Acclimation/ in refugium

[stratmaster]

Ok so seeing as I have the Emp Angel coming tomorrow I need to know two things, acclimation and if I can keep him in the refugium for a week or so to get him eating good before I put him in with my aggressive Wrasse. The third section houses nothing but the return pump so if I put a piece of live rock or two in there, could I keep the Emp angel in there for a week or two just so it will get acclimated real well and eating first?

As for acclimation I just take a piece of real small tubing and let the water sort of drain into the Emps water right?

Steve

 

[jessicasmarine]

It would be best to put him in a QT for a week or two then you accomplish what you want and ensure your not introducing something else into your DT that could be adverse

 

[Joker741]

Problem is, if he has any illness it will infect the entire tank.

 

[jessicasmarine]

Saltwater Fish Superstore - Saltwaterfish.com

 

[CaptainAhab]

QT needs to be longer than 2 weeks to be effective. 3 weeks minimum. I prefer 4 or longer of observed disease free fishy

 

[melosu58]

I was just getting ready to say that the purpose of the QT is to observe the fish and that will be hard to do in the refuge. JMO

 

[stratmaster]

Sounds like a plan to me, I didn't even think of that. Ok so all I need really is some sort of HOB little filter, maybe a 20 gallon tank and I can just do a water change on my big tank and use that water for the QT? Of course monitor the nitrates and stuff.

This sounds good right?

 

[roka64]

The water won't have your beneficial bacteria. The point in the drip is to acclimate the fish to the change in parameters from the LFS to your QT.

 

[stratmaster]

The water won't have your beneficial bacteria. The point in the drip is to acclimate the fish to the change in parameters from the LFS to your QT.

Yes I realize that so your fish won't be shocked if you just throw him in the new tank, it could be a different temp from what saltwaterfish.com water was and of course the salinity could be different, too. I do realize what the drip acclimation is for. I will just switch the water over from my big tank to the QT and use it for the acclimation process.

I was just saying in regards to the QT I don't have one setup, so to prevent any kind of cycle I could use water from my big tank that's established already for the QT. I had just wondered if this would be ok?

Steve

 

[roka64]

The water does not have the biological filtration that your media/sand/rock does, so you would probably see a cycle. You can use that media in the HOB you speak of for the bio-filtration.
Using the water from your DT will be ok, but you want to make sure you still drip acclimate. You can tie the airline tube in a loose "knot" and adjust the drip by making the knot tighter or more loose. I like to do about 2-3 drips per second. I use a ball valve on the end of my tube....
Sorry if I didn't seem clear before.

 

[stratmaster]

The water does not have the biological filtration that your media/sand/rock does, so you would probably see a cycle. You can use that media in the HOB you speak of for the bio-filtration.
Using the water from your DT will be ok, but you want to make sure you still drip acclimate. You can tie the airline tube in a loose "knot" and adjust the drip by making the knot tighter or more loose. I like to do about 2-3 drips per second. I use a ball valve on the end of my tube....
Sorry if I didn't seem clear before.

Na it's kewl, don't worry about. I've just wanted an Emp Angel for years and years now so I think I am just so nervous about getting him/her acclimated because I've heard they're little buggers initially, but once you get them acclimated to aquarium life and eating well they're good to go.

Ok so, you said it's ok if I use my main aquarium water, yes? I have one of those marineland 6 gallon all in one systems like this here:
Marineland Eclipse System Six at PETCO

Would that be ok to use for the QT? The Emp will only be about 3 inches. Would it help to soak the bio-wheel in my main aquarium until tomorrow or would that not real be enough time to get some of the beneficial bactera on it? Also how often should I test the QT water?

 

[stratmaster]

Actually I just realized I have those left over bio-balls sitting in the refugium from when I recently ditched my wet/dry filter. Those have enough holstered bacteria on them probably to handle the QT because they've been in the wet/dry for three years. I can move over a few of those to the marineland 6 gallon system and I should be good to go. Thanks everyone for recommending I do a QT, I'm glad I posted on here because I was just going to go ahead and put the Emp right in my main tank. Also would it hurt to steal a piece of live rock or two for the emp to snack on in the QT? Or should I not even bother with that?

Steve

 

[roka64]

Since you are in a pinch, you can use the LR and or bioballs to seed your QT (props on the QT, by the way). Generally, LR is not such a great idea in a QT (if using meds/hyposalinity) because it can kill off the bacteria, but for your application, you should be good.
To answer your question about soaking the biowheel in your MD, 1 day probably won't be long enough to cultivate the bacteria.
Just watch your parameters and have some premixed water ready and everything should be good.

 

[stratmaster]

Thanks for all the help, yeah I got it up and running now so it'll have a day to get settled. I moved over some bio-balls, threw it some fake sand for the Emp to be comfortable and put just one piece of live rock for the Emp to feel at home.

However the Eclipse 6 gallon system should be fine just for the Emp for the QT right? I mean it'll only be in there for a couple weeks or so and it's only about 2 inches.
In fact I'll put a pic up of the QT in just a bit.
Steve

 

[stratmaster]

Hey do I need to quarentine the ricordea corals I have coming as well? Or is there no need for corals to be quarentined?

 

[mdaniel2882]

Hey do I need to quarentine the ricordea corals I have coming as well? Or is there no need for corals to be quarentined?

Generally you don't need to quarentine corals, polyps or mushrooms....or inverts

 

[stratmaster]

Is my Wrasse and Emp going to go after the ricordea? Was it a bad idea to get them?

Maybe I should just keep them in my refugium?

Steve