Quarantine- Getting it right the first time (Help please)

[Anthawk]

New to the hobby and my tank is still cycling. I have used a Dr Tims One and Only to do a fishless cycle and have been phantom feeding every 2-3 days.

I really want to do things right the first time and so I have set up a 40L qt tank. Pretty much everyone in my local area does NOT quarantine at all so it's been difficult as a new reefer to know who or what to trust.

The sticky threads by Humblefish on reef2reef have been super helpful and so I thought I would make my first post reaching out for help.

Guy at my LFS was also sceptical about me using a small quarantine and doubted a sponge filter would be enough to have bacteria to get rid of the ammonia.

I have a sponge filter seeding in my sump so my questions are really where to from here?
Will the sponge filter be enough for the quarantine?

Just get super confused about conflicting info so I'd appreciate some clarity.

 

[Anthawk]

For further background
Current equipment:
- Aqua one Reef 400L with sump
- 2x 300W Aqua one heaters
- 4 x T5’s (I haven’t bought the T5’s yet)
- Aqua One sump light (EcoGlo 60 )
- Beamswork Hi-Lumen LED 50W
- Aqua one G224 Protein Skimmer
- Tunze Osmolator ATO
- Aqua Excel media reactor (not yet used but I’m considering starting it with GFO)
- Fuval sea CP4 power head

Goals:
- Im hoping to start of with some clownfish and hoping be adding corals by mid-2018 when I get some bday presents

 

[DLHDesign]

First; welcome to R2R!

Whether a soaked sponge will work is hard to say for sure because of all the variables involved. How long has it soaked and how "rich" was the environment it was soaking in? Once in the tank; how many fish are in the QT and what size are they? How much food are you adding into the QT and how much waste is being produced?
Most of those questions you would have a hard time answering with any degree of certainty (never mind being new to the hobby; even with experience some of the answers to those are not much better than guesses). So I'm not asking them to get you to answer them, per-se; but just to point out that there is no "right answer" to this stuff. That's true of a lot of this hobby in fact... Fun!

Is it possible for a soaked sponge to hold off ammonia in a QT tank? Yes; it's been done. A lot. The first key is to ensure that the sponge is truly saturated with bacteria. Pouring some Dr. Tim's (or whatever) directly onto the sponge just before it goes into the QT gives you a good shot of this. The next key to success is to not overstock your QT. Up to three small (<~2") fish, or two medium (<~3"), or one large (>~3") per 40L tank is about all you want to do - and less is better here, if you can (often the "3 small" is just to allow for trios of the same species or the like). Finally; don't over-feed the tank. It's often hard to determine just how much food a new tank of fish will actually eat. Add to that the conditions of QT (newly arrived fish are skittish and prone to inconsistent eating, medications that suppress appetite, etc.) and it's pretty easy to put more food in the tank than the fish will consume. This food breaks down and causes ammonia spikes that we end up feeling really guilty about... So feed them slow (fish don't have "meal times" - they eat when they find food; so you don't need to ensure they eat it all at once). If you do put too much in, use a baster or the like to remove as much of the excess as you can.
In the end, it's not really too hard to QT fish (far easier to do than the alternative, IMO). Make sure the your QT has an ammonia badge, keep some Prime on-hand in case of spikes, and you should be able to get through QT without a problem in terms of ammonia.

And - of course - don't be afraid to ask us here if anything comes up that you want opinions on. Always happy to help!

 

[Anthawk]

First; welcome to R2R!

Whether a soaked sponge will work is hard to say for sure because of all the variables involved. How long has it soaked and how "rich" was the environment it was soaking in? Once in the tank; how many fish are in the QT and what size are they? How much food are you adding into the QT and how much waste is being produced?
Most of those questions you would have a hard time answering with any degree of certainty (never mind being new to the hobby; even with experience some of the answers to those are not much better than guesses). So I'm not asking them to get you to answer them, per-se; but just to point out that there is no "right answer" to this stuff. That's true of a lot of this hobby in fact... Fun!

