TTM questions

[Jay67Chevy]

Please redirect to another thread if this is hijacking, but i like rev am in the process of a tank move.
Going from a established (3yrs) nano jbj to a larger fresh build 40gal.
Plan to seed new tank with sand and rock from my established setup
Both tanks will remain running going fwd and the nano will become my QT
Current livestock is a pair of healthy clowns and some inverts, no corals.

As far as parasites and disease is concerned the clowns did have as battle with ick early on in my nano.
Went all natural remedy, lacing garlic and vitamins to their frozen food and the clowns bounced back rather
quickly. Healthy pigs ever since.

There has also has been a few other fish that have come in and out of this system
over the years without QT. none of the other residents exhibited any sign of disease
during their short stay.

The new build has taken well over a year and would hate to move fwd with this transfer, missing out on an
opportunity to Cover my butt and ensure a healthy transfer of my babies, while maintaining a pristine environment
for future fishy friends.

DO I MOVE OVER LIVESTOCK IN ONE QUICK SCOOP OF THE NET after WATER CONDITIONS ARE MATCHED
AND STABLE BETWEEN TANKS?

OR IS THIS A GOOD TIME TO TRY THIS TTM SETUP??

EVERYTHING HAS BEEN ON AUTO PILOT WITH THIS TANK FOR YEARS, DONT WANT TO OVERTHINK THIS

THANKS!!

 

[Humblefish]

DO I MOVE OVER LIVESTOCK IN ONE QUICK SCOOP OF THE NET after WATER CONDITIONS ARE MATCHED
AND STABLE BETWEEN TANKS?

Yes - transfer as little water as possible with the fish. I personally use a plastic colander in lieu of a net to catch the fish (square ones work better than round ones):

OR IS THIS A GOOD TIME TO TRY THIS TTM SETUP??

I would, yes. Also dose Prazipro (in order to deworm) at the tail end of transfers 2 & 4 (or 1 & 3). The fish only needs 24 hours of exposure time to Prazipro, so dose 24 hours before you are set to make the next transfer. A second round of Prazipro is required 5-7 days after the first, but again dose the medication 24 hours before you are set to transfer the fish out. Just remember if you do this that you can't use any ammonia reducers while Prazi is present in the water.

 

[melypr1985]

OR IS THIS A GOOD TIME TO TRY THIS TTM SETUP

Absolutely! +1 to what Humble said

 

[Empress]

Yes - transfer as little water as possible with the fish. I personally use a plastic colander in lieu of a net to catch the fish (square ones work better than round ones):

I would, yes. Also dose Prazipro (in order to deworm) at the tail end of transfers 2 & 4 (or 1 & 3). The fish only needs 24 hours of exposure time to Prazipro, so dose 24 hours before you are set to make the next transfer. A second round of Prazipro is required 5-7 days after the first, but again dose the medication 24 hours before you are set to transfer the fish out. Just remember if you do this that you can't use any ammonia reducers while Prazi is present in the water.

One of the things I love about you guys is that you stay consistent with your answers.

Right when I tell myself, "I can remember that: then I read another thread and say to myself, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

Your last statement about mixing Prazi with ammonia reducers is one I forgot. I read somewhere (don't know if it's true or not), but a person has to read the same thing over and over again about 200 times before they fully remember it!

Thanks for being consistent. And I wrote myself a note on the Prazi and ammonia. [emoji854]

 

[Humblefish]

@Empress We do our best to stay consistent, but also know our advice does evolve as knowledge is gained. I don't think a day goes by that I don't learn something new either through reading or experimentation. I'm always looking for ways to tweak my methods or discover a new treatment, to give our finned friends another path to a long, healthy life.

Ironically, my greatest hope is someday this fish disease forum will be rarely needed.

 

[Sagecritter4life]

Possibly dumb question from a newbie..lol but here goes.

Would the TTM method work on coral and CUC also? If a person dipped them for pests when transfered at 72 hours would you effectively conquer both ich and hitch hikers?

Thereby shortening QT to 12 days also for corals and CUC

Just havnt seen this discussed so maybe I'm missing something super obvious..and yall can remind me

 

[Humblefish]

Possibly dumb question from a newbie..lol but here goes.

