Almost ready to (almost) start over

jgvergo · Nov 13, 2017

Short version of a long story...My tank was up and running for almost 2 years, so it had matured nicely. Then I moved. During the move my LFS took all of my livestock and gave them free room and board. It's been 4 months since I brought everything to the LFS.

During that time I broke everything down, put it in storage and recently set it up again. So, I'll be getting my livestock from the LFS and firing up the tank again (yeah!).

The bad news is that my fish were all wiped out by a disease. My LFS is not sure what it was, but the opinion of people on R2R is that it was velvet.

That means that I'll be getting my live rock and corals, but no fish.

My questions are:
1) I assume I should get my system up and running with fresh salt water and stabilize all the usual tank parameters. Then I add the live rock and corals. Correct?

2) Should I expect that my tank will "cycle"?

3) Can I expect my corals to survive this move? Is there anything special I should do to increase their chances?

4) Since I'm not 100% sure it was velvet that killed my fish, I'm going to assume I should leave my tank fallow for 76 days before adding new fish.

Do I have this right? Is there anything else I should be thinking about?

TIA

ReefEco · Nov 13, 2017

Yes - assume you are getting back all your stuff full of disease and nastiness, and fallow for the prescribed amount of time. Might be good to ask your LFS what system they had everything in, and act accordingly. I would definitely dip and treat EVERYTHING if it was in a larger system that had corals and other live rock coming and going. I would also be inclined to throw out the rock (assume it has collected pests and disease at the LFS if it was in a larger system) and start with dry rock, since it is difficult to treat rock for pests in the same way you can corals. Dip, quarantine, and re-mount all corals, removing from any existing rock, just to be safe. I don't know anything about your LFS, so excuse any assumptions, but in general with the amount of corals and rock moving through fish stores, they are usually a haven for pests and disease - which may or may not now be in your rock. So, I wouldn't take any risk in that area. Start with Reef Saver or Marco dry rock, and add a critter kit for biodiversity. Stay away from dried live rock like Pukani or Fiji, which is just live rock dried out before shipping, or dried out on the boat over to the US - as harvesting live rock is one of the most destructive practices to reefs...

jgvergo · Nov 14, 2017

Sigh. My current rock is Pukani. I did not know about the destructive practices.

So you recommend taking off all my coral and dipping it? I guess for things like zoos I'll have to frag the rock? I've never done that before, but YouTube is my friend.

ReefEco · Nov 14, 2017

It depends - ask your LFS what system they kept it in. Since I doubt they set up a separate system just for your corals and rock, they probably put it into existing larger tanks that have other rock and corals coming in and out often. This means the chances of them having introduced pests to your corals and rock is rather high. For corals you can't remove from the rock easily, the other option is to set up a separate quarantine system, where you can add those corals and observe them, possibly dip them multiple times (i.e. once a week), before adding them into the main tank. It is really up to you how extensive you want to be. I err on the side of caution, because pests in your tank are a royal pain in the butt - and the added headache of all these steps is really worth it in the long run. Check out IPSF.com mix and match special for adding biodiversity to dry rock. Algae Barn is great for pods and chaeto, and check out biotaaquariums.com for aquacultured trochus and cerith snails - great clean up crew, and tank raised!

Don't knock yourself too much for the Pukani - we are in a transition in the hobby away from wild collected items. More reef-friendly options are available everyday - I think it is just a matter of awareness. But yes, think of live rock harvest as the difference between trimming your grass, and ripping up the sod completely. Not too helpful to your lawn : )