Responsible Tank Transfer

[stcroixohana]

Hi.
I'm about 6 months in to saltwater aquarium keeping, I've encountered most every pestilence known to man including the usual ich, velvet, brook, aggressive tank mates (killing others), cuando, dynos, etc.
I'm upgrading to a 90g with enhanced filtration so I can actually start keeping a coral community where my 55g was dimensionally challenged for light penetration.
Either way, my plan is to get the 90g cycled, relocate my inverts (banded shrimp, horseshoe crab, turbos, peppermint shrimp, and lobster) to the new tank, remove my live rock, and do a slow copper treatment of my original tank to eradicate any potential hitchhikers before moving everyone into the 90g.
I guess the real question here is: can I move my live rock into this new aquarium in any way responsibly and avoid the likelihood of bringing any eggs or parasites without actually bleaching or hitting the rock with acid? I've got some decent coralinne growth and am hoping to avoid the need to recure all the rock in order to kill off any ******* ich or velvet remnants but am committed to making sure we can avoid all of this in the future with responsible qt and observation of all livestock prior to introducing anything new to the tank.
Any advice would be appreciated, if anything, I've learned that we can't rush this hobby but I'm just trying to work with what I've got in order to keep some of the momentum going into the new tank without bringing parasites along for the ride.
Mahalo.

 

[Quietman]

ANY parasites/hitchhikers/pathogens? No guarantees really on using old rock. But the benefits of established rock are greater than the negatives if you take the steps to minimize.

Depends on what kind of rock you want to end up with at the end.

You can either go the chemical treatment like you mentioned (although that removes most if not all of the benefits of using old rock as you're essentially just creating new 'dry rock'). Still that saves a lot of money and can allow you to keep some prized shapely pieces.

You can also go fallow (there are a few solid protocols on here for that). No chemicals and really reduces risk of transferring pathogens (not necessarily hitchhikers though).

Lastly, you can just assume you're going to have these detrimental organisms in your tank and just manage them through husbandry including UV (which I highly recommend if you go this method).

 

[stcroixohana]

ANY parasites/hitchhikers/pathogens? No guarantees really on using old rock. But the benefits of established rock are greater than the negatives if you take the steps to minimize.

Depends on what kind of rock you want to end up with at the end.

You can either go the chemical treatment like you mentioned (although that removes most if not all of the benefits of using old rock as you're essentially just creating new 'dry rock'). Still that saves a lot of money and can allow you to keep some prized shapely pieces.

You can also go fallow (there are a few solid protocols on here for that). No chemicals and really reduces risk of transferring pathogens (not necessarily hitchhikers though).

Lastly, you can just assume you're going to have these detrimental organisms in your tank and just manage them through husbandry including UV (which I highly recommend if you go this method).

Ok!
Thankfully I do have UV I just have had a heck of a time with these things and am hoping to eradicate them entirely. I do think some of the losses have been from aggression and poorly stocked tank mates that I've let go unchecked so I'm sure I could live if the ich came along. I'm just seeing this as an opportunity to really do this the right way this time and want to be cautious.
Do you think leaving the rock out of water for weeks or a month or so without treating it with chemical would be at all sufficient in terms of eradicating any eggs or spores?
I do really like the Rock and it's current state and it's got a decent amount of coralline which I would like to keep going as well as trying to avoid a secondary cycle with treated rock.

 

[Quietman]

To keep most of what you want (coralline) and lose most of what you don't want - I'd go with the fallow treatment and keep lighted.

 

[stcroixohana]

To keep most of what you want (coralline) and lose most of what you don't want - I'd go with the fallow treatment and keep lighted.

Hey man,
Do you think I'd need to take any action with inverts potentially carrying spores/eggs? I'm perfectly willing to go fallow for 76 but also know that o can't treat inverts with copper to eradicate it from them physically.

 

[Quietman]

Inverts and corals can stay in the fallow tank. Ich/velvet needs fish to complete their life cycles. While inverts may have tomonts attached (the reproductive phase) the inverts are performing the same role as rock/sand. Once the free swimming parasite is released (after up to 72 days) it still needs a fish to complete the next phase (feeding).

 

[stcroixohana]

Inverts and corals can stay in the fallow tank. Ich/velvet needs fish to complete their life cycles. While inverts may have tomonts attached (the reproductive phase) the inverts are performing the same role as rock/sand. Once the free swimming parasite is released (after up to 72 days) it still needs a fish to complete the next phase (feeding).

Awesome, thank so very much.

 

[stcroixohana]

Hey man.
So I'm fallow now and planning to ride it out. I'm going to stage fish transfer in phases, running everyone through copper a couple at a time and moving them into the new tank.
Now this may work with the fish but I have a fairly decent community of invertebrates and I do not want them bringing any pests from the old tank into my new tank, any thoughts there?
I know I can't treat them and I'm not sure what good additional quarantine would do when they're already going to be quarantine in the old tank where I can observe them. I suppose the alternative would be to move them now and get them through the fallow period without acting as hosts for ich or velvet.

 

[Critteraholic]

Yep. Put them all into the fallow tank. Anything on them that goes after fish should die without them there. And don't forget to feed them once in awhile! Good luck!

 

[stcroixohana]

Many many thanks

 

[iamahab]

Many many thanks

How did this work out for you? I'm trying to figure out a good way to not transfer unwanted stuff from tank to tank that might be on my inverts.

 

[stcroixohana]

Well, it ended well but the process blew.
Basically, I pulled the rock from my old tank that I wanted in the new one, let it sit out for a week (in the hopes anything on there would die off), and ran fallow for 2.5 months before moving any critters in. During this time I kept my original tank healthy but also knew I had ich in there somewhere so, before I moved everyone I was planning a copper cycle, formalin, and freshwater dips to just meet absolutely certain nothing would carry over. The problem was, I have a mandarin...... So, in order to avoid killing off all my pods (and the Mandarin in the process) I chanced it and just ran a formalin bath and freshwater dips for the actual transfer. This after seeding pods in my new fuge......
Knock wood, it's been 4(?) months, no pests.
After the transfer, nothing from my old system touched my new system and everything was scrubbed and soaked before I sold it off to avoid handing off the same problems. I will say, it was worth it, for sure.
I have no plans to introduce any new fish to my system but if I do, they'll be quarantined. All corals are dipped and inspected.
Let me know if I can give any other advice. Trust me, it's worth doing right if you have the space to keep both tanks running for a few months.