Large fish order, need some advice on quarantining all of them.

[tcmfish]

• Get your QT seeded.
• Less tangs.
• Wait on the achilles, and IMO the naso gets too big.
• Only one moorish idol per tank, they will kill each other. If you want to order two QT them separately and give one to a friend.
• Use cupramine and prazipro at once, it will shorten your QT process and kill more diseases at once.

I would go with something like:

First order after QT, and display are cycled, get the 7 yellow tangs, and the pink tail trigger. Then later add the one moorish idol and the achilles since they are touchy, they will die in a new tank. And then pick an angel as a showpiece fish later and also include some small fish too. You could even go towards a Hawaiian biotope if you went this route!

The sohal will get to big and mean for the tank. A naso will get too big IMO, just so many people keep them that their size often gets over looked. Hippos are large fish and as they grow some people have had problems with them wedging themselves in rocks and kind of mutilating themselves, I don't know if its because they are cramped or what. The sailfin would probably be fine, but don't crowd it! Purples also get very territorial once established. Plus there are so many other types of fish besides tangs, mix it up a little!!

My last word of advice... patience. You will forever be frustrated with fish if you are not patient.

 

[IFbettas]

300 gallons isn't as big as you think. Cut your list in half and you will still have a lot of big fish for a tank that size.

 

[tibob32]

I suggest you send that guy an private message and ask him if he added all those fishes over the course of a week or did that take months to get there

Quarantine tanks havnt even been set up yet but that shouldnt matter. Hypo salinity requires so many water changes that the water should stay optimum quality.

I will introduce all of them to the 300 most likely over a weeks time. This should minimize fighting/territorial issues.

Too many fish? Tell that to this guy.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1668058&page=6

As for scratching the moorish idols. I have always wanted to try this fish so I dont want to scratch them. I will order two in hopes of at least one of them being healthy. From what I havee read, they are very peaceful and get along great with other fish. The only issue is feeding. Even though they eat they still get thin and die over time. I hope to eliminate this issue by feeding as much as I can.

 

[phil519]

Lol - tibob32 you and I are on the same page. I looked up his thread.

I will introduce all of them to the 300 most likely over a weeks time. This should minimize fighting/territorial issues.

Too many fish? Tell that to this guy.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1668058&page=6

Fyi - that "guy" has been in the hobby for 15 years and had the fish for several years:

Acanthurus Leucosternon (Powder Blue Tang)= 2ea, years maintained 4.
Acanthurus Sohal (Sohal)= 1ea, years maintained 1.
Paracanthurus Hepatus (Regal Tang)= 2ea, years maintained 4.
Ctenochaetus Strigosus (Kole/Yellow eye Tang)= 1ea, years maintained 7.
Naso Lituratus elegans (Blone Naso Tang)= 1ea, years maintained 8.
Zebrasoma Flavescens (Yellow Tang)= 8ea, years maintained 2.
Zebrasoma Xanthurum (Purple Tang)= 2ea, years maintained 4.

You are taking trying to replicate something in one day that was done by someone else in a course of several years. He feeds the tank minimum 4x a day plus every time he walks by the tank! Rather than just take a single post - you should read his entire thread. Plus he's upgrading to a 1000 gallon tank in the spring.

I do hope everyone is wrong and despite the odds your fish all survive. So GOOD LUCK! Post pics when you get them.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

Too many issues to address them all, so I'll just touch on some:

That is too many fish for a 300 gallon SPS - maybe o.k. for a FOWLR set up.

First, large shipments are not inherently a problem - your local pet store does that multiple times every week. However, their tanks are established, and most use copper.

I would use copper as opposed to hyposalinity. You are almost positive to get Cryptocaryon on the achilles, and copper works better/faster and you don't have to worry as much about concurrent Uronema infections. However, the quarantine tanks aren't set up yet? Then that isn't going to work - you'll be doing 100% water changes every two days on all the tanks to control the ammonia - or buy a gallon of Amquel.

