How to Quarantine

cono · Jul 14, 2015

So if I get a prescription how do I order from them

Humblefish · Jul 14, 2015

cono said:
So if I get a prescription how do I order from them

You can try contacting them directly or your local pharmacy might have to order it from them.

cono · Jul 14, 2015

check this out and your outlook
https://www.reefs.com/blog/2015/07/02/buying-ich-vaccinated-fish/

VJV · Jul 14, 2015

Humblefish said:
If absorption causes copper to drop below therapeutic levels, treatment will be ineffective.

I have used ceramic rock such as aquaroche in QT and it works perfectly. It never absorbed any copper while providing good biological filtration. The reason I don't anymore is because I don't want anything with rough edges in the QT in order to prevent fish from scratching and creating large wounds, which can lead to other problems.

cono · Jul 14, 2015

Hey finnaly found one place that can get it but wow what a Rip off 90 for 25 grams

Humblefish · Jul 14, 2015

cono said:
check this out and your outlook
https://www.reefs.com/blog/2015/07/02/buying-ich-vaccinated-fish/

The "ich vaccine" thing makes it's way onto the web every few years. Nothing ever comes of it. Perhaps this time something will. I am doubtful, however, for two reasons:

1) The science is not quite there yet.
2) There is more money to be made selling you copper, CP, garlic, "reef safe" herbal remedies, etc. than fish vaccinated for ich.

Besides, ich is just one disease to watch out for. There's also: velvet, brook, uronema, gill flukes, internal parasites, bacterial infections, etc. etc.

cono · Jul 14, 2015

This is true

cono · Jul 21, 2015

Hey for bio to cycle water you said to use sponge .....can I use blue/white pad

Humblefish · Jul 21, 2015

cono said:
Hey for bio to cycle water you said to use sponge .....can I use blue/white pad

Never tried seeding with a pad before. My concern is it may not be porous enough to house adequate numbers of nitrifying bacteria to achieve biological filtration. Especially when you consider there will be some die-off once exposed to a chemical such as CP or copper. A sponge/foam is very porous.

cono · Jul 21, 2015

How long should I run a sponge to be mature for bacteria

Humblefish · Jul 21, 2015

cono said:
How long should I run a sponge to be mature for bacteria

Minimum of 1 month in a high flow area of your DT's sump.

Paulday · Jul 23, 2015

I have one question if copper kills ick. Does it kill the bacteria on the sponge u just soaked for a month

cono · Jul 23, 2015

Not doing copper doing CP

Humblefish · Jul 23, 2015

Paulday said:
I have one question if copper kills ick. Does it kill the bacteria on the sponge u just soaked for a month

It kills some but not all. FWIW; CP probably does too.

But that's the reason you want to seed the sponge for an entire month before using it. Because while copper/CP will put a dent in those bacteria levels, you won't lose it all. And a sponge heavily saturated with nitrifying bacteria will quickly bounce back.

Gamma · Jul 24, 2015

Yes please explain TTM!

Gamma · Jul 24, 2015

I guess I have been lucky so far for six years my DT has been up and running (knock on wood) but I am thinking I might set up a very small QT for new fish. Is dipping corals sufficient and then go into DT or do you QT those as well? Do I need two QTs?

Humblefish · Jul 24, 2015

Gamma said:
Yes please explain TTM!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

Gamma said:
I guess I have been lucky so far for six years my DT has been up and running (knock on wood) but I am thinking I might set up a very small QT for new fish. Is dipping corals sufficient and then go into DT or do you QT those as well? Do I need two QTs?

It's optimal to also QT corals/inverts in a fishless frag tank. External parasites, such as ich & velvet, have a tomont stage which is capable of encysting upon surfaces of rocks, substrate, corals, plugs, snail/hermit shells, etc. It is unlikely that corals dips eradicate these.

jazonPartij · Aug 6, 2015

Humblefish said:
The key is the foam inserts that come with Aquaclear HOB powerfilters. Those are very porous and capable of hosting tons of nitrifying bacteria (which breaks down ammonia.) Sticking one of those foams (or multiples) down in a high flow area of your sump (or behind the rocks) for at least 1 month prior to QT allows enough time for it to "seed" with bacteria. You can buy replacement foams for cheap.

FYI; "my way" is not the only way. Any HOB or canister which contains bio-media (ex. ceramic rings) can be seeded the exact same way. Or if you don't mind spending the money, you can buy one of those "bacteria in a bottle" products and pour it over the foam for an instant bio-filter. I personally would just rather wait the 30 days and save some coin. :wink:

Great write up, I really appreciated the read and look forward to reading your others. I think I have the same question. In your write up you suggest that we should use freshly mixed saltwater that has been running for 24hrs. How can a tank be fully cycled with only 24hr old water?

I think this is what I don't understand about cycling tanks because the same goes if someone does a deep clean of their tank and adding almost 90% new water, wouldn't the tank cycle?

Humblefish · Aug 7, 2015

jazonPartij said:
Great write up, I really appreciated the read and look forward to reading your others. I think I have the same question. In your write up you suggest that we should use freshly mixed saltwater that has been running for 24hrs. How can a tank be fully cycled with only 24hr old water?

I think this is what I don't understand about cycling tanks because the same goes if someone does a deep clean of their tank and adding almost 90% new water, wouldn't the tank cycle?

In your DT, the water itself contains a miniscule amount of nitrifying bacteria. It's in the rock/sand. So in QT, you want to use a "seeded sponge" capable of harboring nitrifying bacteria for biological filtration. Think of this sponge as being a very porous, soft rock.

I “seed” the sponge (or multiples) in a high flow area of my DT’s sump (or you can put it behind your rocks) for at least one month prior to QT. This one month allows time for enough beneficial bacteria to transfer onto the sponge, so that it may be used as biological filtration once placed back in the power filter and used in QT. An alternative way of seeding is to pour some Bio-Spira, Seachem Stability or Dr Tim's Nitrifying Bacteria over it just prior to use. Below is a pic of the Aquaclear HOB power filter and correlating “foam” sponge I use when I QT: