150 gallon cycle almost done. Add a few fish?

[Crabs McJones]

So it seems the wife is fine with the biocube 29 in the bathroom for quarantine. I noticed on BRS they pull a marine pure block out of the sump and use that in the quarantine. I assume I can pull a live rock from my sump and add it in the quarantine for new arrivals, but I have a question. If I want to medicate the fish in there, won't it go into the live rock? and that would go back into my display tank one day. how would you go about it?

Correct. If you take rock out of your display and put it in the qt, and run medications, you won't want to put the rock back in your display. Best bet would be to stop at your lfs and pick up a couple small pieces of live rock. Or get a filter pad or sponge and put it in your tank, let the bacteria cultivate it, and move that over to your quarantine.

 

[Eggpaul]

Correct. If you take rock out of your display and put it in the qt, and run medications, you won't want to put the rock back in your display. Best bet would be to stop at your lfs and pick up a couple small pieces of live rock. Or get a filter pad or sponge and put it in your tank, let the bacteria cultivate it, and move that over to your quarantine.

Great idea, I have a filter sponge in the biocube I can move into the sump. Would filter floss work too?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Great idea, I have a filter sponge in the biocube I can move into the sump. Would filter floss work too?

Absolutely. Anything porus that the bacteria can cultivate :)

 

[Eggpaul]

Absolutely. Anything porus that the bacteria can cultivate :)

About the biocube 29, do I need to use a filter at all? I was planning to just put a koralia and a heater inside with the sponge from my tank. The biocube has a mesh pad and carbon in the sump area where a pump can be used to circulate the water. Just wondering if I can just add less water so I don't need to add a pump in the back.

 

[Crabs McJones]

About the biocube 29, do I need to use a filter at all? I was planning to just put a koralia and a heater inside with the sponge from my tank. The biocube has a mesh pad and carbon in the sump area where a pump can be used to circulate the water. Just wondering if I can just add less water so I don't need to add a pump in the back.

I would use some type of filter just to collect any floating detritus even if.its a simple hang on back filter

 

[Eggpaul]

I would use some type of filter just to collect any floating detritus even if.its a simple hang on back filter

Should I use carbon during quarantine?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Should I use carbon during quarantine?

Are you going to be running any medication? If so then no

 

[Eggpaul]

Are you going to be running any medication? If so then no

Not planning any medication.

 

[Eggpaul]

Are you going to be running any medication? If so then no

Should I use general cure or seachem metro just in case??

 

[Crabs McJones]

Should I use general cure or seachem metro just in case??

I dont unless I observe a problem

 

[Eggpaul]

I dont unless I observe a problem

Have you lost healthy fish in quarantine? Isn't it more stressful in there instead of the DT?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Have you lost healthy fish in quarantine? Isn't it more stressful in there instead of the DT?

I have never lost a fish in quarantine :) what I do is I quarantine for 6 weeks, observational only. I dont dose meds or anything unless I observe a problem within that 6 weeks. After that they get a freshwater dip, and then into the display.

 

[Eggpaul]

I have never lost a fish in quarantine :) what I do is I quarantine for 6 weeks, observational only. I dont dose meds or anything unless I observe a problem within that 6 weeks. After that they get a freshwater dip, and then into the display.

How long in freshwater?

 

[Crabs McJones]

How long in freshwater?

Not long, less than 5 minutes.

 

[Eggpaul]

Not long, less than 5 minutes.

I'm actually excited to quarantine now, mainly because it allows me to grab a nice fish quickly from the store, since I'm waiting a few weeks before adding new fish to the DT. :)

 

[Eggpaul]

Not long, less than 5 minutes.

I was housing a coral in my biocube. just transferred to DT. I rinsed and cleaned the biocube on SAT morning and it's drying now. Should I clean with vinegar before using for QT?

 

[Crabs McJones]

I was housing a coral in my biocube. just transferred to DT. I rinsed and cleaned the biocube on SAT morning and it's drying now. Should I clean with vinegar before using for QT?

