Problems with fish

Like this?: Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Velvet Multicolor Wrasse

 

Actually no. It's more of a solid yellow with a faint purple stripe down the middle. A reliable source also said that it wouldn't outgrow a 40 gallon tank, whatever that might tell you.

 

I've always wanted to setup a QT but every time I start the project my head goes something like this: "really? a separate tank with more equipment and more power consumption just to make sure a fish is healthy? I don't need it because I'll just observe the fish before I buy it". I know this thought process is flawed but I can't help it. I know a QT is very necessary but I just never seem to get that "ah ha" moment where I can justify spending the effort. If I was rich and had a lot of free time I would have a whole library of quarantine tanks.

 

Hopefully things have turned around!! Keep us posted!!

 

Does the wrasse look like this?

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Neon Wrasse

 

Kinda, but the purple line is not as defined. In this picture the line is straight and consistent like a pen mark, but in my wrasse the line is more of a brush stroke. Also, my wrasse has four black spots, two on either side of the gills and two on it's body just before the tail fin starts. I've been searching the internet trying to find an ID and I haven't come across anything that looks exactly like what I have.

Yellow and Purple Wrasse: This is the closest I have come, but this specimen has eight spots (assuming that traits in this species remain constant across the Sagittal plane) whereas my wrasse only has 4, and the location of the spots on the body is different as well. Also, the fish doesn't have any of that white-ish coloration on it's abdomen, the yellow is equally vibrant on the ventral end as it is on the dorsal end.

Thanks for the kinds words. I will be sure to update when I can. As of right now, everything is still alive and healthy.

Interesting note: After running the UV for a week all my coral looked sort of... sluggish. After I turned off the UV the coral seemed to pop back to life, within minutes. It wasn't just my imagination either, my frogspawn was about 1/10th the size of what it normally is. I know there is a bit of a debate over running a UV sterilizer in a reef tank. I guess my experience could be considered a single result in hypothesizing about whether or not UV sterilization is harmful to coral. My conclusion is that UV sterilization has a negative affect on coral, although short periods of exposure to eliminate unwanted organics is acceptable. I can't even begin to speculate about what is actually being killed that is resulting in a negative affect on the coral.

 

Here's my poor rendition... haha



The eyes of this specimen are slightly smaller.

 

How is your salinity? I had a problem a couple months ago where all my corals were dying, fish were dying, it was awful. I went to my LFS where they are *excellent* at deciphering problems and we figured out it was most likely the salinity. I had an old hydrometer that was lying, the salinity was at 1.036 and was way too high for anything to survive. Now I have a refractometer and it doesn't lie and not a dead anything since. Also another hard learned lesson was RO/DI water, straight tap water or even RO water won't do it, it needs to be RO/DI. Also, look up drip acclimation methods, that was another hard learned lesson... Takes a lot longer and uses more equipment but works every time provided you leave it long enough. Also phosphate and ammonia could be problems, maybe invest in a good quality reef test kit and find out what your levels are, especially if you've had fish die in your tank. Hope that helped!

 

I use the API liquid tests, I've used them since day 1. I use RO/DI (and UV) water already and my salinity could be off, but a refractometer is the next toy on my list. I'm pretty sure my problem was due to stray voltage which stressed the fish out enough to allow some kind of parasite or disease to take hold. Both problems seem to be in the past now, but thanks for the tips!

 

keliza has a good point. If you're using a swing arm, you could be off enough to make a difference, or at least it's a variable.

For a QT tank, all you need is a 10 gallon tank, heater, PVC pipes, and a HOB filter. A light is not necessary, and you don't need to run it continually. Keep a filter pad or Bio Wheel in your sump or overflow. I choose to use Cupramine and Prazi Pro in my QT. I hate it every time I have to set it up, but I just think back to what I went through before I did it.