I've never been able to keep two moorish idols in the same tank - skip one or both.

To control flukes - Praziquantel at 2 mg/l, then ten days later a 50% water change, re-dose and then 10 days after that, another 50% water change.


Jay Hemdal

Jay,

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't copper, Cupramine specifically, fatal when dosed with Amquel?

 

[WuHT]

yep ... never combine amquel and cupramine.



Anyways, you really should start seeding your QT tank, even see if any local hobbyist can help you out there.

 

[LisaD]

Where is the OP?

And where are you guys getting purple and sohal tangs - I didn't see them on his list...

BTW, not only has emilio been in the hobby a long time - his stock was already established for years before he added it to the 300 gallon tank. There is no way you can recreate that tank by ordering fresh collected fish and putting them in all at once. You definitely should go direct to "that guy" for his comments on your set-up. I think you'd get some of the same comments and advise we are giving you.

 

[StripestheEel]

I don't even have that many large fish in my 700gal system.

I find it funny when people justify themselves by locating a thread or tank that has similar stocking and saying "Well if he has done it so am I".

Just because someone else has done it (and in this case the person is upgrading to 1000gal in the future) does not give you the right to do it also. Especially in a 300gal.

You would be doing yourself a great dis-service by going against the opinions of so many experienced reefers. Cut the list in half and you will have a great reef in the making.

 

[tcmfish]

The purple, sohal, and angel are in the last line of his original post.

 

[Texastravis]

Well a lot of good advice and a lot of ace hole comments as well. I will not quote any as I dont want to start anything.

I still dont feel this is too dense of a fish list BUT I could agree with the fact of adding them all at once. I was doing this to prevent territorial fighting. For instance, it way better to add in 6-7 yellow tangs at once than it would be to add them all simultaneously, you will definitely get some fighting.

What I will do is cut my fish list in half. Get that half into my tank and see where I am at after that.

As for achilles tang in a new tank. I dont think the "newness" is much of an issue. From what I have read both achilles and powder blues need at least 6' of swimming space with HIGH HIGH HIGH flow (which I plan on having)I will have a large skimmer for bio load/quality requirements as well. I wanted this fish to be my FIRST fish so that he would get comfortable in his new environment. After he establishes his territory and eats regularly/not shy I will then begin adding the other fish.

If I were to get a sohal tang I will add it very last. This fish is highly territorial so adding it last is best. Sohals are the worst when you add fish to a tank thats had a sohal in it long enough to establish his territory. I would also make him the smallest, say a 3-4" specimen.

Moorish Idol, If he works he works if he dies he dies. I have done plenty of reading on these guys. They are not hard in terms of water parameters, just feeding. Eventhough they eat they seem to still get skinny and die. I will try to feed a lot. If it works out great, if not then oh well I can say I tried.

 

[Texastravis]

I am entertaining the idea of using cupramine now. I just am scared of using copper in my tanks. I dont even have a copper test kit atm and have never really used copper treatments before.

 

[StripestheEel]

Moorish Idol, If he works he works if he dies he dies.

:hammer:

Do you want any of your intended fish to exhibit any sort of natural behaviours?

So many large and territorial fish is not good for their long term health.

Here is a video of my 700gal.



As you may see all I have on the large fish scale is:

x1 Blue Tang
x1 Yellow Tang
x1 Powder Blue Tang
x1 Clown Tang
x1 Emperor Angel
x1 Male Blue Throat Trigger

I do not have anywhere near as much "large fish" as you intend to have but they are all happy, healthy specimens with no aggression issues and no behaviours that exhibit stress etc.

You want to replicate a reef? Try 3-4 big fish with lots of smaller specimens like cardinals, anthias, chromis etc.

I am a big big lover of tangs; I have made my mistakes in the past and have learnt from them. I just hope you can take my word among others and not replicate errors that we have all made in the past.

