Moral of the story: QT your damn inverts too!
- Thread starter GroktheCube
- Start date
Boy I must just be lucky. In over 25 years of keeping reef tanks I have never, to my knowledge, introduced a fish parasite from a non QT'd invert. I have had ich many times, though never velvet or brook, and while the source of introduction is obviously impossible to prove definitively, I always had other, much more likely sources (since I didn't QT fish for the first 15 of those 25 years). However, I think I may, moving forward, be more judicious in how I manage new inverts. Unfortunately, my putative invert QT is currently over run with a plague of red FW.
Deinonych
New member
I read somewhere that a given strain will die out after 100 generations or so. Can't find the reference, though.
Deinonych
New member
I believe so, yes. I'll try to find the source. Even so, 100 generations is a long time to try to wait it out.
Yeah, I have seen that idea floated here on RC in a few places. Not sure if its a new perpetuated myth, or actually has some scientific validity. I too have seen no linked references. I suppose its possible that a single strain will suffer from 'in breeding' in the absence of fresh genetic contributions - but maybe this is just technobabble. Dunno. Hasn't been a problem for lionfish in Florida :lol:
Last edited:
But it would explain why some never treat/go fallow, and then report never seeing ich again after so many years...
Deinonych
New member
The life cycle averages 2 weeks - it's not just the feeding (trophont) stage to consider. There's also the encysted (tomont) stage that is highly variable. Even with the average period, you're looking at close to two years to wait it out.
GroktheCube
New member
Fish all went into the first transfer tank yesterday afternoon, after a little bit of wrangling.
I'm using this as an excuse to pick up the last four wrasses I've had my eye on (C. exquisitas, C. lubbocki, C. aurantidorsalis, and C. cyanopleura). They'll all be arriving Tuesday morning. The biofilter for the fallow tank is not yet cycled, so I'd likely have to extend the TTM protocol by at least another two weeks even if I weren't adding them.
None of my corals or inverts seem to be at all bothered by their temporary home in some rubbermaids with heaters and powerheads (since I had to yank the rock to catch the fish, I'm giving the tank a good cleaning while I'm at it). A few of the corals that had been looking a little green around the gills lately actually seem to have perked up a bit for whatever reason.
I'm using this as an excuse to pick up the last four wrasses I've had my eye on (C. exquisitas, C. lubbocki, C. aurantidorsalis, and C. cyanopleura). They'll all be arriving Tuesday morning. The biofilter for the fallow tank is not yet cycled, so I'd likely have to extend the TTM protocol by at least another two weeks even if I weren't adding them.
None of my corals or inverts seem to be at all bothered by their temporary home in some rubbermaids with heaters and powerheads (since I had to yank the rock to catch the fish, I'm giving the tank a good cleaning while I'm at it). A few of the corals that had been looking a little green around the gills lately actually seem to have perked up a bit for whatever reason.
Deinonych
New member
I noticed the same thing on a few of my corals when I had to remove them for a tank teardown earlier this year. In particular, my torch coral seemed to really perk up, with great polyp extension, in the smaller tank. Now that I have it back in the DT, it's back to the way it was before - barely extending its tentacles. Weird.
GroktheCube
New member
Hmm. Since I pulled all my powerheads out to clean them, I'll have to give them a very thorough examination to check for corrosion on any of the magnets.
Maybe some of them were getting too much flow? The ones that seem to have really perked up are all birdsnest corals, interestingly enough. I tend to think of them as being very flow tolerant, but maybe I was blasting them a bit too hard.
GroktheCube
New member
Three of the four wrasses I ordered arrived this morning (other was not ready to ship and should be here thursday). They seem healthy, and about as happy as one could reasonably expect given they were just sent across the country in bags. They'll get some mysis late today, which I expect they'll eat given their behavior. If they're eating well, they'll get mysis laced with praziquantel, fenbendazole, levamisole, and focus to remove the intestinal parasites that they indubitably have, along with killing any flukes that they might be carrying. I'll be watching closely for signs for velvet, and have all I need to deal with it on hand.
