I've currently got 4x Bartlett's Anthias in a 29 gallon tank with a HOB filter, a heater, a small piece of live rock and some PVC elbows. The tank has been up and running for a couple weeks prior and was seeded using tank water, the piece of live rock and a weekly used filter sock. The fish have been in the tank since 11/05/16. Everything was looking good when we left to go out of town Thursday AM. I had my ehiem set to auto feed a small amount 2x a day. All fish were eating fine. When we got back into town last night, they all appeared fine and happy. I checked the parameters and saw 0 ammonia, .25-.5 nitrite and maybe 10 ppm nitrate. I'm wondering if the feeding plus the pooping over did the small capacity of the biological filter. I was pooped from traveling last night and since the fish looked fine I just planned on doing a w/c when I got home from work today.
Well... when I got home, I noticed one of the anthias has some serious damage done to his tail. Not sure if it's fin rot or nipped. I did a 90% water change using established water from my main system and the parameters are all reading fine now. I added some ceramic pellets to the HOB filter to hopefully provide more space for the bacteria. In observing the fish tonight, it appears there is quite a bit of aggression going on. I'll continue to monitor the parameters and do w/c as needed to keep any nitrite/nitrate levels low. I've also started adding seachem stability as directed to hopefully keep another spike at bay.
Is the 29g just too small to QT 4x anthias and I'm getting too much aggression? Did the nitrite spike stress this fish out and allow fish rot to set in?
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^ it's not dead, this was during the water change and they were wedging themselves under the rock and in the pvc. it's swimming around now, not really with the other three though. steering clear?
Thoughts? I have Erythromycin on hand and could begin treating immediately. If so, should I treat with all 4 fish in the tank?
Thanks!
Well... when I got home, I noticed one of the anthias has some serious damage done to his tail. Not sure if it's fin rot or nipped. I did a 90% water change using established water from my main system and the parameters are all reading fine now. I added some ceramic pellets to the HOB filter to hopefully provide more space for the bacteria. In observing the fish tonight, it appears there is quite a bit of aggression going on. I'll continue to monitor the parameters and do w/c as needed to keep any nitrite/nitrate levels low. I've also started adding seachem stability as directed to hopefully keep another spike at bay.
Is the 29g just too small to QT 4x anthias and I'm getting too much aggression? Did the nitrite spike stress this fish out and allow fish rot to set in?
^ it's not dead, this was during the water change and they were wedging themselves under the rock and in the pvc. it's swimming around now, not really with the other three though. steering clear?
Thoughts? I have Erythromycin on hand and could begin treating immediately. If so, should I treat with all 4 fish in the tank?
Thanks!
I don't really know what to do... I'm really concerned this is an aggression issue and that I'm to blame. I'm really not sure what my next steps should be.
