Starting a new tank how to introduce fish?

[slosti]

Hello everyone,

I just got a completely new setup (IM 40 cube). I have purchased, slimmer, RODI setup, pumps, lights, heater, salt, live sand, Milwaukee salinity meter, etc. I should have everything but live rock and live stock.

I would like to have a pair of clowns, a bubble tip or two, and I wouldn’t mind getting a purple tang. I don’t have my heart set on anything else yet. I may add some zoas, and hammers eventually.

So the question how do I insure I get pest free rock and fish? Should I get dry rock? How do insure my fish are pest free? Should I buy a small tank for a QT and put a HOB filter in it? I don’t want to deal with ick and I know tangs are more likely to get it. My last tank was about 3 years ago and I had no issues but I had no tangs. I did have a few aptasia and I would like to prevent them this go around if possible.

Do you guys leave you QT tanks up always or just take them down when done? What is a good size QT tank? 10g?

Thanks in advance

 

[Onefallleaf]

Pest free rock is relatively easy. Any rock I buy, I always treat before it goes into my tank. I take a few weeks to soak the live rock in R/O, then Vinegar, then saltwater. If it already comes dry I normally just do the vinegar and Saltwater. Make sure you have pumps and powerheads to have flow.

As for fish, there's no easy way to really tell. I normally just add in if the fish is eating and looks happy. I tried the QT route awhile back, but I'm unfortunately not patient enough to wait a month to put a fish into my system. If you want to QT I recommend having something big enough to store all your fish at once. ~20 gallons for you probably. Id take it down right after you are done. Your system really can't take much more fish than that and if you add other I assume theyll be small and the tank can just be put up again. Ich will almost always be an issue but Purples dont get it much in my experience. The Blue and Whitetails are normally the ones i see getting them all the time.

 

[danielll]

I love innovative marine. Is it an all in one setup?

Bulk reef supply has a really good video on rock that answers all of your questions (on rock that it)

 

[slosti]

I love innovative marine. Is it an all in one setup?

Bulk reef supply has a really good video on rock that answers all of your questions (on rock that it)

Thanks, yes it’s a all in one IM with the nice APS aluminum stand.

 

[urbanknight]

Welcome back to the hobby @slosti! Most of us have our own way of dealing with rock. Personally, I started mine from dry rock. Put it in a 75 gallon vat with salt water, a light and skimmer. Let it run for about a month while testing water. As for fish and QT. After years of not using QT and introducing a tang to my system that ended up giving all my fish ich, Nothing goes into my display without QT now. It can be a pain in the rear to chase fish down in a tank full of rock. If you are set against QT, when you pick your fish at the LFS, have someone feed the tank to see if it eats and is active. I use a 10 gallon tank for qt. When I know I plan to purchase fish, I'll fill the tank with water from my DT. Otherwise it's empty.

 

[danielll]

IM makes a filter caddy and a filter kit using sponges that when I had my peninsula seemed just hands down way nicer.