Unfortunately, my female P. mccoskeri jumped to her death last night. I was using a glass top for a normal 40B on a 40B with a center brace, which left a gap JUST large enough for her to fit through. Somehow she managed to find it :-/. Lesson learned, next time I have a tiny gap, it's getting covered with saran wrap.
All is going well otherwise. None of the fish have shown any symptoms since the first transfer. Nitrites are sky high on the cycling filter for the fallow holding tank. I expect to see nitrates within the week. I should be able to get the glass I need to build an overflow box for it this week when I have time to run to a glass shop. Tonight I'm planning on either drilling for the overflow or gluing in the HPDE bottom, depending on what time allows for.
Unfortunately, my female P. mccoskeri jumped to her death last night. I was using a glass top for a normal 40B on a 40B with a center brace, which left a gap JUST large enough for her to fit through. Somehow she managed to find it :-/. Lesson learned, next time I have a tiny gap, it's getting covered with saran wrap.
All is going well otherwise. None of the fish have shown any symptoms since the first transfer. Nitrites are sky high on the cycling filter for the fallow holding tank. I expect to see nitrates within the week. I should be able to get the glass I need to build an overflow box for it this week when I have time to run to a glass shop. Tonight I'm planning on either drilling for the overflow or gluing in the HPDE bottom, depending on what time allows for.
Last edited:
GroktheCube
New member
Things have not been going my way.
After several fish began experiencing obvious respiratory distress over the course of two days, and one fish that should have been "cured" of ich (about to go into 4th transfer) began flashing/scratching.
Fearing velvet, I gave everyone a 3 minute FWD, and put them into a clean QT. FWD revealed no signs of flukes, so I'm assuming the symptoms displayed were early-stage velvet. I put a (clean) cycled HOB on the tank, and just added cupramine sufficient to raise copper levels to .1ppm.
Unfortunately, my male P. mccoskeri did not survive the FWD. I had the bucket covered with styrofoam weighted down with a small rock. He jumped and hit the lid hard enough that it moved slightly. I tossed him into the new QT after that, and he spun erratically with no pectoral fin movement for about 30 seconds, before settling to the bottom dead. I waited a few hours to make sure he wasn't faking it before removing him to do a post-mortem exam. His entire left gill plate, and an area spanning 1-2cm on around it, were deep dark maroon. Based on this, I assume he managed to hit the lid hard enough to destroy a major artery or vein in the gill, leading to massive internal hemorrhage and rapid death.
Both of my flashers have no committed suicide :-/
After several fish began experiencing obvious respiratory distress over the course of two days, and one fish that should have been "cured" of ich (about to go into 4th transfer) began flashing/scratching.
Fearing velvet, I gave everyone a 3 minute FWD, and put them into a clean QT. FWD revealed no signs of flukes, so I'm assuming the symptoms displayed were early-stage velvet. I put a (clean) cycled HOB on the tank, and just added cupramine sufficient to raise copper levels to .1ppm.
Unfortunately, my male P. mccoskeri did not survive the FWD. I had the bucket covered with styrofoam weighted down with a small rock. He jumped and hit the lid hard enough that it moved slightly. I tossed him into the new QT after that, and he spun erratically with no pectoral fin movement for about 30 seconds, before settling to the bottom dead. I waited a few hours to make sure he wasn't faking it before removing him to do a post-mortem exam. His entire left gill plate, and an area spanning 1-2cm on around it, were deep dark maroon. Based on this, I assume he managed to hit the lid hard enough to destroy a major artery or vein in the gill, leading to massive internal hemorrhage and rapid death.
Both of my flashers have no committed suicide :-/
GroktheCube
New member
Thanks. They all seemed well when I left. Given they have a very hefty biofilter (cycled on NH3/4 levels above top end of kit, NO3 levels at 250ppm+ at end of cycle) I should be able to keep them well fed, fat, and happy.
Similar threads
