not moving, staying on tank bottom. Treatment?
 

Hi guys, I was hoping someone could help me with this.

I'll post everything in a nutshell here, if you'd like the full story it's here: [url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1282342[/url] (now that I am typing this, it isn't much of a nutshell really - just more organized)

Anyway, a week ago I added a sump which added about 14g to my system. The plumbing had been in place since Thanksgiving, but nothing was hooked up (tank was running at the time though). Some water must have made it into the drain line, because when I opened it up it stunk to high heavens. My initial guess was hydrogen sulfide from the stagnant water in the pipe.

I cleaned the pipe as thoroughly as I could using hot water and vinegar, flushing until there was no more smell. After that, everything was hooked up.

Unfortunately I forgot to check the water I added, and it raised the salinity to between 1.027-8 from 1.026. A little extra RO brought it down easily within a couple hours.

I had 1 small piece of Xenia in the tank. It withered up pretty quickly after starting the sump. Took it out of the tank the next day after I realized it wasn't going to come back.

In the morning I noticed 2 fish missing: my bi-color blenny and my yellowstreaked fairy wrasse. Found the wrasse hiding under a rock (which is unusual in the morning), and we [i]thought[/i] we saw the blenny hiding under another. My other 3 fish were fine (2 ocelaris, red coris wrasse).

Later that night I found the rotting body of the blenny wedged between a rock and the glass (it wasn't there earlier). This is the first fish I've ever lost in a SW tank, so I'm not sure how quickly they decompose - the skin was completely clear and was peeling off with just water current. So I'm not sure how long it really was dead.

The fairy wrasse was still hanging out at the bottom breathing slowly, so I placed it in the sump just in case it died (so I could get the body out of the system). It's still alive after a few days, but I haven't seen much of a change. I put a bag of carbon in the sump 2 days ago - that hasn't seemed to help.

I haven't checked on it this morning, but I'd guess it's just more of the same. I'd like to set up a 10g tonight so I can possibly treat the fish somehow. Here's where I need help.

-Would it be better to use tank water, or some fresh SW I've had mixing for a few days?
-My initial plan was just a powerhead and heater (since I don't have anything set up). Sound ok?

What would be the proper way to treat the fish? The color looks normal, I don't think the eyes are cloudy, there are no sores on the body, etc. I've never really used anything outside of melafix/pimafix to treat FW fish, so this is new territory for me.

I'd appreciate any help possible - we really love this fish and don't want it to go away.

Thanks

Edit - I guess I should add, my other 3 fish are all doing very well. I have not lost any snails or crabs, and all other corals are doing great.

Oh, also I did check my water parameters and everything looked good. I even had this verified by the LFS.

You could try a methylene blue bath. It might not help, but it is not likely to hurt. I have found this helpful with stressed fish, especially if they have had gill burn from ammonia in the bag.

Thanks, I will pick some up tonight on my way home and give that a shot.

When you say bath, do you mean just a dip, or dose the 10g tank?

I usually give a bath (I consider this longer than a dip - an hour or so), leaving other medication options open for the hospital tank.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11506754#post11506754 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LisaD [/i]
[B]I usually give a bath (I consider this longer than a dip - an hour or so), leaving other medication options open for the hospital tank. [/B][/QUOTE]

Sounds good, thank you :)

I just got home a bit ago, the fish actually looks a little better. Still not moving much and still on the bottom, but the fins seem to be moving around a bit more.

good luck, let us know how it turns out.

The meth. blue doesn't seem to have helped much at all if any. Still hangin in there though.

Any other suggestions?

Well, I've dropped the salinity down to 1.020 and dosed the whole tank with meth. blue, and the fish seems to be doing better. Seems to be swimming around more, and is eating now. I think I'll change the water till the blue is gone, but keep the salinity low for a couple weeks.