Quarantine for Tank Upgrade

Jdubyo · Sep 30, 2020

Good morning fellow reefers!

TL;DR at the bottom

I am in the process of putting together a new tank (see my build thread

) and have been doing a lot of research into “doing it right”. I put this into quotations because it seems that sometimes reefing is more of an art form than a science and success can mean many different things in this hobby. For me currently success is a disease and pest free tank. While I know this is not an easy task, I have read many success stories and it is what I am striving for.

Some brief background information: I have been working with saltwater aquariums for about four years. I say working with because I took care of saltwater systems at a local fish store part time for a two years before I actually owned one. I learned a lot of valuable things while working at a local fish store but may have also picked up some bad habits along the way. The store I worked at did not quarantine. Ever. They went from shipping bag to tank. The amount of fish loss that went through the place was tremendous and I have no idea how they lasted as long as they did. Oddly enough, corals (also never quarantined) never seemed to be a problem. Needless to say, they are no longer in business.

I have since done research on quarantining but have not actually ever done it. I have not had any new fish in the past two years to quarantine. I lucked out with the current ones I have and they haven’t had any issues in the two years I have had them. I am planning to transfer two of my current clowns into my new set up but am wondering if I should put them through quarantine just in case there is any underlying issues that they have just been healthy enough to manage and live with. I have read that ich can be present always in a tank unless it has been totally eradicated to begin with and won’t show up until other factors put stress on the fish. Anyway, I am curious to know what the general consensus is on this. Let me know what you think.

TL;DR

Should I quarantine my clowns (that have never previously been quarantined) to get rid of ich that they have never shown signs of?

Reefer5640 · Sep 30, 2020

Yes, if a disease and pest free system is your goal you must quarantine the clowns. You also need to run your new tank fallow (just under 80 days fish free) to ensure the ich has been starved out. I highly recommend running a UV as well. During that time you can’t add anything wet to your tank unless you know it comes from an ich free environment as well. For example, if you buy a Frag or macro algae, live rock, an invert, or anything “wet” you have to start the fallow period over again. Personally I’d take a chunk of live rock and throw it in a bucket or small tank to house your clowns while you run fallow. Add all the coral and inverts you’re planning to keep once you’re tank is cycled and ready. Once the last “wet” item has been added you can start your fallow period. About two weeks away from the end of the fallow period I would take the clowns out of the holding tank/bucket and start whichever method of quarantine you’re going to use. I prefer tank transfer method while dosing with prazipro, methylene blue dips between transfers, and feeding with metro. I find TTM is the easiest for beginners and most versatile for treating multiple ailments or curveballs. And one thing you’ll find while quarantining is there is often a curveball thrown while the fish are in quarantine (flukes, bacterial infections, fungus...) hope this helps best of luck. Let me know if you have any questions

Jdubyo · Sep 30, 2020

Reefer5640 said:
Yes, if a disease and pest free system is your goal you must quarantine the clowns. You also need to run your new tank fallow (just under 80 days fish free) to ensure the ich has been starved out. I highly recommend running a UV as well. During that time you can’t add anything wet to your tank unless you know it comes from an ich free environment as well. For example, if you buy a Frag or macro algae, live rock, an invert, or anything “wet” you have to start the fallow period over again. Personally I’d take a chunk of live rock and throw it in a bucket or small tank to house your clowns while you run fallow. Add all the coral and inverts you’re planning to keep once you’re tank is cycled and ready. Once the last “wet” item has been added you can start your fallow period. About two weeks away from the end of the fallow period I would take the clowns out of the holding tank/bucket and start whichever method of quarantine you’re going to use. I prefer tank transfer method while dosing with prazipro, methylene blue dips between transfers, and feeding with metro. I find TTM is the easiest for beginners and most versatile for treating multiple ailments or curveballs. And one thing you’ll find while quarantining is there is often a curveball thrown while the fish are in quarantine (flukes, bacterial infections, fungus...) hope this helps best of luck. Let me know if you have any questions

I appreciate your insight! I want to make sure I am understanding correctly as I don’t believe I made one thing clear in my original post. My existing clowns are going to be going into a brand new tank that has never been wet. The old tank is going to be broken down completely and not used for the time being. That being said, I can skip the instructions of going fallow and go through the TTM as I am cycling the new set up correct? Nothing wet will be going into the new tank.

Edit: On second thought, I was planning on using some CaribSea live sand which is technically wet... Not sure if I am taking the term too literally but should I not use it to avoid the headache?

Reefer5640 · Sep 30, 2020

So yeah if that’s the case you could skip the fallow period. The live sand is tricky because most likely it’s sat on the shelf long enough to be fallow itself. But it’s been proven that in cryptic and or low flow areas ich can go dormant and outlive the 80 days of fallow so there’s that to consider. But without a water column, just slightly damp sand I don’t know... it may not be as big of a deal. Personally I wouldn’t chance it unless someone could guarantee that it’s safe. I always just use the dry version. I don’t feel like the “live” stuff actually gives much benefit at all. If you’re starting with dry rock I would start with dry sand as well. It’s cheaper and there are better sources of bacteria to get your tank running like dr Tim’s one and only or Brightwell’s microbacter

Jdubyo · Oct 1, 2020

Reefer5640 said:
So yeah if that’s the case you could skip the fallow period. The live sand is tricky because most likely it’s sat on the shelf long enough to be fallow itself. But it’s been proven that in cryptic and or low flow areas ich can go dormant and outlive the 80 days of fallow so there’s that to consider. But without a water column, just slightly damp sand I don’t know... it may not be as big of a deal. Personally I wouldn’t chance it unless someone could guarantee that it’s safe. I always just use the dry version. I don’t feel like the “live” stuff actually gives much benefit at all. If you’re starting with dry rock I would start with dry sand as well. It’s cheaper and there are better sources of bacteria to get your tank running like dr Tim’s one and only or Brightwell’s microbacter

Follow up question to this. To my understanding freshwater will kill marine ich. If I were to rinse and/or soak the live sand in some RO/DI water it should be safe to use at that point, correct? I am only asking because I have two bags of this that have been sitting around for about 2 years and I really would like to use it if possible. I’d rather be safe than sorry at this point but would still like to save a few dollars if I could.