Quarantine tank question

[dougdstecklein]

My display tank has been set up for about 2 months now. I have 20-25 thriving corals and 1 lyrtail anthia. Every time I get a new fish it develops ich and dies in a week.
I have decided to set up a 20 gal quarantine tank and don't know the best way to do it for my situation. I was going to seed the q-tank with filters from my main tank.
I feel like I need to remove the anthia from the DT for 8 weeks but it has been my only healthy fish through all of this so I am reluctant.

How should i handle this q-tank setup?

 

[Saltliquor]

Im in a similar situation myself, really interested in hearing some responses. Nervous to seed the QT tank filter from the display tank due to a previously sick fish in the display, or use water from the display for the QT.

 

[Cymonous]

I would be leery of using anything from your DT to seed your QT. I would recommend just cycling a QT or start a QT and keep a good eye on Ammonia when you add fish. Buy a Ammonia badge to help monitor the QT and already made saltwater just in-case for a change. I also recommend putting the Anthia in the QT. You need to get that DT fishless for 9+ weeks to rid the ich.

 

[Spyderturbo007]

I use some rubble rock from the LFS that I store in my sump. It's sacrificial, so as long as you don't mind wasting a few bucks it works great.

If you have issues with your DT, you might want to just go the water change route in the QT for fear of bringing Ich into the QT from the DT.

 

[dougdstecklein]

Here is my problem with that. This fish has been in the tank without symptoms for 3-4 weeks, but if it has ich and I put it in the qt isn't that introducing ich into my qt? So is it pointless to transfer the anthia to the qt unless I also plan on running copper.

 

[Breadman03]

Here is my problem with that. This fish has been in the tank without symptoms for 3-4 weeks, but if it has ich and I put it in the qt isn't that introducing ich into my qt? So is it pointless to transfer the anthia to the qt unless I also plan on running copper.

Not necessarily, because your anthia is already a carrier for ich, you should treat it. Copper, hypo salinity, and tank transfer are the three generally accepted treatment methods. I used tank transfer to treat my fish and it went well with no issues. However, after I was done, my neighbor was doing some work and the fumes killed 2 of my fish in the basement. :blown: Oh well, it wasn't intentional.

I just used 2 tanks with a few pieces of PVC, a powerhead, and a heater in each tank and treated the water with Prime as an assurance against ammonia. I never had a problem with ammonia.

Ich Sticky

 

[thegrun]

You need to pull all the anthias out of the DT and leave it without fish for 10 weeks. Treat the anthias and any other fish you plan on adding to the DT with either copper or low salinity for the same 10 week period.

 

[dougdstecklein]

I have been thinking about this all day and can't decide what to do.
I have a perfectly healthy anthia in my main tank. I don't really want to pull this fish out, put it in a QT(which needs to cycle for 4+ weeks), treat it for ten weeks, and then put it back in. Then purchase a new fish, treat it for ten weeks, and then put it in my DT. That's like 200 weeks before I get to enjoy a new fish.

I am considering setting up my QT, seeding it with my DT filters and water, adding a new fish, treating it if symptoms appear, and then adding it to my DT after 3 weeks of no symptoms.

 

[Dr. Reef]

u been getting good advises but seems like u having hard time thinking about getting anthias out of ur DT. well the reason for that is even if they dont show signs of ich that doesnt mean they dont have it. ich is in ur DT and will be there as long as there is a living fish there for it to host.
my advice to u is the same as like others. please take all ur fish out of DT and put them in QT.
setup a qt and cycle it dont transfer anything between tanks and give a change for QT to be ich free. when u have the qt cycled and ready then u move the fish from dt to qt and treat then with hypo or copper. leave dt fishless for 10 weeks.
i have a sticky on top of this forum regarding QT and procedures. go through it and if u need any help just ask.
good luck

Note: if u do what u say ur going to do which is leaving current fish in DT and just treating new fish in QT chances are u will run out of this hobby in like 200 days. ich is not on the every new fish u add its in the dt that attacks and kills every new fish u get as the new fish is stressed and week and new and very much a good candidate for ich.

 

[cakemanPA]

Seems like you already knew what you were going to do, but you ask the question. Hoping to get the answers you wanted to hear. If you have had ich and leave a fish in the DT, you still have ich. Sooner or later it will bite you.