Is it possible for a soaked sponge to hold off ammonia in a QT tank? Yes; it's been done. A lot. The first key is to ensure that the sponge is truly saturated with bacteria. Pouring some Dr. Tim's (or whatever) directly onto the sponge just before it goes into the QT gives you a good shot of this. The next key to success is to not overstock your QT. Up to three small (<~2") fish, or two medium (<~3"), or one large (>~3") per 40L tank is about all you want to do - and less is better here, if you can (often the "3 small" is just to allow for trios of the same species or the like). Finally; don't over-feed the tank. It's often hard to determine just how much food a new tank of fish will actually eat. Add to that the conditions of QT (newly arrived fish are skittish and prone to inconsistent eating, medications that suppress appetite, etc.) and it's pretty easy to put more food in the tank than the fish will consume. This food breaks down and causes ammonia spikes that we end up feeling really guilty about... So feed them slow (fish don't have "meal times" - they eat when they find food; so you don't need to ensure they eat it all at once). If you do put too much in, use a baster or the like to remove as much of the excess as you can.
In the end, it's not really too hard to QT fish (far easier to do than the alternative, IMO). Make sure the your QT has an ammonia badge, keep some Prime on-hand in case of spikes, and you should be able to get through QT without a problem in terms of ammonia.

And - of course - don't be afraid to ask us here if anything comes up that you want opinions on. Always happy to help!

Thank you for your detailed reply! The sponge was put in two days after the tank started cycling.

Those are great tips..some responses:
- I'll be sure to add small amount of food
- I was going to only qt 2 fish max in the 40L
- For my procedure I was thinking of getting them eating for a week then using prazipro in two cycles (ofc treating anything else that might come up)

 

[DLHDesign]

The sponge was put in two days after the tank started cycling.

It's likely pretty well saturated, then. I wouldn't stress about that part overly much. Note that - in a pinch - you can always pour some Dr Tim's directly into the QT as well as a "booster".

- For my procedure I was thinking of getting them eating for a week then using prazipro in two cycles (ofc treating anything else that might come up)

Having a plan is the first step towards success.
Normally I'd point people to the aforementioned Humblefish stickies, but as you've already seen those, I feel like that would be redundant. One thing you should mentally prepare for is that every fish you buy (from anywhere) will likely have either marine ich or velvet - or both. That's just the state of the hobby right now (hopefully, not forever - there's some hope out there on the horizon...). Both ich and velvet are treated the same (see stickies - let us know if you need specific links), however, so it makes planning for them easy (either copper, CP, or TTM). The key will be in identifying (not hard) and reacting in time. Ich you'll generally have days; velvet might be hours. Not trying to scare you here (better to deal with these in the QT than DT); just prepare you. It's all good an well to want to acclimate them to the new tank for a week before starting meds, but also recognize that you may not be able to do that. Transporting fish (whether via the post or in your car from your LFS) is stressful - and stress brings out the diseases and problems that otherwise may be dealt with without intervention. The first few days are often the critical window (though never shirk on the full QT process else you invalidate the whole reason for doing it).

But above all - have fun and enjoy it!

 

[Anthawk]

It's likely pretty well saturated, then. I wouldn't stress about that part overly much. Note that - in a pinch - you can always pour some Dr Tim's directly into the QT as well as a "booster".


Having a plan is the first step towards success.
Normally I'd point people to the aforementioned Humblefish stickies, but as you've already seen those, I feel like that would be redundant. One thing you should mentally prepare for is that every fish you buy (from anywhere) will likely have either marine ich or velvet - or both. That's just the state of the hobby right now (hopefully, not forever - there's some hope out there on the horizon...). Both ich and velvet are treated the same (see stickies - let us know if you need specific links), however, so it makes planning for them easy (either copper, CP, or TTM). The key will be in identifying (not hard) and reacting in time. Ich you'll generally have days; velvet might be hours. Not trying to scare you here (better to deal with these in the QT than DT); just prepare you. It's all good an well to want to acclimate them to the new tank for a week before starting meds, but also recognize that you may not be able to do that. Transporting fish (whether via the post or in your car from your LFS) is stressful - and stress brings out the diseases and problems that otherwise may be dealt with without intervention. The first few days are often the critical window (though never shirk on the full QT process else you invalidate the whole reason for doing it).

But above all - have fun and enjoy it!

Have you had an experience with CP? I'm in Australia so i'm not sure im going to be able to get some..I have some seachem cupramine but I am nervous to use copper.

 

[DLHDesign]

Sorry; I have not. All my QT has been via the TTM process.

 

[Humblefish]

Have you had an experience with CP? I'm in Australia so i'm not sure im going to be able to get some..I have some seachem cupramine but I am nervous to use copper.

I've had phenomenal success with CP, but avoid using it with wrasses, anthias and Hippo Tangs (for now).

More info: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chloroquine-phosphate.192309/