Would the TTM method work on coral and CUC also? If a person dipped them for pests when transfered at 72 hours would you effectively conquer both ich and hitch hikers?

Thereby shortening QT to 12 days also for corals and CUC

Just havnt seen this discussed so maybe I'm missing something super obvious..and yall can remind me

Unfortunately no. Fish carry the trophont stage of ich, which can only remain 3-7 days before dropping off. TTM works because you are literally outrunning this lifecycle of the parasite.

Corals/inverts, on the other hand, can come with tomonts attached. This stage of the parasite is a lot more unpredictable because it can remain 3-72 days before theronts are released from it.

 

[Sagecritter4life]

Darn...chuckle..trying to reinvent the wheel seems to come with lots of flat tire ;-)

Thanks for the refresher humblefish lots to remember in this hobby

 

[Humblefish]

Darn...chuckle..trying to reinvent the wheel seems to come with lots of flat tire ;-)

Thanks for the refresher humblefish lots to remember in this hobby

I wish there were an easier way. Isolating corals/inverts to a fishless frag tank for 76 days gets aggravating. :mad:

 

[Sagecritter4life]

Lol k question for humble or melpyr...so if you had to do it all over again and say you have a DT cycled and running (empty) is it safe to say you would add couple fish after a TTM method roughly two weeks for some movement in tank..chuckle..then have QT tank running with easier species coral (zoa's etc) to be added after the 76 days. Being newbie it's safe to say coral QT is not mature tank either but having an empty display tank for just short of 3 months is depressing thought lol.

Then lastly if do Bayer dip - tank water rinse (2-3) before placing in QT is it safe to repeat this say 4 days apart for three rounds to possibly catch egg hatches for maximum hitch hiker suppresion? Or too stressful on coral? Starting simple zoa's etc.

 

[Humblefish]

Lol k question for humble or melpyr...so if you had to do it all over again and say you have a DT cycled and running (empty) is it safe to say you would add couple fish after a TTM method roughly two weeks for some movement in tank..chuckle..then have QT tank running with easier species coral (zoa's etc) to be added after the 76 days. Being newbie it's safe to say coral QT is not mature tank either but having an empty display tank for just short of 3 months is depressing thought lol.

I'm not really understanding this. For QT-ing new fish using TTM, you would want to observe for at least 2 weeks after the last transfer. To observe for symptoms of velvet, brook, a bacterial infection, etc. The only way to render corals/inverts "safe" from encysted fish diseases is to isolate them to a fishless environment for 76 days, same as going fallow.

Then lastly if do Bayer dip - tank water rinse (2-3) before placing in QT is it safe to repeat this say 4 days apart for three rounds to possibly catch egg hatches for maximum hitch hiker suppresion? Or too stressful on coral? Starting simple zoa's etc.

I see what you're getting at, but the problem is once the eggs hatch on the zoa plug (for example) then the "hatchlings" will just crawl all over the tank. Some people remove a new zoa, paly or other soft coral from it's plug/rock, and just dip the polyp itself. Then reattach it to a new plug/rock. While not completely foolproof, coral pests and fish parasites prefer laying their eggs (or encysting) upon a hard surface. The downside to this technique is your risk damaging your new coral.

 

[Sagecritter4life]

Okay thanks humble yeah I meant to add a week or two observation period on the fish after TTM before going to main empty display but forgot to put in post.

So kinda think what your saying on coral is after dipping corals on arrival before placing in fishless QT that there would be little benefit in re dipping them every 4-7 days while in QT due to pests could be just running around in tank and re infest the moment the frag returns to QT tank after dip....

 

[Sagecritter4life]

If hatched in QT after initial dip

 

[Sagecritter4life]

Typical newbie and over analyzing the subject probably lol...sorry

 

[Humblefish]

So kinda think what your saying on coral is after dipping corals on arrival before placing in fishless QT that there would be little benefit in re dipping them every 4-7 days while in QT due to pests could be just running around in tank and re infest the moment the frag returns to QT tank after dip....

Yes, because coral dips only kill the pests not their eggs. So, 5 minutes after you do a dip a baby could hatch and crawl off the coral. But at least you then get to deal with the problem in the frag tank, not your main tank.