Cryptocaryon Irritans - tank transfer method

[appellativo]

I use a weaker powerhead near the surface to stir/aerate the water. I'm sure an airstone is sufficient as long as you don't have a ton of fish in there (its a ten gallon, after all....)

I'm using a Rio from my old CPR Bak pak skimmer right now. but A maxijet 400 or 600 should be good. 900 or 1200 might be too turbulent for the fish comfort.

 

[mattsilvester]

Good luck Deinonych!

Claymat, try starting a new thread in this forum, and give your water test parameters and also your tank's setup (equipment, how long its been set up etc.)

I am doing tank transfer and have a quick question, sort of a 'satellite' issue. Instead of leaving the DT fallow for two to three months, I decided to break down the display tank and set up a new (larger) tank with all base rock and I am cycling that using the ammonia method. My question is about the old rock. Here is its history: About 20 lbs of base rock was in the DT for six weeks before I broke it down. About 15 lbs of live rock was in there too. I took all the rock out two days ago, put it on a shelf in my garage with a fan on it to dry it out and kill all the ich. To me, losing the life and bacteria on it was less important to me than killing all the ich. I know I could have just put it in a bucket for two or three months to wait for the ich to die off but I didn't want to do that. My thought was I could dry it out to kill the ich and then put it into the new tank (which is up and cycling with some more different base rock and dry crushed coral that I got at the store) eventually. My question is how long should I let the rock dry out for to make sure the ich has dried up and died? Any guesstimates?

Apellativo,

1. I don't know how resilient ich is to "damp" conditions - but I would ensure it is thoroughly dry before risking it.

2. I would be concerned about the "death" inside the rock, which could be a bit of an issues when rehydrated, leaching phosphates and so on. Before putting it in your DT I would consider giving a bath of muriatic acid, or at the very least a very strong vinegar bath - with VERY vigorous flow (as many power heads / pumps as you can lay your hands on - make it a Jacuzzi). This will effectively strip off the outer surface of the rock taking with it anything organic.

I raise point 2 above as I once set up a tank using a large amount of dry base rock - I did my best to clean it but with all the "death" inside it, it resulted in terrible algae issues.

You could of course go straight to step two, which will kill the ich for sure.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Trying my first treatment using this method currently. Orangespot rabbitfish ~4", doing it in a 5g bucket with a PVC elbow for cover and an airstone. No heater because in such a small water volume I would expect it to cause swings, and the house a/c is set to 76-78 anyway which should be a perfectly fine temp. I decided to use a bucket because other people mentioned it, but the idea of leaving this fish in a bucket with just an airstone for days has me worried sick (just seems so against everything I've learned as a fishkeeper haha). I came home yesterday and thought he was dead. He didn't eat yesterday. I did a 1g water change on his bucket last night and again this morning. I'm going to be doing transfers in the evening because that's the only way it works with my schedule.

 

[appellativo]

I just got done doing the tank transfer method with all six of my fish. (2 baby clowns, a chromis, a tailspot blenny, a neon goby and a royal gramma) I did it in a ten gallon tank with powerhead and heater set at 80. no temp swings. I was worried that ammonia would be an issue, but I used a seachem ammonia badge and after three days of three feedings per day, no ammonia. Whew and awesome!

They are in the display (which was set up and cycled with all dry rock and crushed coral, cycled using the ammonia method, which took a full twelve days), have been for a week, and so far so good. Try to give the fish as normal an environment as possible. they're sort of used to tanks but buckets would be ok as long as they are comfortable enough to eat.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

How is everyone sterilizing equipment between transfers? When people say bleach, are we talking about filling the tank up with freshwater and adding bleach and running it for a few hours, or just a wipedown? What concentration of bleach? Is running the tank/bucket for 24hrs with tap water, than drying it over the next 24 hours good enough, or do we need to use bleach?

 

[appellativo]

I did not use bleach. The in depth article I read said that ich cysts cannot survive being fully dried out. I had two sets of equipment and I let each set dry the full three days before using again. Supposedly, drying for 24 hours is sufficient to kill ich. Keep in mind any wet patches (like inside powerheads for example!) that have not fully dried for 24 hours may still be infested. I disassembled my ph's and made triple sure all was nice and dry (I live in TX and left my stuff in the sun, which ruined my thermometer, by the way). I did rinse well and wipe off with my hands each piece of equipment to dislodge any ich before fully drying it.

 

[appellativo]

is your foxface the only fish in your tank?

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

He is a new fish showing a few spots.

 

[Spar]

I have a spray bottle with a 5% concentration of bleach w/ tap water. I just sprayed everything down, let it sit for a few minutes and then washed off with tap water and dried with paper towels. I figure the quick sterilization + 24-72 hour dry out is easy enough and adds to my comfort. Fish seem to be handling it fine... e.g. no residual bleach leftover.

 

[tmz]

Thorough drying is all you need for sterilization.

 

[tmz]

A 5 gallon bucket for a 4 inch rabbit fish seems small to me. I'd probably use at least a 10 g or 20 gal tank or a rubermaid bin of some type.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Yeah I think I will move him to a 10g with this first transfer. He ate a few bites yesterday but he does not seem comfortable by any means, and I can't observe him very well.

 

[Willistein]

Just wanted to add an anecdotal post. I have a medium yellow tang and a neon dottyback on day 4 of the tank transfer method. I have a 15 gal and 10 gal tank that they are going between. I don't use any filtration, just a heater and a couple small powerheads in the one tank, and a separate heater and MJ1200 in the other tank. I also hve some PVC pipes for hiding (again, separate pieces for each tank).

I just did the first transfer last night as evenings are easier for me to do it and the 3 day time period is more important than the time of day.

Whether ammonia becomes a problem after 3 days or not, I use Amquel to reduce its toxicity. I'm also watching for flukes and anything else. With the flukes, PraziPro works great, of course. Both fish look reasonably comfortable and are eating.

After catching all of my fish, putting them through TTM, 9 weeks of a fallow display and finally getting the current fish ich-free, I will always do the TTM. Seems to be a no-brainer.

 

[appellativo]

Me too, willistein. It is the easiest way to ensure that you are not putting ich in your tank. Some of us are not as skilled and as lucky as Paul B in that his fish never get ich and he puts stuff in from the ocean and from the lfs, never quarantining. Obviously he is doing something right! I read his threads and take notes on his successfull methods and am trying to incorporate those into my regime (including live black worms!), but I will always do TTM on new fish from now on, and try to hold corals and inverts in a separate cycled QT for a month at least, to make sure that any ich cysts on those substrates hatch and die off for lack of a host. It IS a no brainer!!!

 

[appellativo]

willistein, are you cycling another holding system so your fish that are now in TTM have a place to go when they come out? I did that using the ammonia method and it cycled just in time to be done by the time the 12 days of TTM was up! whew!

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Moved my rabbitfish to a bigger tank with the first transfer this AM. I was originally planing on doing transfers in the evenings but I think if I just get everything set up the night before, I will be able to do the transfer quickly in the morning before going to work.

The 5g bucket was definitely too small, he looked rough this AM. He did not like the transfer but it was quick and he ate a few bites of mysis 2 hrs after. I am using a 20g tank, but only filled halfway. I figured he would appreciate the extra footprint but didn't think he needed 20g of water volume. Right now I just have an airstone in there, but I might add a powerhead. I'm trying to keep it as simple to clean as possible though.

 

[NTP66]

Out of curiosity, how are you transferring him? I used a medium sized colander for my 3-4" Foxface when doing TTM, and it was quick and easy.

 

[appellativo]

Yeah if I only have one or two small fish in TTM, I fill the tank halfway too, saves on water!
I personally use a clear square 'critter keeper' and slowly corral them into it, dump most of the water, and use a spoon or my hand (not for a foxface!) to flip them out into the new water real quick. colander sounds like a good idea for transferring as little water as possible for a venomous critter. I try to keep them in the water as much as possible and also not mess up their slime coat.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I used a plastic breeder box like this (you cant see in the pic but there are slits in the side going all the way to the bottom, so all the water drains out if its lifted out of water):

I didnt have a lot of space in the bucket and all my colanders are kinda big. I'm glad this thing had a top because he started flopping around hard as soon as he came out of the water... if I used a colander I'm sure he would have ended up on the floor...

 

[appellativo]

Yeah lid is good. Or at least a net over the top. I learned the hard way after my chromis flopped onto the floor LOL (well, HE wasn't laughing.) Neither was my daughter because he flopped on her head before he hit the floor. It was pretty comical.