Sixline number 2... what am i doing wrong?

[Scubagator87]

So I didn't know which section to post all these questions under; but since most of them are about sixlines, i figured this was the best option.

So I bought a second sixline (first one died in 24 hours; see my other thread about sixlines to see the whole story); and this one didn't make it either. It came in the fish store on tuesday so I had them hold it for a few days and picked it up on friday (a juvenile i think). In the meantime i set up a ten gallon quarantine (sand, light, air stone, small filter, some extra dead coral heads i didnt use in my other tank, heater). Got that up and running (readings did not change)

Sp gr. 1.022
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Ammonia: 0-0.25
pH: 8.2-8.3
Temp: 74-76

Picked him up from the store on friday (yesterday), they put some food in and he ate, but wasn't super excited about it. But he looked alright from what I could see so I had them bag him and brought him home (as carefully as possible). Started by turning the light off and floating the bag for about 15 mins to get the temp right. I then started slowly adding water from the tank to the bag over the next 15 mins. After that I netted him from the bag (very carefully) and placed him in the tank.

He hid at first but after about an hour, he was swimming cautiously along the bottom front of the tank. Then, later that night he began resting on the bottom, and almost tilting on his side, but still breathing alright.

This morning i noticed that there was some mucus slime on some of the rocks that wasn't there before, i assume from the sixline. He was still on the bottom but now he had a white film on his nape and it looked like that section was deteriorating. His condition did not improve and only got worse until he died around 4 today. He was covered in this film when I took him out.

I was treating him as soon as he entered the tank (as part of quarantine) with a marine fish disease treatment/preventative, so I was sure to remove the filter carbon as directed. Lifeguard Instant Ocean tablets were the brand.

Are sixlines very fragile? I haven't come across that as a description for this fish, but I don't really know how much more careful i can be. Or is it that the juveniles don't do as well?

ANY information you can give me about treating diseases like this, Sixlines, and how to sterilize my q tank after having a sick fish in it, would be GREAT

So frustrated

[mudguard2005]

15 min is way too short for acclimating the fish. I ususally take a longer, given that my salinaty is lower than mine, but still, 15 min is too short IMHO. Although, not sure if that is the cause of ur sixline dead.

[Iraf]

if you have any traceable ammonia you don't need to add anything to your tank, you need to find the issue causing that and resolve it first, any traceable ammonia no matter what anyone says is BAD.

How old is this tank? I had one sixline for about a month, he was doing great one day, next mornign he was getting eaten by the cleanup crew, my 2nd one disappeared for around 6 weeks only to showup in the false back area of my nano a few days ago so I'd say their fairly resilient considering mine was feeding off whatever got into the filtration chambers and past 2 of the micro-sponge filters in my nano not to mention he was hanging out with the heater and return pump all day every day with no rock or safe sleeping area, suprised he didnt get eaten by the pump but glad he didnt

[sssnake]

I would agree about the ammonia as Iraf mentioned. Should be no trace of it.

IMO a quarantine tank should have nothing in it except for water from your display tank, heater, some form of mechanical filtration, and power-head. I guess an airstone would do ok.

I would remove the sand as this may be acting as a trap for detritus. I would also remove all other objects including rocks and decorations.

Good luck.

[Scubagator87]

my total acclimation was 30 mins, not 15, in case there was any confusion. and i am pretty sure that the ammonia was zero, i usually just put between 0-0.25 because the test kits are not exact and sometimes hard to read.

my main tank is 7 months old; my quarantine tank is only a few days old; ive never heard of having to cycle a quarantine tank (do i have to cycle it?). regardless the readings in the q tank all checked out from what i could see.

i suppose for my next go at it i'll remove the sand, but i do not think this was the cause of death being that the ammonia level was probably 0.

[{Nano}Reefer]

generally you do have to cycle any tank you plan on putting fish, corals, inverts in. that tank was way too new for him to even survive.

[Jason McKenzie]

A Q-Tank is usually a tank that does not require cycleing because it is taken down between use.
No sand no rock. I used PVC elbows for hiding places for the fish. Water needs to come from your main tank.

I don't believe acclimation time has anything to do with it. I would say ammonia or O2 levels. in the tank.

J

[GuitarMan89]

just as a side note, the sixline can produce a mucus membrane that it sleeps in, so maybe this is what you were seeing when you were describing the mucus thing.

[{Nano}Reefer]

oooo well ya if you take it from the main tank, i thought he meant putting salt and water in, than a fish.... that would be disasterous

[sssnake]

Originally Posted by Scubagator87

my total acclimation was 30 mins, not 15, in case there was any confusion. and i am pretty sure that the ammonia was zero, i usually just put between 0-0.25 because the test kits are not exact and sometimes hard to read.

my main tank is 7 months old; my quarantine tank is only a few days old; ive never heard of having to cycle a quarantine tank (do i have to cycle it?). regardless the readings in the q tank all checked out from what i could see.

i suppose for my next go at it i'll remove the sand, but i do not think this was the cause of death being that the ammonia level was probably 0.

Not sure about where the water you had in your QT came from as you made no mention of this on your post .

The water for your quarantine tank should come from your display tank and this water should have no trace of ammonia/nitrites. They should be zero. "pretty sure" leaves room for doubt so you can MAKE sure your test kits are accurate by bringing some water from your DT to your LFS and have them verify these readings. They should do it free, most stores do. If the test results differ then it's time to get new test kits.

Any trace of ammonia/nitrites is not good.

As mentioned previously there should be no sand or rocks in the QT. Just get yourself a piece of PVC piping from your hardware store. This will provide a hiding place for your new fish.

Just trying to help here !

Good luck with your next attempt, ......the six-line is a beautiful fish.