Can a DT really be disease-free?

[Humblefish]

So long as fish in your DT aren't dying, I'm a happy guy. Whether you QT or not.

 

[Paul B]

CrashJack, that sounds like a really nice plot of land you have there. My house also wasn't 40,000,00.00 but an acre of land in my town is still unheard of. I think I may have an eighth of an acre if that. Probably less because we measure our properties in inches here, not acres.
It is very over priced and ridiculous.

Humble, just knowing I am on the same thread as you makes me a happy guy.
I love it when fish live, but the true criteria of any tank is that the fish are only dying of old age, just the way I want to die. In the arms of a Supermodel of course.

 

[Areseebee]

I love it when fish live, but the true criteria of any tank is that the fish are only dying of old age, just the way I want to die. In the arms of a Supermodel of course.

My fish have all died the way I want to die: motorcycle accident.

 

[Paul B]

I realize many people who live inland can't get live foods. You really need to move.
The worms I use I buy at an LFS. I am not sure you need to live near the sea for them but if your LFs doesn't have them, that's not good. You can get them online but I think you have to buy a lot of them. I am not sure how far inland they sell clams. I take them for granted and they are one of my favorite foods, my fish can eat cake.
But I would like to introduce you guys who say you can't get live foods to white worms. You buy a small culture online. Throw them in some dirt, feed them yogurt and "Walla" you get thousands of worms about the same size as blackworms but the beauty of white worms is that live in salt water for many hours where as black worms croak as soon as they realize they are in salt water.
White worms reproduce very fast so you need only buy them once. Now there is no more excuses for not using live food.

Here is my culture of white worms eating a Matzo. These were Jewish worms. I use white worms and black worms so no one can call me racist or anything. If you can't, or don't want to feed live foods or at least foods with living bacteria in them, keep quarantining because you can't have immune fish unless they can eat live bacteria.

 

[Paul B]

My fish have all died the way I want to die: motorcycle accident.

I don't mind dying on a mortocycle as long as I am dying of old age. I am not sure if they will let me ride a motorcycle when I am 103 years old and I am also not sure if a Supermodel will want to ride in the back seat with a 102 year old Senile, bald fish Geek.

 

[Humblefish]

Paul, most Supermodels don't want to have anything to do with fish geeks even when we're young.

 

[Paul B]

I am not sure about that Humble. I started very young and always had a Supermodel with me. I think it was my Sexy Knees.

 

[Crashjack]

I realize many people who live inland can't get live foods. You really need to move.
The worms I use I buy at an LFS. I am not sure you need to live near the sea for them but if your LFs doesn't have them, that's not good. You can get them online but I think you have to buy a lot of them. I am not sure how far inland they sell clams. I take them for granted and they are one of my favorite foods, my fish can eat cake.
But I would like to introduce you guys who say you can't get live foods to white worms. You buy a small culture online. Throw them in some dirt, feed them yogurt and "Walla" you get thousands of worms about the same size as blackworms but the beauty of white worms is that live in salt water for many hours where as black worms croak as soon as they realize they are in salt water.
White worms reproduce very fast so you need only buy them once. Now there is no more excuses for not using live food.

White worms look pretty easy to raise with one exception... temperature. It looks like 70 deg F is the absolute max temperature with lower temperatures being much better. My wine cellar stays at 55 deg F (this is a type of refrigerator, not an underground room), but I don't think the wife will cozy-up to sharing wine storage with worms. The outside fridge would be more palatable, but the temperature stays at 40-45 deg F, which is probably too cold for anything but preservation. I do have access to plenty of earthworms and night crawlers in my yard but my yard gets sprayed/fertilized every 6 weeks or so, and I don't know if these are good food sources for marine fish anyway. I would love to raise something, more than just pods, by dumping a starter culture in my sump-based refugium.

 

[Paul B]

My whiteworms sit on my workbench all year and whatever the temperature is, that is what they live at. My worms never read that about the temperature and I am sure it gets hotter than that in my house. I never let them see the thermometer.
I just checked on them and they are all sitting in lounge chairs smiling. I think you are reading to much. If we believed everything we read we would all be using cleaner shrimp to cure ich, changing water every day and if we keep a quarantine tank (I don't) we would make sure we keep it 10 feet from our reef tank so the parasites don't grow wings and fly there.

 

[Humblefish]

You don't get the best advice from watching TV either. My wife has started watching "Tanked" and apparently all it takes is one month of QT for all the parasites to "jump off" a fish. No copper required. Also, it looks like you can add 25-30 fish to a newly setup tank just by using "natural seawater" in a box.

