Protocol for moving fish from my old tank to a new tank - advice needed

[Lividfanatica]

Background: I placed a pair of clowns and a pair of yellow tangs into my new tank (310 gallon). The tangs appeared to have ich so I pulled all the fish out and put them in 2.5ppm of copper power (the plan was to do that for 30 days). Now, the clowns have died of either velvet or brook - still trying to get a positive ID.

I am running the 310 Fallow at 82+ degrees for 45 days (at least).

I have an existing tank (5 years old) with a variety of fish: Pacific Blue Tang, Gold-lined rabbitfish, Christmas wrasse, possum wrasse, yellow watchman goby, waspfish, filefish, and a starry blenny.

There are no visible signs of any illness in my existing tank - the fish are fat, eating well, and generally look very healthy.

Question: What protocol should I use to move my fish from my old tank to the new one, after the fallow period. I am VERY hesitant after killing 3 (likely 4) fish in my current QT setup. Should I just move them and pray? Is there a better protocol to use than just copper? Should I treat each fish for brook first and then move on to copper?

Thread about fish my QT process and fish disease here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/n...-vector-live-sand.899290/page-3#post-10100084

 

[threebuoys]

Were the fish which died ever in the old tank?
Have you ever had a problem in the old tank?

How long were the new fish in the new tank prior to the move to QT?
How long did you take to get the copper concentration up to 2.5 ppm in the QT?

If the old tank has been stable for an extended period of time with no new arrivals during that time, then you should be able to move them to the new tank once that tank has remained completely fallow for an appropriate amount of time, 45 days would be the minimum, while some prefer to extend to 75 days.

Diagnosis of what killed the fish you moved to QT is difficult after the fact and without pictures and more information. Of course the big three killers are Crypto, Velvet, and Brooklynella. You indicated spots on the tangs. How rapidly were any of the fish breathing? Very rapid breathing might push the diagnosis towards velvet. Shedding skin or mucus might push it towards Brooklynella. But at this point, thats just a guess. Copper is good for Crypto and Velvet, but the concentration needs to reach 2.50 quickly , 12 hours best, 24 hours at the longest. Formalin or Ruby Reef Pro are two products often recommended for Brooklynella.

 

[Lividfanatica]

Thanks for the reply!

Were the fish which died ever in the old tank?

The clowns came from my existing tank (a possible entry point for the infection). They were the first fish in that tank 5 years ago, so I thought it was fitting they be the first into the larger system.

Have you ever had a problem in the old tank?

No, I have never had any signs of disease in that tank.

How long were the new fish in the new tank prior to the move to QT?

About two maybe two and a half weeks.

How long did you take to get the copper concentration up to 2.5 ppm in the QT?

I started at 0 and went to about 2.6ppm in 36-48 hours.

Side note, I also introduced the rabbitfish into my existing tank and he came from the same tank the tangs were in at the fish store (March 10th). Still - no signs of issues in my existing tank. I personally think my live sand brought in some bad stuff... but maybe that is too tinfoil hat.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Background: I placed a pair of clowns and a pair of yellow tangs into my new tank (310 gallon). The tangs appeared to have ich so I pulled all the fish out and put them in 2.5ppm of copper power (the plan was to do that for 30 days). Now, the clowns have died of either velvet or brook - still trying to get a positive ID.

I am running the 310 Fallow at 82+ degrees for 45 days (at least).

I have an existing tank (5 years old) with a variety of fish: Pacific Blue Tang, Gold-lined rabbitfish, Christmas wrasse, possum wrasse, yellow watchman goby, waspfish, filefish, and a starry blenny.

There are no visible signs of any illness in my existing tank - the fish are fat, eating well, and generally look very healthy.

Question: What protocol should I use to move my fish from my old tank to the new one, after the fallow period. I am VERY hesitant after killing 3 (likely 4) fish in my current QT setup. Should I just move them and pray? Is there a better protocol to use than just copper? Should I treat each fish for brook first and then move on to copper?

Thread about fish my QT process and fish disease here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/n...-vector-live-sand.899290/page-3#post-10100084

Assure equal salinity and semi-acclimate them as you would with new arrivals
Feed sparingly the first 2 weeks so that you don’t get a sudden rise in phosphate or ammonia
Quarantine future arrivals