Probably not necessary, what water did you use to clean it out? RODI or tap water? If tap just give it a good rinse with RO/DI water and let it dry, should be good :)

 

[Eggpaul]

Probably not necessary, what water did you use to clean it out? RODI or tap water? If tap just give it a good rinse with RO/DI water and let it dry, should be good :)

I used tap. Good idea, I'll rinse one more time with rodi

 

[mcarroll]

Good advice going on here!! :)

Have you lost healthy fish in quarantine? Isn't it more stressful in there instead of the DT?

Good question!!

Correct answer: You want that QT tank (which is not also a hospital tank, ideally) to be as much like a display as possible. If needed they should be able to live there in the short term without issue.

Typical QT's you see around online are what I refer to as prison-style – too small and too spartan. Who'd want to live in a tank like that??

On the other hand, even a nice QT does not have to be fancy – remember it's temporary. :)

So I DO recommend a nice piece of live rock and some plastic plants as a minimum.

If you happen to have to medicate then either consider the rock a loss and use it in your garden, or just brace yourself and add it to your tank anyway. Remember, seawater is not pure (at all) to begin with and dillution is heavily in your favor even if medication really can stick to the rock or whatever we're in fear of. I might qualify that depending on the med you ended up using, but that goes for anything conventional. A clean seawater rinse is all I'd do...perhaps a period of time in the sump, out of light while the display that "grows over" the QT tank rock.

BTW, need to medicate should be unlikely since you're not crap-shooting your fish – follow your instincts; do it right; cross those bridges when you come to them. :) Definitely don't worry too much.

The rest of this is just FYI....

You obviously don't have to go by my experience, but I worked 5+ years at a popular salt store and only had to medicate a tiny handful of fish. That was out of many many thousands. 364 days out of the year my hospital tanks were dry. :)

Most fish got a freshwater dip on the way into the system and then TLC. That's it.

For what it's worth, the worst common occurrence for us was flatworms (cured with additional freshwater dips). A distant second was ich, which was generally treated with freshwater dips and even more TLC. There were only a handful of occasions where a whole retail system was treated with "ordinary" copper, with levels maintained daily via Hach digital colorimeter. (Store's closed, but the guys still do service....fish are handled the same.)

 

[Eggpaul]

Good advice going on here!! :)



Good question!!

Correct answer: You want that QT tank (which is not also a hospital tank, ideally) to be as much like a display as possible. If needed they should be able to live there in the short term without issue.

Typical QT's you see around online are what I refer to as prison-style – too small and too spartan. Who'd want to live in a tank like that??

On the other hand, even a nice QT does not have to be fancy – remember it's temporary. :)

So I DO recommend a nice piece of live rock and some plastic plants as a minimum.

If you happen to have to medicate then either consider the rock a loss and use it in your garden, or just brace yourself and add it to your tank anyway. Remember, seawater is not pure (at all) to begin with and dillution is heavily in your favor even if medication really can stick to the rock or whatever we're in fear of. I might qualify that depending on the med you ended up using, but that goes for anything conventional. A clean seawater rinse is all I'd do...perhaps a period of time in the sump, out of light while the display that "grows over" the QT tank rock.

BTW, need to medicate should be unlikely since you're not crap-shooting your fish – follow your instincts; do it right; cross those bridges when you come to them. :) Definitely don't worry too much.

The rest of this is just FYI....

You obviously don't have to go by my experience, but I worked 5+ years at a popular salt store and only had to medicate a tiny handful of fish. That was out of many many thousands. 364 days out of the year my hospital tanks were dry. :)

Most fish got a freshwater dip on the way into the system and then TLC. That's it.

For what it's worth, the worst common occurrence for us was flatworms (cured with additional freshwater dips). A distant second was ich, which was generally treated with freshwater dips and even more TLC. There were only a handful of occasions where a whole retail system was treated with "ordinary" copper, with levels maintained daily via Hach digital colorimeter. (Store's closed, but the guys still do service....fish are handled the same.)

Few minutes in a freshwater dip?