How to Purge Display - Reset? Advice Needed

[Asonitez]

So,
For what it's worth I believe that since ich and possibly velvet parasite has attacked my display fish, (brought in by using chaeto from another reefers display.) At least I think it was the chaeto. I have to reset my display. Fortunately I don't have any coral and I don't have any inverts.

Currently my display total volume is around 250 gallons. I have about 180 lbs of live rock.

Fish list

2 diamond spot goby
1 solar wrasse
1 grey head wrasse
1 scarlet ruby wrasse
1 tricolor wrasse
1 6 line wrasse
2 lyretail anthias
1 long nose hawkfish
3 Small yellow tangs


Currently my display is in hypo running at 1.009.

I have a thing my disposal a fully cycled 30 gallon quarantine running st 1.024
1 20 gallon long breeder tank and a filter.
1 10 gallon regular tank.
2 gallons of marine pure media fully cycled


I plan to do the following.

Drain 15 gallons from the cycled 30 gallon quarantine.
Fill the 20 breeder with 10 gallons of the drained water from the quarantine.
Refill the 30 gallon with 10 gallons fresh RODI
Refill the 20 gallon quarantine with 10 gallons fresh RODI
Refill the 10 gallon tank with 5 gallons of fresh RODI

Add SEED to each tank except the 10 gallon to jump start or buffer any cycle.

This should bring their salinity into the teens.

Remove my rock from the display after tanking a picture of it and capture the fish.

Split the small fish and tangs between the 30 and 20.
Add all my macro algae to the 10 gallon with an extra light I have.

Copper or chloroquine all fish followed by Prazi. Keep them all quarantined for 4 weeks or more.



Phase 2 kill the tank.

Turn off the lights on the display and add lots of bleach into the display.

Or

Turn off all lights and run fresh water through the display for a full week. Add salt and bring salinity back to normal levels. Add Dr. Tims and recycle the display. I could then add back my shrimp crabs and other cleanup crews to get accustomed to their tank.

Run the tank barebones with cleanup crew until fish are ready to be added back.

Add back the wrasses,clowns,angels and trigger and lastly tangs. In that order.
Finally add back in my chaeto.

Is this a solid plan? Is there a simpler way of killing anything in the display to reset?

 

[melypr1985]

Is there a simpler way of killing anything in the display to reset?

I think your QT plan is a good one. Just be sure the salinity in all QT's matches the salinity of the display along with the temp and you can just transfer them over.

Now to reset your display, it would be simpler to just let it run fallow (without fish) for 76 days to fully reset it and starve out all parasites that might be in there. Much simpler to do this than to try to kill the entire tank and start it over.

 

[Asonitez]

I have heard that fallow is not always guaranteed. I want it guaranteed. I have nothing to loose. 2 bottles of Dr Tims and leave it the hell alone will make it cycled for inverts in a week or 2 easily.

 

[Javamahn]

I ran fallow for 79 days and have not seen any outbreak since. I treated all fish with cupramine for 3 weeks then let the water changes dilute the concentration. Whether you decide to completely reboot your DT or let it run fallow is up to you but I would concentrate on the QT for 79 days to be sure the fish don't just carry the ich back into the tank again.

 

[Humblefish]

I have heard that fallow is not always guaranteed. I want it guaranteed. I have nothing to loose. 2 bottles of Dr Tims and leave it the hell alone will make it cycled for inverts in a week or 2 easily.

You'll need to raise the chlorine to 60 mg/L (and maintain that level for 24 hrs) to kill all tomonts & theronts.

 

[Asonitez]

1 gallon of bleach do the job ? For 240 gals ?

 

[Asonitez]

I ran fallow for 79 days and have not seen any outbreak since. I treated all fish with cupramine for 3 weeks then let the water changes dilute the concentration. Whether you decide to completely reboot your DT or let it run fallow is up to you but I would concentrate on the QT for 79 days to be sure the fish don't just carry the ich back into the tank again.

I hear you. The fish are going to go through some stuff. I have the ability to have 60 gallons of fresh water on demand. Nutrients won't be an issue. I'm Planning to qurantine the fish for as long as it takes. I do also plan to to order and obtain all the fish I will want in my display. In the mean time I'm sourcing a frag tank that I will be able to collect my corals and etc. There were some fish that I couldn't get after adding my tangs and I want to get them and qurantine them. Especially the elusive hippo tang.

 

[Humblefish]

1 gallon of bleach do the job ? For 240 gals ?

1/2 gallon would actually run it up to 100 mg/L, more than good enough.

 

[Asonitez]

To clear it out I planned to toss in a bottle of prime let that run through for a day or two through all my reactors and pumps stir up my sand and then drain the entire tank and sump refill run that and toss in my salt.

That sound good ?

 

[Asonitez]

Could I add vinegar instead ? Like a gallon of vinegar

Or a bunch of hydrogen peroxide?

 

[Javamahn]

as a side note because I did not cycle the QT and relied on weekly water changes to keep the Ammonia down I used the seachem ammonia alert strip which is not affected by the copper. Other test kits will not provide accurate readings with copper in. Good Luck. ICH Sucks but now you have 79 days now to put in all your coral.

 

[Asonitez]

Yeah I have the entire seachem suite. At my disposal. Cupramine ammonia badge and testing supplies.

 

[Humblefish]

Could I add vinegar instead ? Like a gallon of vinegar

Or a bunch of hydrogen peroxide?

Neither of those have been tested to disinfect a tank of ich, but chlorine has.

 

[4FordFamily]

I agree on leaving tank fallow 76 days. Fallow works 99% of the time, if done properly and nothing is cross contaminated. (IE you didn't use a net, your arm, any equipment, a siphon hose, or anything else from the infected QT to your fallow DT -- even if treating the QT).