Immune Tank

[Ralph823]

Good Day all,

I have a question for @Paul B, let me start by saying I live in Miami Florida, have been in or around this hobby for the majority of my life, I have taken the QT approach many times and do see a difference in health of the fish from my non quarantined FOWLR tank that I harvest myself from the ocean and my mixed reef tanks, I DO NOT QUARANTINE ANYTHING IN MY WILD CAUGHT FOWLR but most other things get quarantined. even with quarantine I have gotten outbreaks of ich in my tanks every so often. there is no question that my non quarantined fish in FOWLR are much healthier, happier, more colorful, and much hardier with certain fish pairing up and spawning, I go out every couple of weeks and load the FOWLR tank up with live silver sides and sargassum shrimp and crabs so that the fish have somewhat of a natural diet, I Have an out door baitwell where I keep the silver sides but the sargassum shrimp are so small that the silversides will likely eat them as well,

My question for you Paul is, if I were to run an "Immune" tank system and instead of feeding blood worms and white worms for their gut bacteria I feed small wild caught sargassum shrimp which are about the size of adult brine would the gut bacteria in these shrimp have a similar affect to the black worms and white worm? the reason i Rather do live shrimp over worms is because it it much easier, I live 5 minutes from the ocean and can harvest them weekly if I needed to or I can catch a bunch and keep them in a floating mesh basket in the tank and feed as the fish need. I also feed Frozen Krill and a frozen sponge/calm mix.

I am tired of letting my tank run fallow for x amount of days every time there is an outbreak and am tired of having an extra 55 gallon system just as a QT when I can utilize it to keep more wild caught fish. I Currently have five display tanks running and one QT and rather turn that QT into display tank #6.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[GoVols]

Bump

 

[harrylarry]

Good Day all,

I have a question for @Paul B, let me start by saying I live in Miami Florida, have been in or around this hobby for the majority of my life, I have taken the QT approach many times and do see a difference in health of the fish from my non quarantined FOWLR tank that I harvest myself from the ocean and my mixed reef tanks, I DO NOT QUARANTINE ANYTHING IN MY WILD CAUGHT FOWLR but most other things get quarantined. even with quarantine I have gotten outbreaks of ich in my tanks every so often. there is no question that my non quarantined fish in FOWLR are much healthier, happier, more colorful, and much hardier with certain fish pairing up and spawning, I go out every couple of weeks and load the FOWLR tank up with live silver sides and sargassum shrimp and crabs so that the fish have somewhat of a natural diet, I Have an out door baitwell where I keep the silver sides but the sargassum shrimp are so small that the silversides will likely eat them as well,

My question for you Paul is, if I were to run an "Immune" tank system and instead of feeding blood worms and white worms for their gut bacteria I feed small wild caught sargassum shrimp which are about the size of adult brine would the gut bacteria in these shrimp have a similar affect to the black worms and white worm? the reason i Rather do live shrimp over worms is because it it much easier, I live 5 minutes from the ocean and can harvest them weekly if I needed to or I can catch a bunch and keep them in a floating mesh basket in the tank and feed as the fish need. I also feed Frozen Krill and a frozen sponge/calm mix.

I am tired of letting my tank run fallow for x amount of days every time there is an outbreak and am tired of having an extra 55 gallon system just as a QT when I can utilize it to keep more wild caught fish. I Currently have five display tanks running and one QT and rather turn that QT into display tank #6.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Easy, just stop qt and keep your hands out of the tank. I never have and never will qt a single item and never have had issues…

 

[Ralph823]

Easy, just stop qt and keep your hands out of the tank. I never have and never will qt a single item and never have had issues…

But have you been feeding differently?

I already Started the no QT method since this post, I've been Feeding Mahi Roe from what I catch out fishing and doing my water changes with water collected off shore. also went out and caught some Amphipods from the beach that were in the sargassum seaweed as well as some shrimp to feed.

I will say this, ever since I started this my fish do seem happier, more colorful and more active. even my tank that I was running "Ich management in" seems to have gone from just a couple white spots to no white spots in a matter of 7 days. I'm fortunate enough to live minutes away from the ocean and have a boat with a 150 gallon live well that I can use to collect the water for the water changes.

