unwilling to help.
I got the tank and cycle it for two weeks before my LFS told me to drop 3 blue damsels in it. I did this for about two weeks before I took the fish back. I then let it cycle for another week and put in my cleaning crew. (24 hermits, 10 turbo snails, 12 nassarius, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 sally light foot.) I let it cycle for another two weeks, with no spikes in ammonia, and the blessing of my LFS. Then the sally disappered, and a few empty hermit crabs shells showed up, but I just thought there as some sort of national georaphic thing happening at night.
So long story short, I got a Yellow Nasel Tang and Coral Beauty. The Yellow Tang had a few little white dots on his fin and around the edge of the fin before I even took him out of the bag, but the LFS guy told me the small spins in his fin probably brokein transit it, and this was normal and fine. It looked like ich to me, but far be it for me to argue with the LFS.
Both of the fish seemed to acclimate well so latter in the week I went and got a rather large Sebae anemone. The day after I got the anemone I started to see both fish having fraying on their fins. The tail fin on the beauty has some holes near the end and has gotten very dark just around where the damage on the tail is. One of the the pectoral fins on the yellow tang is deteriorating and he has some red blotching on the bases of his fins.
I think they have ammonia burn and a bacterial infection, possible due to a spike cause by putting the anemone in. I did a ten gallon water change Monday, and have been dosing with melafix antibotic becuase the bottle says its reef, coral and invert safe. I haven't seen any change better or worse, the nitrites are a zero and the nitrates 20 ppm. I have some of the nasty brown alge is growing again.
Do I need to get a hospital tank? I really don't want to torture the fish, nor loose them.
Thanks
I got the tank and cycle it for two weeks before my LFS told me to drop 3 blue damsels in it. I did this for about two weeks before I took the fish back. I then let it cycle for another week and put in my cleaning crew. (24 hermits, 10 turbo snails, 12 nassarius, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 sally light foot.) I let it cycle for another two weeks, with no spikes in ammonia, and the blessing of my LFS. Then the sally disappered, and a few empty hermit crabs shells showed up, but I just thought there as some sort of national georaphic thing happening at night.
So long story short, I got a Yellow Nasel Tang and Coral Beauty. The Yellow Tang had a few little white dots on his fin and around the edge of the fin before I even took him out of the bag, but the LFS guy told me the small spins in his fin probably brokein transit it, and this was normal and fine. It looked like ich to me, but far be it for me to argue with the LFS.
Both of the fish seemed to acclimate well so latter in the week I went and got a rather large Sebae anemone. The day after I got the anemone I started to see both fish having fraying on their fins. The tail fin on the beauty has some holes near the end and has gotten very dark just around where the damage on the tail is. One of the the pectoral fins on the yellow tang is deteriorating and he has some red blotching on the bases of his fins.
I think they have ammonia burn and a bacterial infection, possible due to a spike cause by putting the anemone in. I did a ten gallon water change Monday, and have been dosing with melafix antibotic becuase the bottle says its reef, coral and invert safe. I haven't seen any change better or worse, the nitrites are a zero and the nitrates 20 ppm. I have some of the nasty brown alge is growing again.
Do I need to get a hospital tank? I really don't want to torture the fish, nor loose them.
Thanks