Cheers and good luck,

Matt

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Cupramine is no big deal. Not as harsh as other coppers and easy to use. BUT DONT USE AMMONIA REMOVERS WITH IT. Amquel/prime will react with the copper and transform it in to a much more toxic form.

I understand the fear of territorial problems/aggression but I honestly think you're going to have more of a problem adding them all at once. For example if you have 4 yellow tangs and add three more I dont think anyone will notice... fish can't count. And you'll still be spreading the aggression out over multiple fish. If you were going to add one fish at a time with a month in between each, you'd have problems. But if you just break up that list at least in to a few batches you will be more successful.

I'm still not necessarily supporting having that many big fish, but I'm not going to jump on it because that just makes people get defensive. If you break it in to a few batches I think you will also realize that the tank fills up faster than you thought. Also try to keep in mind full size of the fish. If might look alright when theyre all 4, 5, 6 inches, but when you start imagining half those fish at over a foot... it gets crazy real fast.

 

[LisaD]

@tcmfish

The purple, sohal, and angel are in the last line of his original post.

oh, duh, thank you.

OP, not good ideas, take it slow, research space and compatibility needs, and don't expect to get emilio's tank in two weeks. not even two years.

don't take any posts personally, people are really trying to help you.

it is good that you will halve your fish list, QT/treat properly, and slow down a bit. good luck, and keep us posted, no matter how it goes. if you succeed, everyone will be happy for you, if you have troubles, people will try to help. some are a little blunter than others, but I think just about all posters have tried to be constructive.

Stripes the eel, your tank is really really nice! Do you have a build thread?

 

[snorvich]

Hey, he does not really want advice. Let him kill some fish and then he can rethink his situation.

 

[LisaD]

OK so maybe I'm a Pollyanna.

 

[tcmfish]

Stripes that is a great tank!! Do you have any pics or vids will all the lights on?

 

[cagey]

one fish in a QT at a time. why expose a healthy fish to another fish's problem? Too much stress. When livestock is added to an DT, the system needs to catch up with the new bio load. You're gonna have a big disappoinmnent besides needlessly destroying living creatures. Be Wise and take your time.

 

[StripestheEel]

Stripes the eel, your tank is really really nice! Do you have a build thread?

Stripes that is a great tank!! Do you have any pics or vids will all the lights on?

Hi guys, here is the link http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1790458

Sorry for going off topic OP

 

[Texastravis]

Hey, he does not really want advice. Let him kill some fish and then he can rethink his situation.

[flamealert]

Stripes nice emperor and tank!


My new fish list:

1 Blue Hippo (4-6") (quarantined in 55 gallon #1)
1 Haw Naso Tang (5-7") (quarantined in 55 gallon #2)
1 Achilles (4"-6") (quarantined in 55 gallon #2)
1 Purple (3") (not ordering yet)
1 Pink Tail (4-6") (quarantined in 20 gallon)
4 Yellows (2-3") (quarantined in 30 #1)
1 Sailfin (3-4") (quarantined in 30 gallon #2)

I will quarantine these fish and add them slowly into the DT (after it has completely cycled, during cycle time i will feed the fishless tank heavily to get it used to some sort of bioload). Perhaps a fish per week starting with the achilles. I will treat all fish with cupramine along with the the other medication that treats fluke/velvet. All quarantine tanks are up and running, the 55s have fluval canister filters while the 30 gallons have bio wheel cascade filters. Dont plan on ordering fish for about 3 weeks.


Purple tang will be last thing. Not going to add until way later, its not even on the order list since its not available from where I am ordering so will attempt to add a small one after all other fish have been settled and the tank is a bit aged. I will also add a few smaller cheap fish such as anthias, chromis and a clownfish if all goes well.

Is this adequate?

Any good links on using cupramine ans the other med that treats velvet/fluke? Will cupramine kill calurpa? Live rock? Bio filter?

Thanks