New Setup w/ Livestock

[CAPT_Dave]

Hi all. First thanks for this great forum. I've been lurking for a while and have read most of the sticky posts up front, including the ones about quarantine and setting up new tanks. Very helpful.

I recently bought a whole setup from a very experienced reef keeper who is getting out of the hobby. He is including his livestock - LPS, softies and 6 or 8 small fish, including a mated pair of clowns, a hippo tang and some others I don't recall but will find out and post that soon.

First, the setup:
DT: 120 g acrylic reef. Deep sand bed (4 - 5 inches) and approx 40% (volume) rock. 2x 250 watt dimmable LED light fixtures.

Sump: 30 g refugium/sump w/ mineral mud, sand, rubble, and cheeto in separate 'fuge section. Approx. 750 gph through sump ('fuge is fed from branch line off main drain for lower flow). Warner Marine AS 150 skimmer. Running carbon and Phosban reactor. ReefKeeper Lite for system automation.

Tank was setup and cycling for two weeks when I dropped a wrench in the overflow box and cracked the bottom. Small leak. Very bad day. Have since torn it down, sealed the leak w/ Weldon 4, covered that with an acrylic patch, and covered all that with aquarium silicon. Rebuilt sump plumbing and refilled. No leaks. I kept sand and rocks wet in already cycling water in Rubbermaid trashcans with aerator while repairing and rebuilding. I'm comfortable with chemistry testing and can recognize (I think) when cycling is complete. My problem now is I'm three weeks behind and the previous owner needs to get rid of the livestock, which he's holding in a 30g tank in his living room. I'm hoping I can get him to hold on for a few more weeks to complete cycling but then he's going to give it to me all at once or someone else all at once.

My problem: I read the post about the need to QT and agree but do not have a QT tank large enough to handle that many fish and inverts. I can dip the corals and SW rinse the inverts but what do you think of the risk of initially populating this tank without quarantining a group of fish that have been together in the tank he sold me for years and in his temp holding tank for months? I know I have a lot of testing and small and frequent water changes coming due to the sudden increase in bioload but is that and the risk of disease IN THIS CASE greater than the reward of getting a stocked tank?

Thanks!
Dave

 

[Duke4life]

Why not buy his whole setup so you have a QT? Can you ever have enough tanks is what I'm learning

 

[gone fishin]

Really it comes down to you and your risk threshold. I personally would QT and if I could not then I would pass on the fish and stock it myself. Good luck on whatever choice you make.

 

[Reef Frog]

If these fish were living for years in that tank with no disease problems, and multiple months in a QT with the previous owner with no diseases evident, my opinion is that the risk is low that a disease like marine ich or velvet will show up & they can go into the display tank after the cycle is complete. * But it is always possible that a disease is present but suppressed and could show up due to the inevitable stress of moving. The only other options are to QT longer and watch and wait, or QT and treat prophylacticly with one of the several "approved" techniques if the risk bothers you.

* I am assuming that the live rock you have stayed wet with circulation and heat and therefore has plenty of bacterial colonies that can handle & process the waste load that you'll have from putting several larger fish in the tank all at once.


Flukes or worms may be present. I might ask the previous owner to do a round of Prazipro treatment for this reason.

 

[CAPT_Dave]

* I am assuming that the live rock you have stayed wet with circulation and heat and therefore has plenty of bacterial colonies that can handle & process the waste load that you'll have from putting several larger fish in the tank all at once.

The heat in the barrels was probably not sufficient. I intend to completely cycle the tank and will continue to beg his patience. I'm hoping that tests will show it cycles more quickly and I'm not starting completely over. I'll add some bio load in the form of shrimp and test a couple times to make sure it's as ready as I can make it.

I am concerned with the sudden addition of so much of a load. Perhaps I will dip and add corals right away along with cleanup crew and QT fish in a 20 gal tank I have and add them more slowly.

Thanks for the replies and good advice. You've convinced me on the QT in the future for sure. Everything after this will go that route.

Dave