Is my dealer trustworthy?

[Zionas]

My retailer in Guangzhou, China is a very nice guy who patiently answers all of my questions and I do ask a lot. His attitude has been great so far.

Yesterday I asked him some questions about QT of livestock. He said when it comes to most smaller fish, 3-5 days is enough. He says what matters the most is choosing a healthy specimen that's eating well. He says when it comes to medication, especially copper based but others too, smaller fish often die from it. He believes some fish (healthy ones) may not even need QT, but I've got a QT setup (10-15 tank) anyway. We discussed a bit about FW dipping and he said many smaller fish can't tolerate FW, and that it's usually used (here) to remove bigger fish of flukes.

For cycling the tank with LR, he recommends 3-4 weeks. I'm a bit more cautious than him and I'd do 4-5 or 5-6, but maybe I'm being overly cautious. I would be adamantly opposed to adding a fish as part of the cycling process, not sure about invertebrates but I'd not cycle with any fish.

He's urged me to buy the best possible RO / DI system from him, and I've heard it's better than distilled water.

When it comes to fish and livestock, he recommends starting with no more than a couple of easy soft corals. He thinks my selection of fish so far: Dwarf Angels (CB, Flame, Rusty, Half Black, the pygmies), clowns, Halichoeres wrasses, Talbot's / Azure damsels, YWGs, the Yellow Candy Hogfish are easy.

What he disagrees with is certain members of the Chrysiptera Genus being peaceful. He says "œother than Chromis all other damsels are quite fierce." He doesn't seem to be very concerned about uronema in C. virdis after I showed him a picture of it. His opinion of Talbot's, Azure, YT Blue, Rolland's, Starcki's etc. differs from many Western reviews of them.

He's advised me against butterflies because he thinks on average they're perhaps the hardest group of marine fish to keep. He's also advised me against any predatory fishes including the Marine Betta, frogfish, and Lionfish. He thinks the Yellow Candy Hogfish < Pacific Peppermint in difficulty.

This guy's got a great attitude, but is he trustworthy? If not, if you disagree with him, I'd appreciate it if you'd walk me through a proper cycling and QT process for the tank and for livestock.

I'd love to hear your opinions. Thanks.

 

[ThRoewer]

Quarantine duration is independent of the size of the fish and should be 6 weeks at the bare minimum. I do at a minimum of 60 days.
You can treat prophylactically, but I usually favor just an observational quarantine and only treat if the fish actually displays symptoms of an infection.
A good prophylactic and rather fish-friendly treatment against ick (Cryptocaryon) would be tank transfers (you find the description in the stickies) in combination with formalin (or H2O2) baths in between and PraziPro during two periods with a one period break in-between. This takes about two weeks, requires 2 QT setups (so you can clean and sterilize one while the other is in use) and should eliminate Cryptocaryon, Brooklynella, Trichodina, Uronema (if not an active infection and not with 100% certainty), most flukes (Monogeneans), and, with a lot of luck, possibly even Amyloodinium (velvet). After that, you still want at least a month of observation to make sure nothing slipped through.

Cycling can be done quickly or slowly, it really depends on how you start the tank. If you can get well-cured live rock from a disease-free system and start stocking the tank slowly you can get away with 2 to 3 weeks (or, if you know what you are doing, you can skip cycling all together - I haven't cycled a tank in years). If you start from scratch, with only dead rock, freshly mixed saltwater and a bacterial starter, do at least a month. With real, uncured live rock the cycling time depends on the die-off of organisms that came with the rocks. 3-4 weeks may work but ultimately you need to see when the water clears up and the ammonia and nitrite have gone away.

In China, I would most definitely invest in a good RO system, not just for the tank but also for safe drinking water for myself. For the tank, you also want a DI stage after the RO unit. I suggest getting a drinking water system with a reservoir tank and an additional DI unit.

I would stay clear of Chromis no matter what he says. Those are by no means beginner fish.
I can assure you that Crysiptera like starki or hemicyanea are no more aggressive than Chromis. If you keep them in a pair or small harem group they are generally way to busy with themselves to bother other fish much. I assume his experience comes from singles which indeed can become terrors - but that applies to many other fish as well.

Marine Bettas (Calloplesiops altivelis) are only predatory against shrimp but will never eat fish. I have had well over 10 of them, even bred them, and I can assure you this. All this nonsense about them eating small fish comes from sources that likely never kept one of these fish and confuse them with Groupers. Also, none of the fish on your list would be potential prey just by size.

Generally, I don't think he is dishonest, just not very familiar with every fish. I suggest you get into the habit of researching fish online and ask those that kept them.

 

[Zionas]

Yeah what about live foods though? Are they very important for am omnivore / carnivore? What’s the easiest way to get them?

I will have room for one quarantine tank, having a second one will take up too much space in my already small apartment. If this is the case, I won’t have room for the tank transfer method.

Furthermore, what about cycling my QT? Should I set it up (use the same water and salt mix as my DT) at the same time as my DT?

 

[ThRoewer]

Tank transfers can also be done in buckets if necessary though it is harder to keep an eye on the fish. And just for clarification, you only need one tank (bucket) at a time. While one is in use the second is cleaned and dried to sterilize it. After two days you basically swap them out.

Live foods can be cultivated but you would need space to set up the cultures. They are always beneficial but only required for those fish that eat nothing else.

I hardly ever cycle QTs. All I do is adding a rock from an established system and a handful of algae like Caulerpa for example. Chaeto is one I would be careful with as I had fish strangulate themselves after getting entangled in it.

 

[Zionas]

Thanks for the info. How do I add Caulpera algae? If I take a rock from an established system, wouldn’t that worsen the air circulation and algae (benefical$ growth in that main tank?

Do you suggest setting up a QT at the same time as the DT, before it, or after it?

 

[ThRoewer]

In your case, it's best to set up both at the same time.

If you don't already have Caulerpa at this point you will have to cycle the normal way or do frequent water changes to control ammonia. At a later stage, you might want to think about getting some suitable and reasonably fast-growing macroalgae for a refugium as that is the best way to keep nitrates and phosphates in check.