Setting up quarantine for SPS only...how long for "cycle"

[slojmn]

Howdy, found some bite marks and AEFW on my Lime in the Sky so I decided to go all out and quarantine every acropora, dip and leave the main display fallow for 8-10 weeks of all acropora. It really is a shame as every single one of my Acropora are looking stellar and there are no signs of any more beasties, no bite marks, no nada...but if I found them on one coral they are probably there. I set up my 60g reef in the garage last weekend and added about 50% tank water and 50% new water. I am wondering about the best way to go about the process of cycling this tank for stashing about 25 acropora frags and mini colonies in it while I dip them every 5-6 days.

I have had a sponge and some rock rubble in the main tank for a week or so to build up a little bacteria. I have one small piece of live rock from the sump I can put in the quarantine as well for bacteria. I am mostly interested in having a relatively stable environment for 10 weeks to keep these acros alive until I can get them back into the main display and be free of AEFW. Any thoughts?

I have always been a firm proponent of not adding acros to a new system for the first 6 months until it gets stable. Well, that really isn't realistic in this situation. I am not sure how much of a cycle I will get from the coral additions but I suspect some. I was thinking of adding the rubble rock and sponge and testing for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates for a week or two and see where the numbers fall. What I am afraid of is that I wont get a cycle at all until I stick all the corals in the system. I suppose I could go the route of throwing in some shrimp to decay...but that will make it a long 3-4 week cycle at least.... just not sure what to do. I would love to start dipping and get this process going. but I don't want to rush it either.

 

[jroovers]

I think cycle probably isn't the best term. I think nutrient continuim is probably better. It is probably safe to assume you are going to start with higher nutrients if you put in some rock in the quarantine, and need to get them lower or a week or two (or longer) to where they will be conducive to SPS. Don't throw in the shrimp IMO, you're just adding nutrients. To me, I'd want the water parameters to be as close to your main tank as possible. Are you skimming the quarantine? I would just try and keep the alk, ca, and nitrate/phosphate level as similar as possible... and not put too much in the quarantine. Get the quarantine up and running, skim, test, test and test, and once things seem to be in the proper range, then transfer them over. Keep the bioload low, and that should keep the nutrients in check until you are ready to return them to their rightful place.

Good luck with your journey, AEFW sound like hell, thing I fear the most.

 

[slojmn]

Thanks for the response...yea, agreed they are the worst. Even with fastidious dipping they got by me. I am not worried though. I plan to be very careful through this process. The tank will be without a single acro for at least 8 weeks, maybe more like 10 weeks. I will then slowly add back in my corals watching for any signs of the little beasties!!!

Good idea on not getting too many nutrients going. I was hoping to use all tank water and just go for it but I ended up with about 50-50 tank water to new water so I will just add the little bit of rock and the sponge and start testing and see how close I can get things. Temp is a little up and down thus far as I don't have an extra Aqua Controller lying around, hehehehehehe. I hope to be able to get it settled down over this next week while I test.