Corals and QT

[jpontier212]

I have recently lost my whole livestock of fish to brooklynella. All 7 of my pretties have moved on and i have been told that now would be the best time to make my next move which was to switch from my 55 gallon to a 75 gallon that i just got for super cheap. I am investing in a larger QT because i belive my Coral beauty died in the QT not from the brook but from stress of being in such a small space. I'm getting a 20g long for the QT but my question is this. I presently have about 8 frags of corals in the 55 gallon right now. I feed them loaded copepods and reef roids but they were exposed to the brooklynella parasite. I know that brook doesn't affect corals or inverts but during the switch from the 55 to the 75, there will be a significant timeframe in which the parameters won't be up to par for the coral to survive, I have a nano cube set up in my bedroom as well, with corals but also have 2 snowflake clownfishes that i don't want to risk exposing to the brook parasite by putting the frags in there. Cross contamination i believe is the proper terminology. So is there any sure fire dip of some sort that i can do to the frags to make them brook-free? Or do i have to cycle another tank to put the frags in and dose and have the adequate lighting and such until the 75 recycles? Not to leave out that i also have a coral banded shrimp, a condy anenome and a host of snails and hermits also in there

 

[twilliard]

@Humblefish @melypr1985

Bumping this up :)

 

[Humblefish]

All corals/inverts/rocks/sand (everything that shared water with the infected fish) has to be maintained in a fishless environment for 6 weeks to break Brook's life cycle. The only other option is to sterilize using bleach. :eek:

 

[melypr1985]

What humble said ^^^ What I would do is upgrade to the 75 using all the rock and biomedia you already have, new sand and put all your corals and inverts in there. Watch for a mini cycle and be ready for water changes if needed. Then just leave the whole thing without fish for the needed time (6 weeks in this case). Easy enough to do since there are no fish to move to the 75 right now anyway right?

 

[jpontier212]

What humble said ^^^ What I would do is upgrade to the 75 using all the rock and biomedia you already have, new sand and put all your corals and inverts in there. Watch for a mini cycle and be ready for water changes if needed. Then just leave the whole thing without fish for the needed time (6 weeks in this case). Easy enough to do since there are no fish to move to the 75 right now anyway right?

I was just concerned about the corals. If there's an ammonia spike or something like that i could lose my corals and inverts. But i will try it. Thanks again guys. You guys are always a ray of light in my darkness. [emoji2]

 

[melypr1985]

I was just concerned about the corals. If there's an ammonia spike or something like that i could lose my corals and inverts.

Yes sir. But that's why you'll want to monitor your ammonia levels and have water change water ready. I've done this - upgraded an established tank to a larger one- and it's a lot of work, but theoretically your live rock has enough bacteria to handle your current bioload. Assuming you keep the rocks submerged the entire time, you shouldn't experience much of a cycle at all especially since you'll be adding water volume (effectively doing a water change) to what you already have. The key is not using the old sand so you can avoid stirring up all the nasty crud that would cause a bigger cycle. That's an over simplification really, but it gets the point across.

 

[jpontier212]

Yes sir. But that's why you'll want to monitor your ammonia levels and have water change water ready. I've done this - upgraded an established tank to a larger one- and it's a lot of work, but theoretically your live rock has enough bacteria to handle your current bioload. Assuming you keep the rocks submerged the entire time, you shouldn't experience much of a cycle at all especially since you'll be adding water volume (effectively doing a water change) to what you already have. The key is not using the old sand so you can avoid stirring up all the nasty crud that would cause a bigger cycle. That's an over simplification really, but it gets the point across.

Would it be a good idea to keep an ammonia badge in the tank until the dust settles so to speak? Or just test parameters everyday for at least 2 weeks?

 

[melypr1985]

Would it be a good idea to keep an ammonia badge in the tank until the dust settles so to speak? Or just test parameters everyday for at least 2 weeks?

Either way is a good idea. The ammonia badge would be great if you think you wont keep on top of testing. I'm like that, the ammonia badge would be the way I would go. Hopefully you wont even need it, but it's better safe than sorry.

 

[jpontier212]

Either way is a good idea. The ammonia badge would be great if you think you wont keep on top of testing. I'm like that, the ammonia badge would be the way I would go. Hopefully you wont even need it, but it's better safe than sorry.

Thank you again mely. I really appreciate you and all your advice.

 

[jpontier212]

All corals/inverts/rocks/sand (everything that shared water with the infected fish) has to be maintained in a fishless environment for 6 weeks to break Brook's life cycle. The only other option is to sterilize using bleach. :eek:

Thank you humblefish. I really appreciate you and all your advice