Upgrade build planning

[ptreef]

Many of you have seen my current tank, 240g shallow reef, but the time has come to plan my upgrade to 360g display (8x2x3’). I’ve been putting off thinking about the move because the current tank is full of corals and large tangs.

One of the biggest problems I’m currently worried about is moving the fish. A couple are showing signs of ich or similar parasite. All are eating very well but I don’t want the move to kill any of them including the Achilles tang and 8” hippo and 8” blonde naso. I’ve thought about doing a large QT with copper but there’s a lot of large fish to QT, which would likely require a very large system just for that

Ideas?

 

[Adam]

Two questions.

What are you going to do with the 240 immediately after the tank swap? You could leave it partially setup in a different spot to house all the fish till the 360 is ready to go?

Where are you getting the 360 from? I'm going to moving to your neck of the woods in the next 6 to 8 months and plan on doing the same size display.
Actually I'm thinking 96L x 30 or 36W x 30T

 

[civics14]

What about the rocks? Issue I’m seeing is even if you put the fish in QT/treatment, unless you leave the new tank fallow, you’re going to run into the same issue.

 

[ptreef]

The transfer will be a slow process, but I did think about having the parasite still in the system even with fish QT. All fish are still eating like pigs and acting normally so I may just transfer as safely as possible.

I ordered the tank from a local company, Aclearium. I wanted to go wider but I don’t want the tank to come out into the living room as much. I will likely be selling the 240g frag tank once it’s empty.

I will keep my UV sterilized on low flow, but with the upgrade it will be a little undersized. I think it is rated for about 300g.

 

[FutureInterest]

If time isn't an issue, get the new tank setup and cycled and then move your corals/rock over. Then hypo or copper the fish in the 240 frag tank. Copper doesn't get absorbed into acrylic so it should be fine with a thorough washing.

 

[starkreefingmad]

If time isn't an issue, get the new tank setup and cycled and then move your corals/rock over. Then hypo or copper the fish in the 240 frag tank. Copper doesn't get absorbed into acrylic so it should be fine with a thorough washing.

I agree, this seems like the best thing to do. It is a great opportunity to treat the fish without having to catch them in a DT. Plus, it gives you an opportunity to completely de-ich your new system. If you leave it fishless for a few months while you treat the fish in the other tank you can put them into the new system and never have ich again. I used to quarantine all new fish for 4 months in hypo at osmotic shock levels (SG 1.007 - SG 1.008) for 3 months, then treat with CP and Prazi Pro after returning to normal salinity levels. I maintained a totally parasite free system for several years this way. This won't work for all species due to feeding requirements or sensitivities to hyposaline conditions, but to me it was worth limiting my available selection of species to never worry about ich again.

 

[ptreef]

Would the new display not have to be fallow for up to 6 months that way?

 

[FutureInterest]

The lifecycle is 28 from what I'm reading. Prolly best to leave it fallow for a lil over a month at least.

 

[Adam]

The Tomont or Tomites, I forget which can take up to 70ish days to hatch.

I don't know if it's ever possible to be completely ich free. With the trading and selling of corals it always has the possibility to be reintroduced.
The only way would be to fallow the tank for 72 days, treat the fish in a separate tank(s) and QT all new fish thoroughly. In addition to that all corals, and anything coming from another source, would need to have their plugs removed then sit in a fully separate fishless QT for 72 days. If you're going to go that route you would have a slightly higher than average chance.

I've also read that if there are no new additions to a system for like 11 months or so the parasite will die off naturally due to lack of genetic diversity. I did a quick search and found this thread.
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/threads/67586-Marine-Ich-and-the-11-month-quot-worn-out-quot-theory
After reading a bit of it one user even states that frozen food may be a potential source of introducing ich and as such give it the genetic diversity to continue on beyond 11 months.
Why do you think public aquariums don't except fish from hobbyists? Hell, you just saw how hard it was for Rit to find a home for his eel. It must be something they want enough to put it through the QT process at the GA Aquarium. This would be a good question to ask them!

I personally feel that there are much worse things to worry about, like Velvet, than to stress over ich. It would be like hitting the lottery to be able to fully eradicate it in our systems without stopping adding coral or anything else. Just do your best to keep the fish healthy and mitigate the risks from an all out explosion of the parasite.

 

[FutureInterest]

I agree with Adam on ich. I've lost maybe 2 fish to ich over 14 years. Once in my 130d QT and once in my old 80 gallon. The fish are typically strong enough to fight it off if they are fed well.

I think that 11 month theory is very interesting. You definitely do see a spike in ich when adding any new fish... so perhaps there's some credence to that.