QT size?

[MZReef120]

Hello everyone,

I have a situation where I am thinking about pulling all of my fish out of my DT because I'm seeing ich on two of my fish and I'm looking at doing the fallow period but my question is what size QT will I need to reduce the stress as much as possible. My DT is 120 gal (48"x24"x24") and here is my fish list.

1- bristle tooth tang
1- yellow blotch rabbitfish
1- midas Blenny
1- algae blenny
1- diamond goby
1- strawberry pseudochromis
2- Snowflake clowns
3- banggaii cardinals
1- cleaner shrimp
1- coral banded shrimp
Numerous snails, hermit crabs, etc.

All of the fish and inverts are eating frozen food and pellets that I feed them but I'm curious about having the diamond goby without sand in the QT. Should I be concerned or is it not that big of a deal for the goby? Right now petco is having the $1 per gallon sale so I guess right now would be a great time to take advantage of that. Thanks for any help!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello everyone,

I have a situation where I am thinking about pulling all of my fish out of my DT because I'm seeing ich on two of my fish and I'm looking at doing the fallow period but my question is what size QT will I need to reduce the stress as much as possible. My DT is 120 gal (48"x24"x24") and here is my fish list.

1- bristle tooth tang
1- yellow blotch rabbitfish
1- midas Blenny
1- algae blenny
1- diamond goby
1- strawberry pseudochromis
2- Snowflake clowns
3- banggaii cardinals
1- cleaner shrimp
1- coral banded shrimp
Numerous snails, hermit crabs, etc.

All of the fish and inverts are eating frozen food and pellets that I feed them but I'm curious about having the diamond goby without sand in the QT. Should I be concerned or is it not that big of a deal for the goby? Right now petco is having the $1 per gallon sale so I guess right now would be a great time to take advantage of that. Thanks for any help!

The biggest issue people have with QTs is lack of biological filtration, ammonia is going to kill your fish faster than being crowded in a small tank. The size of the fish also comes into play here. That said, assuming no ammonia, you could keep all of those fish in a 30 gallon tank with no problem (not a 29 as those don’t hold their rated capacity). A 20 gallon long would be a bit too small I think. For the goby, you could use non-calcareus sand.
Jay

 

[MZReef120]

The biggest issue people have with QTs is lack of biological filtration, ammonia is going to kill your fish faster than being crowded in a small tank. The size of the fish also comes into play here. That said, assuming no ammonia, you could keep all of those fish in a 30 gallon tank with no problem (not a 29 as those don’t hold their rated capacity). A 20 gallon long would be a bit too small I think. For the goby, you could use non-calcareus sand.
Jay

I have a 10 gal qt with an ammonia badge alert and I would use the same on the larger qt. Is there any tips and tricks on trying to catch them all because I know it's going to be tough. I also don't want to cause more stress that way either. I quarantined all of these fish but I didn't qt my corals so I'm assuming that's how this all started. Unless I just didn't qt them correctly but I feel like I followed the protocol.

 

[Sandersonville]

I have a 10 gal qt with an ammonia badge alert and I would use the same on the larger qt. Is there any tips and tricks on trying to catch them all because I know it's going to be tough. I also don't want to cause more stress that way either. I quarantined all of these fish but I didn't qt my corals so I'm assuming that's how this all started. Unless I just didn't qt them correctly but I feel like I followed the protocol.

I’ve had good luck reducing the area the fish I’m trying to catch can swim and hide in by using something to coral them into one part/end of the aquarium. The last time I had to pull a fish I used the screen top for a smaller aquarium I have snd it worked great.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have a 10 gal qt with an ammonia badge alert and I would use the same on the larger qt. Is there any tips and tricks on trying to catch them all because I know it's going to be tough. I also don't want to cause more stress that way either. I quarantined all of these fish but I didn't qt my corals so I'm assuming that's how this all started. Unless I just didn't qt them correctly but I feel like I followed the protocol.

As mentioned, dividing the tank helps. You may need to redivide to trap more fish. You can also try catching them at night. I will use one net standing up and another net to chase the fish into the first net, but that takes practice (its the technique used to catch fish on the reef).

Good Luck!

Jay

 

[TheWalkingCoral]

Two 20L or one 40B for $50 at petco right now.

 

[MZReef120]

Thanks for all the info. I was looking into Seachem metroplex mixed with Kanaplex and of course focus to bind them to the food. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I don’t like to do that as the dosage is totally uncontrolled - to easy to over or under dose. I have an article here that describes how to properly make medicated food, but it is really complicated.
You’re treating for ich, right? Then copper would be the best course of action.
Jay

 

[MZReef120]

I don’t like to do that as the dosage is totally uncontrolled - to easy to over or under dose. I have an article here that describes how to properly make medicated food, but it is really complicated.
You’re treating for ich, right? Then copper would be the best course of action.
Jay

Thank you!