Any advice?

dh350twin · Jul 25, 2015

So I am starting over my 300 gallon reef tank. More less.
I have it fully stocked with fish and the last one I had gotten was supposed to have been thru a full QT and treatment. I acclimated and put him in my sump so no aggression would follow. Well long story short he wiped out all my fish one by one. Devastating!
So I decided to re-locate the tank to another area in my home. I took all live rock and coral and placed them in a 150gal stock tank and they are doing well.
The tank has been cleaned and moved to its new home. All new rock has been added and new sand and water. The rock and corals will go in soon.
I want to replace my fish and I am a tang lover, my thoughts were to buy a large enough tank to QT and Treat them for 10 weeks or so the add them all at once to limit the aggression and territorial behaviors.
There will be about 10 tangs along with some smaller clowns and chromis and misc. all the tangs will be small to medium in size. 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 in.

To get to my question I am trying to buy all the tangs first or at least the less hardy ones and get them treated and then add the rest as they become available. It isn't possible to buy them all at once because of availability.
I am new to treating them, I have done hypo several times with success however I do not want to lose anymore fish and want to learn how to treat these animals properly for all issues not just ich.
So if I follow the advance aquarist protocol for treatment and add a new addition to the QT tank do I start the whole treatment process over and do I do so everytime there is a new addition until the last one gets here? If so is there any harm to the ones who have been in there the longest?
What treatment would you recommend for this. Keeping in mind new additions arriving probably weekly or bi-weekly?

KJ · Jul 25, 2015

3FordFamily its the men to answer yours question.

dh350twin · Jul 25, 2015

KJ said:
3FordFamily its the men to answer yours question.

Would love for him to chime in.

KJ · Jul 25, 2015

dh350twin said:
Would love for him to chime in.

PM him.

dh350twin · Jul 25, 2015

KJ said:
PM him.

It will not allow me to PM him I tried.

KJ · Jul 25, 2015

I'm send him pm.

Humblefish · Jul 25, 2015

Here is my "how to" QT guide: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

dh350twin · Jul 25, 2015

Humblefish said:
Here is my "how to" QT guide: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

Awesome read! Thanks for sharing.
Maybe I missed it but what do you do if ammonia goes up and you are medicating?
Also if you choose to medicate do you start the process over again with each new addition or just wait until they are all in then start the process?

Humblefish · Jul 25, 2015

dh350twin said:
Maybe I missed it but what do you do if ammonia goes up and you are medicating?

Only option for that scenario is a water change, as ammonia reducers will turn copper (and certain other meds) toxic. However, if you are using a properly seeded sponge (as discussed in the article) for biological filtration, then the odds of encountering ammonia in QT are minimal so long as you keep the QT bio-load reasonable.

dh350twin said:
Also if you choose to medicate do you start the process over again with each new addition or just wait until they are all in then start the process?

The "QT clock" restarts every time you add a new fish. For example, if you add a tang today and a wrasse tomorrow, the "QT clock" for both starts tomorrow. It is best to wait until all fish are in QT before beginning any treatment(s), so they are not just suddenly thrust into an environment filled with chemicals.

dh350twin · Jul 25, 2015

Will meds kill the biological filtration?
Also thank you for taking the time to help.....very appreciated

Humblefish · Jul 25, 2015

dh350twin said:
Will meds kill the biological filtration?
Also thank you for taking the time to help.....very appreciated

Will put a dent in your bacteria levels, but will not completely eradicate so long as the bio-filter is healthy.

dh350twin · Jul 25, 2015

Humblefish said:
Will put a dent in your bacteria levels, but will not completely eradicate so long as the bio-filter is healthy.

Ok gotcha. I did not seed my sponge as I know there is a pretty nasty parasite already in the display tank. Didn't want to introduce it to the quarantine tank, plus I thought meds would kill the the bacteria from what i read.
So in these cases would you suggest dosing a commercial sold bacteria? And what would you reccomend?

Humblefish · Jul 25, 2015

dh350twin said:
So in these cases would you suggest dosing a commercial sold bacteria? And what would you reccomend?

I've used Seachem Stability a number of times with pretty good success. What I do is pour a little directly into the powerfilter, above the sponge, every day for a few days before I know I'm going to QT and add meds. This allows enough time for the nitrifying bacteria to get embedded in the sponge and begin propagating. Shutoff the powerfilter for an hour or so when you add Stability, so the bacteria can settle down into the sponge.

dh350twin · Jul 25, 2015

Humblefish said:
I've used Seachem Stability a number of times with pretty good success. What I do is pour a little directly into the powerfilter, above the sponge, every day for a few days before I know I'm going to QT and add meds. This allows enough time for the nitrifying bacteria to get embedded in the sponge and begin propagating. Shutoff the powerfilter for an hour or so when you add Stability, so the bacteria can settle down into the sponge.

Thank you for all your help!