About to go fallow..

tcampbell23 · May 12, 2017

As the title reads I am about to go fallow for 77 days. I don't have any apparent diseases in my tank but, I also haven't QT'd any of my fish so who knows. I plan to add a Powder Blue and a Hippo Tang and that's the reasoning behind the shift to a QT process Here's the plan:

I just purchased a 40 Breeder that came with a stand. I have an old Aquaclear 70 that I will use for filtration and I will use live rock from my DT to cycle the QT. I will be setting this up this afternoon and dosing it with bottled bacteria and prime to control ammonia.

I have come across a great deal on a Hippo tang from a local reefer whose had her for years, and she must be picked up tomorrow afternoon (I know, nothing good comes fast in this hobby and this is all rushed). The goal is to get her into the QT and be sure she is comfortable for a couple days before adding the fish from my display tank.

The current stock list of the DT:
1 Sailfin tang (2 inches)
1 BiColor Foxface (3 inches)
1 Yellow Tang (2.5 inches)
1 Orchid Dottyback
3 Green Chromis
1 Starry Blenny
2 Clowns
1 Purple Stripe Dottyback

On about day 30 of the fallow period, I will begin copper treatment on the fish in the QT tank. After 30 days (day 60 of the fallow period) I will remove the copper and observe the fish for the remainder of the fallow period (about 17 days) to be sure no other illnesses are present. From there I will slowly add each fish back to the DT over the course of 2-3 weeks. I will then acquire the powder blue and treat with API General Cure or Prazipro (flukes,internal parasites,etc.) and then TTM. I know that I can treat with prazipro while doing TTM but, I want to do it before hand to allow a window to observe the fish for brook or velvet and then proceed to treat for ich.

I think I have this pretty well thought out but, I am by no means an expert and this is my first time ever doing a QT so any input, suggestions, or concerns would be extremely helpful.

ngoodermuth · May 12, 2017

Sounds like a good plan. The only thing I might do differently is to start the copper sooner or at least be ready to start it immediately if needed. If there is any dormant nasties in there the stress of moving to QT and all those tangs in a small tank, might bring it out. Also, I wouldn't use the live rock if you are going to do copper. I'd just throw the sponge from your filter into a bucket, dump the bacteria on it to seed it, then put it back in the filter. Get an ammonia badge and water change if it starts to turn green.

Maybe I missed it, but are you going to treat the first group with GC/prazi too? If you are going the prophylactically treat the powder blue with prazi, might as well do the first group too

Chitown tom · May 12, 2017

tcampbell23 said:
I have come across a great deal on a Hippo tang from a local reefer whose had her for years, and she must be picked up tomorrow afternoon

A word of caution. I have picked up a blue hippo and a powder blue from a local reefer that had them for years and a few day in qt ich popped up.
Usually when someone is getting out of the hobby its for a reason: algae outbreaks, fish deaths, ect.

If I were you I would get them acclimated to the 40 breeder and then slowly start ramping up copper. Keep them at therapeutic levels for 30 days and then use the 2 week observation window to deworm them with prazi.

I used the TTM method and it worked out great but I had less fish and went thru a boat load of water!
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/picking-up-fish-from-a-local-hobbyist.300238/

drawman · May 12, 2017

ngoodermuth said:
Sounds like a good plan. The only thing I might do differently is to start the copper sooner or at least be ready to start it immediately if needed. If there is any dormant nasties in there the stress of moving to QT and all those tangs in a small tank, might bring it out. Also, I wouldn't use the live rock if you are going to do copper. I'd just throw the sponge from your filter into a bucket, dump the bacteria on it to seed it, then put it back in the filter. Get an ammonia badge and water change if it starts to turn green.

Maybe I missed it, but are you going to treat the first group with GC/prazi too? If you are going the prophylactically treat the powder blue with prazi, might as well do the first group too

+1 to all of this. Definitely skip the live rock in the QT there really is no benefit to it. Pick yourself up an ammonia alert badge so you can keep an eye on ammonia and with your bacteria you should be just fine. As ngoodermuth said might as well deworm the whole group and be done with it

tcampbell23 · May 12, 2017

ngoodermuth said:
Sounds like a good plan. The only thing I might do differently is to start the copper sooner or at least be ready to start it immediately if needed. If there is any dormant nasties in there the stress of moving to QT and all those tangs in a small tank, might bring it out. Also, I wouldn't use the live rock if you are going to do copper. I'd just throw the sponge from your filter into a bucket, dump the bacteria on it to seed it, then put it back in the filter. Get an ammonia badge and water change if it starts to turn green.

Maybe I missed it, but are you going to treat the first group with GC/prazi too? If you are going the prophylactically treat the powder blue with prazi, might as well do the first group too

Good point. I didn't really have a reason to hold off on copper other than I didn't believe I would need it right off the bat. I have it on hand though just in case. I used the bio media I had in my DT sump to seed my father-in-laws tank so I figured I'd use live rock for the cycle. I guess that's not needed or recommended.

ngoodermuth · May 12, 2017

Honestly, your bio-filter is going to take a hit from the copper regardless of how you seed it. No reason to ruin perfectly good rock [emoji4]

If you set everything up, add the bottled bacteria to the filter, and give everyone a day or two to settle in; it should be fine to go ahead and start the copper right away. Since it's not urgent, you have the luxury of ramping it up a bit more slowly to reduce the stress on your fish AND your bacteria, which is nice.

