Quarantine 40-50 fish from existing 500 gallon reef

[Jeffdstafford]

So I'm already getting some ammonia buildup, which is to be expected putting so many fish in 100 gallons, so I picked up a second 100 gallon Rubbermaid container and plumbed in a couple bulkhead drains,and using a cheap panworld pump for a return pump moving water from the original over to the new container, and gravity draining back in. Hopefully this should help me better manage ammonia and nitrates over the next few months.

Only downside is having to treat more water with copper safe, but a welcome trade-off vs an ongoing unmanageable ammonia battle.

I'm going to make the fish trap tomorrow, and once I get the pencil wrasse out of the tank, I'll start the copper safe treatment and the fallow period...This should really convince every person in the hobby to quarantine so you don't have to deal with this!!

 

[melypr1985]

I sure am impressed with your setup. You did one heck of a job here.

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Thanks! It has been quite an educational journey to say the least, and the medicating hasn't even started yet!

 

[revhtree]

Do you plan on moving some of the fish over to the other side? Could help with stress and then when you feed you might be able to target feed a little better and not lose food and create more water issues!

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Excellent suggestion; I plan on moving all my smaller non-tang fish to the new tank.. I've already lost 2 fish to them jumping out despite my fairly good top coverage,they will find the smallest slit to make their escape, and I'll be able to cover the other side much better since there's no equipment on the sides other than the 1 feed hose going into it. And like you're saying, they won't have the piggish tangs hogging all the chow at dinner time!

I did buy some egg crate panels and window screen material, so I'll zip tie the screen on and get a proper cover in place tonight.

Meanwhile the lone wrasse is the display tank taunts me everytime I walk by the tank..his days of lonely luxury are limited

 

[Brew12]

Excellent suggestion; I plan on moving all my smaller non-tang fish to the new tank.. I've already lost 2 fish to them jumping out despite my fairly good top coverage,they will find the smallest slit to make their escape, and I'll be able to cover the other side much better since there's no equipment on the sides other than the 1 feed hose going into it. And like you're saying, they won't have the piggish tangs hogging all the chow at dinner time!

I did buy some egg crate panels and window screen material, so I'll zip tie the screen on and get a proper cover in place tonight.

Meanwhile the lone wrasse is the display tank taunts me everytime I walk by the tank..his days of lonely luxury are limited

You do have plenty of filter floss, sponge, or other material to give the nitrifying bacteria plenty of surface area to grow on, right?

 

[Jeffdstafford]

I've got quite a few pieces in there, but I don't currently have any that are actively getting water forced through them; does that make a difference vs just having them in the water?

 

[Humblefish]

I've got quite a few pieces in there, but I don't currently have any that are actively getting water forced through them; does that make a difference vs just having them in the water?

In order for any bio-filter to be effective, it has to have water flowing thru it.

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Humble, do you think sponge in a media reactor would work or would that create an anoxic environment?

 

[jsbull]

Won't the copper kill the nitrifying bacteria anyway?

 

[Humblefish]

Humble, do you think sponge in a media reactor would work or would that create an anoxic environment?

Nitrifying bacteria are aerobic, so I would be concerned about them getting enough free oxygen in there. A HOB would work better.

Won't the copper kill the nitrifying bacteria anyway?

It will knock their levels back, but bacteria are extremely resilient, will adapt to the presence of copper and then bounce back quickly. If your bio-filter is healthy & loaded with nitrifying bacteria you shouldn't see any ammonia.

 

[Jeffdstafford]

What do you think about this Humble? Hole in the bottom of the bucket, draining all the water to the 2nd container through the sponges?

 

[Brew12]

What do you think about this Humble? Hole in the bottom of the bucket, draining all the water to the 2nd container through the sponges?

Frankentank! I love it! This is the most impressive and creative QT system I have ever seen!

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Haha, a perfect name for this monstrosity! It has really spiralled out of control, but I'm too far in now to turn back...So help me, these fish better appreciate all I'm doing to keep them alive!

 

[Jeffdstafford]

I mean, seriously, look at this thing..How did this escalate so quickly from a simple water trough, power head and skimmer?? To say I'm addicted is quite the understatement

 

[Humblefish]

Frankentank! I love it! This is the most impressive and creative QT system I have ever seen!

+1 Just be sure the water is forced to go through the sponges and cannot simply go around them.

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Will do, I'll play around a little with the design to make sure that's happening.. Thanks for the input!

 

[Brew12]

Haha, a perfect name for this monstrosity! It has really spiralled out of control, but I'm too far in now to turn back...So help me, these fish better appreciate all I'm doing to keep them alive!

At least it's easier than using a 10g QT while adding fish. Just think of how painful that is in comparison!

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Just got this in the mail, about to dump in the sponge bucket,and hopefully this will jump start getting the bio filter established.. Dealing with this ammonia is stressing me out!

 

[Jeffdstafford]

Time to go fishing!