moving to new tank ?

[mtc1966]

Rayjay ? for you since i have now sold all the fish out of my 58g and will be moving my seahorses to that tank . I do not plan to do this right away i want to get my rock just right and get some macros established .
but i am now wondering how long or how many water changes may be needed to make sure it is pathogen free from the previous inhabitants ?

 

[rayjay]

I wish I could help you out on that answer but I don't know if you can remove all the pathogens that may be there just by doing water changes. I know that some can die off after 6 to 10 weeks but I had problems even that way after 10. I finally started to sterilize every tank and I boiled the live rock in a preserving kettle before placing it back in the tank and cycling.
My latest tanks I've sterilized by putting a teaspoon of unscented bleach (with no additives either) to every 5g of water and let sit for a few days. Aerate for another four days and then just to be sure, add some Cloram-X or similar product and then cycle everything.
Most people don't go to these extremes but it's what I thought I had to do to eliminate as many possibilities as I could. Then if I have problems the field of possibilities is much narrower.
Since I started doing this, I've still had losses but not complete wipeouts like I had early in my seahorse attempts. (in the last six months I've lost 2 of the 30 standard seahorses but about 6 of 30 dwarfs)

 

[mtc1966]

interesting I don't see my self going to that extreme . but was thinking of waiting 3 months and doing weekly water changes but replacing the water with water out of the current s/h tank not sure if that would also help or not.

 

[charleneatkins]

Hi Mike, Nice meeting you again this afternoon. I will probably tag along with this thread but I am not transfering horses. Let me know if I am out of line.
question for forum: Would it be safe to empty the 58, sterilize and the restart from the other tank? If this was possible, would you dip the corals you want to keep with horses. Would any residue on dipping irritate the horses?

 

[ann83]

You are never going to get a pathogen free tank. If previous tank inhabitants were falling ill, there are things you can do to help with that. An 8 week fishless period is good for most parasites. An extended period of time at 68* or below is good for most bacteria, along with large water changes. However, some particularly virulent pathogens would warrant a full sterilization like the one rayjay describes. Frequent siphoning of lower flow areas (or elimination of those low flow areas) is always important.

 

[mtc1966]

thanks ann83 the tank was healthy so i will remove the heater and do water changes for at least 8 wks before moving the seahorses.

 

[rayjay]

The saying "cleanliness is next to godliness" is never more true than in the seahorse hobby.