I wish these guys would explain the nuts & bolts of what they're doing in one episode. Let's see the sump, skimmer, etc. under the tank or whatever bio-filter they're using. The water they use must be heavily seeded with bacteria, or they bring in mature bio-media from their shop or something. ;Wideyed

 

[melypr1985]

I wish these guys would explain the nuts & bolts of what they're doing in one episode. Let's see the sump, skimmer, etc. under the tank or whatever bio-filter they're using. The water they use must be heavily seeded with bacteria, or they bring in mature bio-media from their shop or something. ;Wideyed

They sell a bacteria in a bottle product that supposedly they use in their new builds.

 

[Brew12]

You don't get the best advice from watching TV either. My wife has started watching "Tanked" and apparently all it takes is one month of QT for all the parasites to "jump off" a fish. No copper required. Also, it looks like you can add 25-30 fish to a newly setup tank just by using "natural seawater" in a box.

I wish these guys would explain the nuts & bolts of what they're doing in one episode. Let's see the sump, skimmer, etc. under the tank or whatever bio-filter they're using. The water they use must be heavily seeded with bacteria, or they bring in mature bio-media from their shop or something. ;Wideyed

But but but... it's natural sea water!!! The sea supports millions of fish! Why wouldn't natural sea water support 25 fish? ;Troll

 

[JamesP]

You don't get the best advice from watching TV either. My wife has started watching "Tanked" and apparently all it takes is one month of QT for all the parasites to "jump off" a fish. No copper required. Also, it looks like you can add 25-30 fish to a newly setup tank just by using "natural seawater" in a box.

I wish these guys would explain the nuts & bolts of what they're doing in one episode. Let's see the sump, skimmer, etc. under the tank or whatever bio-filter they're using. The water they use must be heavily seeded with bacteria, or they bring in mature bio-media from their shop or something. ;Wideyed

I heard they stock it for the show then remove everything after the cameras are off. I cant stand watching them personally. They can build acrylic boxes, but dont know anything about fish.

 

[Brew12]

I heard they stock it for the show then remove everything after the cameras are off. I cant stand watching them personally. They can build acrylic boxes, but dont know anything about fish.

They actually are quite knowledgeable individuals. Unfortunately, being technically knowledgeable doesn't make for good TV. It really is a shame.

 

[JamesP]

They actually are quite knowledgeable individuals. Unfortunately, being technically knowledgeable doesn't make for good TV. It really is a shame.

Yeah, you would think they were clueless by the way the show portrays them. When I saw them make a drumset into a fishtank I was like what the heck, poor fish.

 

[4FordFamily]

You don't get the best advice from watching TV either. My wife has started watching "Tanked" and apparently all it takes is one month of QT for all the parasites to "jump off" a fish. No copper required. Also, it looks like you can add 25-30 fish to a newly setup tank just by using "natural seawater" in a box.

I wish these guys would explain the nuts & bolts of what they're doing in one episode. Let's see the sump, skimmer, etc. under the tank or whatever bio-filter they're using. The water they use must be heavily seeded with bacteria, or they bring in mature bio-media from their shop or something. ;Wideyed

There was an episode last season where they discussed how all fish go through a strict quarantine procedure prior to going in to the clients' tanks (it was not outlined, though). However, I frequently see ich on fish on the show I feel like, but it could also be in my head.

Not sure what they do but that's not best practices. I do admit I enjoy the show, if for no other reason than I can enjoy some sweet tanks and fish.

I don't think it does anything to further proper fish husbandry though, a valid concern.

 

[Humblefish]

They sell a bacteria in a bottle product that supposedly they use in their new builds.

Looks like they sell/push two different ones: "ATM Colony" & "ATM Outbreak!".

@Brew12 Can we get a chemical analysis of these two products?

 

[Brew12]

Looks like they sell/push two different ones: "ATM Colony" & "ATM Outbreak!".

@Brew12 Can we get a chemical analysis of these two products?

Both contain live active bacteria, interestingly enough. Not exactly sure what Outbreak! is supposed to do but it looks like it may be an alternative to using a skimmer?

 

[Areseebee]

I only ever watched one of these shows once, but I don't remember which one it was. In it there were two owners that did the build and they kept making fun of their employee because he was knowledgeable about reef keeping. That was the last one I watched.

 

[Paul B]

Also, it looks like you can add 25-30 fish to a newly setup tank just by using "natural seawater" in a box.

And not always in a "box". They put fish in telephone booths, Oldsmobiles, coffins, slot machines etc. They never show you those tanks in a year when someone has to get inside them with a toothbrush to get the algae off the dashboard of the Oldsmobile or the coin slot of the phone.