Swoody · May 12, 2017

With the sailfin & yellow.... there is probably going to be some form of aggression with the hippo .... especially in a 40g.

tcampbell23 · May 12, 2017

drawman said:
+1 to all of this. Definitely skip the live rock in the QT there really is no benefit to it. Pick yourself up an ammonia alert badge so you can keep an eye on ammonia and with your bacteria you should be just fine. As ngoodermuth said might as well deworm the whole group and be done with it

Gotcha. Yesterday I went around and picked up a bunch of the QT supplies and 2 ammonia alert badges were a part of the grab!

tcampbell23 · May 12, 2017

Swoody said:
With the sailfin & yellow.... there is probably going to be some form of aggression with the hippo .... especially in a 40g.

I figured so. My father-in-laws tank is finishing up its cycle and his new fish are starting TTM today so if aggression becomes an issue, I can temporarily rehome the yellow tang as he seems to be the aggressor in the tank. The sailfin is rather small and seems to be pretty docile compared to the yellow and the orange shoulder that I sold not too long ago.

Is his disposition likely to change?

Humblefish · May 12, 2017

tcampbell23 said:
Is his disposition likely to change?

With tangs, the bigger the tank the more likely they are to tolerate one another's presence. It's a territorial thing.

Chitown tom · May 12, 2017

Humblefish said:
With tangs, the bigger the tank the more likely they are to tolerate one another's presence. It's a territorial thing.

Another thing that helped me in qt with multiple tangs was multiple nori stations. They usually guard a particular station if each one has its own nori station they calm down too.

4FordFamily · May 12, 2017

Also tangs very crammed in a qt tend to get along better as they're overwhelmed. I've had tangs get along great in qt and then fight in larger DT. One such occasion was a "pair" of powder blues. Got along in qt no problem, even courting behavior. Did same in DT and out of nowhere a week or two later they had a bloody death match -- I almost lost one in the 6 hour period I was gone!

melypr1985 · May 12, 2017

I agree. I would also start copper much sooner than 30 days in. They will likely show signs sooner than later.

reeftank220master · May 12, 2017

tcampbell23 said:
As the title reads I am about to go fallow for 77 days. I don't have any apparent diseases in my tank but, I also haven't QT'd any of my fish so who knows. I plan to add a Powder Blue and a Hippo Tang and that's the reasoning behind the shift to a QT process Here's the plan:

I just purchased a 40 Breeder that came with a stand. I have an old Aquaclear 70 that I will use for filtration and I will use live rock from my DT to cycle the QT. I will be setting this up this afternoon and dosing it with bottled bacteria and prime to control ammonia.

I have come across a great deal on a Hippo tang from a local reefer whose had her for years, and she must be picked up tomorrow afternoon (I know, nothing good comes fast in this hobby and this is all rushed). The goal is to get her into the QT and be sure she is comfortable for a couple days before adding the fish from my display tank.

The current stock list of the DT:
1 Sailfin tang (2 inches)
1 BiColor Foxface (3 inches)
1 Yellow Tang (2.5 inches)
1 Orchid Dottyback
3 Green Chromis
1 Starry Blenny
2 Clowns
1 Purple Stripe Dottyback

On about day 30 of the fallow period, I will begin copper treatment on the fish in the QT tank. After 30 days (day 60 of the fallow period) I will remove the copper and observe the fish for the remainder of the fallow period (about 17 days) to be sure no other illnesses are present. From there I will slowly add each fish back to the DT over the course of 2-3 weeks. I will then acquire the powder blue and treat with API General Cure or Prazipro (flukes,internal parasites,etc.) and then TTM. I know that I can treat with prazipro while doing TTM but, I want to do it before hand to allow a window to observe the fish for brook or velvet and then proceed to treat for ich.

I think I have this pretty well thought out but, I am by no means an expert and this is my first time ever doing a QT so any input, suggestions, or concerns would be extremely helpful.

What does "fallow" mean please

melypr1985 · May 12, 2017

reeftank220master said:
What does "fallow" mean please

Fallow means without fish. You would remove all fish from the tank to starve out any parasites. corals and inverts can all stay during this time.

reeftank220master · May 12, 2017

melypr1985 said:
Fallow means without fish. You would remove all fish from the tank to starve out any parasites. corals and inverts can all stay during this time.

Ok I see now..thank you

Kyl · May 12, 2017

tcampbell23 said:
and prime to control ammonia.

If you're starting copper, do not dose prime or you will kill all the fish.

melypr1985 · May 12, 2017

Kyl said:
If you're starting copper, do not dose prime or you will kill all the fish.

good catch!

tcampbell23 · May 14, 2017

Kyl said:
If you're starting copper, do not dose prime or you will kill all the fish.

Yep! I read this the other day. Currently the QT is cycling as I think it's gonna be a permanent QT set up even though I don't really plan to add more fish.

drawman · May 15, 2017

tcampbell23 said:
Yep! I read this the other day. Currently the QT is cycling as I think it's gonna be a permanent QT set up even though I don't really plan to add more fish.

Not to throw a wrench in this philosophy but over the long term (very established) bacteria colonies/biofilms have been reported to consume/degrade medications. It may be wiser to break and disinfect the QT when it is not being used so that medications can be more effective. Obviously that means you will need to cycle the QT every time you use it but it may be more effective in the long run.