I wont be introducing any non QT fish just yet, I want my fish to build up their immune systems first before i start doing that. I'm nervous about it to say the least but also excited so lets see how it goes.

 

[harrylarry]

But have you been feeding differently?

I already Started the no QT method since this post, I've been Feeding Mahi Roe from what I catch out fishing and doing my water changes with water collected off shore. also went out and caught some Amphipods from the beach that were in the sargassum seaweed as well as some shrimp to feed.

I will say this, ever since I started this my fish do seem happier, more colorful and more active. even my tank that I was running "Ich management in" seems to have gone from just a couple white spots to no white spots in a matter of 7 days. I'm fortunate enough to live minutes away from the ocean and have a boat with a 150 gallon live well that I can use to collect the water for the water changes.

I wont be introducing any non QT fish just yet, I want my fish to build up their immune systems first before i start doing that. I'm nervous about it to say the least but also excited so lets see how it goes.

No. The only time I’ve ever seen Ich bad has been if there was a major disruption in tank parameters specifically salinity. A healthy properly cared for fish will not die from ich. It will die from ich from a comprised immune system however.

 

[Paul B]

Sorry, I just saw this. If you want me PM me to go to the thread because I don't look at all the threads.

The shrimp will be fine for the living bacteria as long as they are alive. I am not sure if the flesh itself is better than shellfish so I can't comment. I know worms are great but shrimp may be as good. The only problem with shrimp and even mysis is they are mostly indigestible shell which is not calcium but keritin which has no nutritional value.

 

[Ralph823]

Sorry, I just saw this. If you want me PM me to go to the thread because I don't look at all the threads.

The shrimp will be fine for the living bacteria as long as they are alive. I am not sure if the flesh itself is better than shellfish so I can't comment. I know worms are great but shrimp may be as good. The only problem with shrimp and even mysis is they are mostly indigestible shell which is not calcium but keritin which has no nutritional value.

Awesome thank you!! I Just upgrade from a 55 to a 180 I collected the sand to give myself a 3-4" sand bed full of natural bacteria from the sea myself, I bought a mini fridge and am going to start growing white worms in tubs to feed all my tanks and ponds both fresh and salt, I've started making my own food with peeled shrimp and clams and wild caught glass minnows that I cast net once a month blend it all together and freeze. hopefully one day this tank reaches the Paul B standard.

 

[bobbykoz]

I fully believe live food and added garlic and vitamins and leaving fish to build healthy guy and slim coat is way more effective than quarantine.

 

[nereefpat]

The only problem with shrimp and even mysis is they are mostly indigestible shell which is not calcium but keritin which has no nutritional value.

Shrimp shells would be about 1/3rd Calcium carbonate, along with chitin rather than keritin.

The meat is full of good fatty acids and protein.

I fully believe live food and added garlic and vitamins and leaving fish to build healthy guy and slim coat is way more effective than quarantine.

By way more effective do you mean better at keeping disease out of your tank?

 

[Paul B]

I fully believe live food and added garlic and vitamins and leaving fish to build healthy guy and slim coat is way more effective than quarantine.

You don't need the garlic and vitamins but it won't hurt. I myself take garlic, local honey and ginger every day. I make this stuff about 6 months ahead as the garlic kind of gets diffused with the local honey and ginger and doesn't taste to much like garlic. Just don't get to close to anyone for a couple of hours. I also give my wife what she calls "Jumpin Juice" for the pain she gets from MS. I know it works because if she forgets it, the inflammation kicks in at night and she is in terrible pain. I make 4 quarts at a time for her and it is mostly root vegetables like beets, ginger and carrots along with a lot of berries which all gets blended and juiced.

Shrimp shells would be about 1/3rd Calcium carbonate, along with chitin rather than keritin.

Probably, but thats why I am an electrician instead of a shrimp shell biologist.

Quote

Nutritional benefits of shrimp shells:​

-A good source of calcium

-Low in calories and fat

-Contain other nutrients like phosphorus, magnesium, and iodine

Who knew?