Acropora care during fish fallow

[mfollen]

Hey reefers,

Has anyone gone through a fallow period in an acropora system where they had to relocate all of their fish due to a serious parasite?

I’m a little worried that a new fish addition may not have been in the appropriate copper levels I thought it was in, so I mistakenly didn’t do my full qt protocol. I shortened the treatment and it was not sufficient to ensure no velvet introduction, something I haven’t done in maybe close to a decade…. :/

In case this new fish introduced velvet in my system, I’d like to be prepared on how to best position my system to keep the acros healthy while the fish are in a quarantine tank treatment for 6 weeks.

To o do so, nutrition will need to continue with a variety of foods, but the fish urine and poo will be the missing link.

Other than maintaining phosphate and nitrate levels, ideally through feeding rather than dosing inorganics, what else should be maintained or accounted for so that acros in a fish fallow period do not decline in health?
Here’s what I’m thinking:
1.Ammonia dosing to replace fish urine, either start dosing ammonia bicarbonate or ramp up existing dosing in the absence of fish.
2. Fish poo, unfortunately likely no replacing that lol
3.Organics, increase coral foods to account for lost fish feeding, including smaller particulate frozen foods, zooplankton feed, oyster eggs, etc.

Does anyone have any acropora recommendations or warnings when going fallow to resolve a serious fish parasite such as velvet? It would be great to hear if anyone has any experiences to share in case anyone needs to cross this bridge.

Thanks everyone

 

[naterealbig]

I do this, ongoing as i quarantine (fishless) all 'wet' items for minimum of 76 days before they go to growout or display.

Add as many invertebrates as you can. Shrimp and brittle stars are my go to.

I also make a coral food that will take care of everything else.

 

[coral reeftank]

You gotta feed em something they like to eat just be mindful you’re not just growing a bunch of pest algaes.

Live phyto and pods in conjunction can be viable for acros. The nauplii are great acro food and you don’t have to worry too much about decomposition/uneaten waste

 

[mfollen]

Thanks guys!

Yes I’ll be leaning towards more acro-oriented goods versus feeding more larger fish feed.

Most likely a mix of phyto, zooplankton, oyster feast, amino-based product, bacterioplankton, and other small particulate based foods.

definitely a good call to be mindful of organic build up to prevent algae, good call. I’ll likely be basting rocks clean more frequently

open to any input anyone may have. I’m preparing for a large QT system now for a dozen fish or so just in case. Thanks!

 

[coral reeftank]

You’ll have to find some ways to help recycle the biomass that grows in your tank. Without fish in there your pod population can probably grow unrestricted without many predators.

This would be a good time to stock your system with as many inverts as possible to replace the fish bioload. You could probably skim less too and be more conservative with feedings

 

[mfollen]

Good call! Additional snails and urchins would be a good move to manage the increased algae, converting into invertebrate biomass.