 

[dougdstecklein]

I guess I'm not sold on the fact that I can eradicate this disease from my tank completely, but having so many experienced aquarists saying the same thing is starting to change my mind.

If I do this the correct way, I want to make sure I don't introduce ich into my DT inadvertently. What do I do about new corals, shrimp, sea serpants, etc...

And what are your thoughts on the tank transfer method instead of using copper?

BTW, thank you all for the expert advice.

 

[dougdstecklein]

One more thing
When I get to the point of adding a new fish it seems like I would want to treat with copper whether the fish is showing symptoms or not to keep any diseases out of my DT.
Is this correct?

 

[Spyderturbo007]

There are different camps when it come to being proactive or reactive as related to treatment. Personally, I don't treat unless there is a reason to treat. But others will treat regardless.

 

[cakemanPA]

I prefer not to treat unless there is an issue in QT. I could be convinced to go the prazipro treatment route regardless. I won't treat copper unless there is an obvious need.

 

[Cymonous]

I would not treat new fish unless there are signs. If you keep a fish in QT for 4-6 weeks with no signs, then you should be fine. But, I would treat your current fish with some kind of method for Ich.

 

[dougdstecklein]

Okay. You guys have convinced me to take the fish out. I am first going to cycle the quarantine tank(4 weeks). When I put the anthia in the QT for 10weeks , what is the best way to keep my nitrifying bacteria alive in the 90 gal. DT?
Should I use copper or tank transfer to treat?

 

[GrimReefer555]

No offense, but the answers to every question you asked are in the stickies. You should read before you post a thread, as your having others do work to teach you instead of you doing work by researching. The tools are in front of you, but you don't seem to want to research or listen until someone tells you ten times. You've been on RC since '03, I've been reefing a year and already know the answers to your questions. Because I read...

 

[Breadman03]

I used tank transfer successfully a little while ago. There was no need to cycle. I set the first tank up at the correct temp and salinity, then slowly added in some Prime over the course of a day until I had reached the full dose. From then on, each fresh tank had the full dose of prime in it.

During that time, I fed lightly, only used smaller powerheads, and ran the temperature a little lower and had no problems. After tank transfer was complete, I set up a canister filter and used Prime in that to cycle the tank. Unfortunately, I couldn't have a cycled tank ready, but ammonia was kept at bay between Prime and water changes.

Once your tank's fallow period is over, put your fish back in. From this point on, you can prophylactically treat all new fish for ich in 12 days.

 

[dougdstecklein]

No offense, but the answers to every question you asked are in the stickies. You should read before you post a thread, as your having others do work to teach you instead of you doing work by researching. The tools are in front of you, but you don't seem to want to research or listen until someone tells you ten times. You've been on RC since '03, I've been reefing a year and already know the answers to your questions. Because I read...

I have done countless hours of research on this forum. Every time I have a question or problem I first try to search for the answer. I felt I had a specific situation (with a fish already being in the tank)that needed a specific answer.
I have been a member since 2003, but I have not owned a fish tank or been on this forum in over 7 years. The tank I have just set up is only 2 months old.
I'm sorry that you feel I am just being lazy.
I have read the stickies about quarantine tanks, tank setup, fish acclimation, fish compatibility, fish diseases... You name it.
I was not convinced on having my DT fallow for 10 weeks, even though I read I should. I don't believe everything i read to be the only way or even the right way for that matter. The nice community of reefers here at RC have taken time out of their day to voluntarily help me, and I appreciate that very much. I was going to go about my QT all wrong and they have convinced me to do it the right way.
I did post this in the beginners forum. Did I not?
And YES, I have taken offense!

 

[Spyderturbo007]

Okay. You guys have convinced me to take the fish out. I am first going to cycle the quarantine tank(4 weeks). When I put the anthia in the QT for 10weeks , what is the best way to keep my nitrifying bacteria alive in the 90 gal. DT?
Should I use copper or tank transfer to treat?

There is no reason to cycle the QT. Just grab yourself a SeaChem Ammonia Alert Badge and do regular water changes. You'll be just fine.

If you don't have anything else in the DT, you'll need to ghost feed the tank. A small amount of flake food every few days should be sufficient to keep the bacteria alive.

As for TT vs Cu treatment, I really don't know. I've never had to deal with Ich, so I can't say which is better. I would imagine that they both work just as well, so you might want to search around for which one is easier?