How to Quarantine Lyretail Anthias?

[Salt1972]

For those Type A - Here's the straight to the point question:

How can we best quarantine 5 female & 1 male lyretail anthias arriving Tuesday?

We have a 20g long quarantine tank with a recirc pump / sponge, heater, air stone, powerhead, 4 pieces of PVC, and (1) 5-6lb piece of live rock from our display tank. It's been up and running for a week. The ammonia badge briefly (2 days) went to green (slight ammonia) and then back to yellow (safe). The tank is blacked out on the sides and back and we have a black cover for the front.

What do you recommend? Step by Step?

1. Float bags to temp match
2. Drip acclimate?
3. Lighting Schedule?
4. 2-3 days observation with no meds / treatment?
5. Freshwater dip?
6. Prazipro?
7. Copper Power?
8. Metro / Kana ?


For those who want a little more information / backstory:

We recently had some issues losing green chromis and 2 lyretail anthias within 9 days of adding to our tank. Some people suggested that our (5") sally lightfoot crab might be the culprit. After a valiant battle, we captured and relocated Sally to the refugium.

While asking the forum for advice about the losses, we took some heat for not quarantining.

Over the summer, we had invested in a 10g Q system. As soon as I posted pics of that, we took criticism because it wasn't big enough. When we decided to try lyretail anthias, we read that they do not respond well to quarantine and many sources said to skip quarantine for anthias. I've read so many differing opinions on the subject, especially where it pertains to anthias, that we don't know what to do.

Last week, Petco was running their $1/g sale. So, I picked up the 20g L that many had suggested as a better size for quarantine.

We have a procedure (attached) that we collected - I think from @Brew12 and/or @Humblefish. Does this apply to lyretail anthias?

Our display tank is a 13 month 125g mixed reef with 200lbs of live rock, strong flow, (4) Kessil 360's, and a small refugium with caleurpa & chaeto. Parameters are very stable:

1.026 salinity
2 ppm NO3
.04 ppm PO4
Alk - 8.5 dKh
Ca - 460 ppm
Mag - 1440 ppm
78 degrees

We maintain levels using BRS 2 Part. Lots of LPS and a few SPS frags.

 

[Reeferdood]

@Humblefish might be of some assistance...

 

[Brew12]

I'm sorry you are getting so much conficting information. The large number of opinions a forum like this offers can be helpful, but it can also be confusing.
I have found Anthias to be very difficult to get through QT. The flip side is that I won't put a fish in my tank that hasn't gone through QT. I can't even tell you why they are so difficult. They seem to respond to chelated copper products just fine, and I've had them eating. I have even added them to my system after going through QT only to have them die within a few weeks. That said, let me answer this stuff.

2. Drip acclimate?

I would not. I would match the salinity of the shipping water to the QT system. Once they are temperature acclimated just scoop them out and add them to the QT. I want the shipping water to have as little exposure to air as possible to keep pH low and ammonia less toxic.

3. Lighting Schedule?

Nothing too bright, normal room lighting is fine for 8 to 12 hours a day.

4. 2-3 days observation with no meds / treatment?

Play this one by ear. If they come in looking rough you may need to treat early. Otherwise, I like this plan.

5. Freshwater dip?

I always do a FW dip in the first day or 2 for 2 reasons. I can find out if they have flukes, and if they have Velvet it will provide temporary relief.

6. Prazipro?

I can go either way with this. I've treated all my fish with Prazi but if you do a FW dip on receipt and again a month later with no sign of flukes or flashing you can bypass it.

7. Copper Power?

Great choice, especially if you have a Hanna checker.

8. Metro / Kana ?

Definitely have them available. I would only use them if I see signs of a bacterial infection or internal parasites. You'll want Focus to help with internal parasites, too.

 

[Humblefish]

^^ Agree with @Brew12

 

[don_chuwish]

I'm curious enough to tag along...

 

[Maritimer]

Brew12's got you covered like a cozy blanket!

Antibiotics - either the combination of Furan-2, Kanaplex & Metroplex, _or_ Spectrogram, _or_ Nitrofuracin Green (not to be used at the same time as copper, IIRC) may come in handy - I've found anthias to be a bit susceptible to bacterial infections.

~Bruce

 

[Salt1972]

Guys- THANK YOU for your help and guidance. Your experience and results inspire confidence and we appreciate your sharing. Wish us luck.

We put up a carpet surfing guard today...

As you can see, our set up is a bit unconventional. It was built in front of a former fireplace. So, there was no space available underneath the display. As a result, we did our sump/refugium above. That made putting a conventional top challenging. Instead, I cut 12" high strips of corrugated black plastic and went around the sides and back. The front wall closes on the front. So, unless they can clear about 15" above the water AND arc over the sides, we should have (at a minimum) significantly limited their ability to carpet surf while also maintaining easy access for maintenance.

**BTW- we have a light out. We have 4 Kessil 360's and I keep 1 spare. We had 2 fail in less than a week. They're at Kessil now for repair.

Again, thank you all for your help.

Matt

 

[Salt1972]

Great choice, especially if you have a Hanna checker.

I have Hanna for PO4, Alk, & Ca, but we have Salifert for Copper. Will that be sufficient for this round or should I find a Hanna Copper?

 

[Brew12]

I have Hanna for PO4, Alk, & Ca, but we have Salifert for Copper. Will that be sufficient for this round or should I find a Hanna Copper?

In my opinion, the Hanna copper checker is the most valuable checker they make, followed by PO4. Not only do I feel accuracy is more important for copper than any other parameter, but the repercussions of being too high or two low are the highest.

 

[falconut]

I've had no issues QTing lyretail anthias, maybe I was lucky. Mine were treated with prazipro & cupramine. I originally used the Seachem copper test kit, then got the Hanna & turned out I was running copper too low. If you can get the Hanna copper checker, it's worth it. Good luck.

 

[Ferrell]

Great info as I had a lot of trouble with the last three rounds of quarantine. Since doing additional research and reading I’ve got my protocol running pretty good. Much thanks to @HotRocks @Brew12 @Humblefish snd now you for laying out a great “type A” protocol.
Good luck. Maybe we all can get more swimmers in our DT thanks to the research and experimentation by you all. Thank you

 

[Art2249]

I am interested too. I have some that just went through their first round of prazi. One didn't eat well but is eating now. It's time for the second round of prazi but Im worried about the one. Also, I don't have copper power but I have copper safe?

 

[Burrito]

i just put through 3 lyretails through QT from divers den, 2 female and 1 male. all 3 came in looking good, i drip acclimated (there were other fish too) and all fish ate like they were starving and still do. i treated the 2nd day with prazi, then another round with water change 5 days later. at all times they ate a ton of food, acted normal and looked healthy. 1 lyretail died though about 48 hours after getting it for seemingly no reason. the rest of the fish are now in my display and doing great. the 2 anthias and 4 other fish

 

[joe0813]

hate to bring this back from the dead but I can't keep these fish alive to save my life