Help with Quaratine and Treatment

[lynxpilot]

Current aquarium is 120 gal. Inhabitants are cleanup crew, 1 derasa clam, 1 crocea clam, 2 ocellaris clown, 2 blue tang, 1 yellow tang, 1 flame angel, 1 spotted mandarin, 1 six-lined wrasse, 1 carpet anemone, 1 bubble-tip anemone, and 2 cleaner shrimp.

Blue tangs, of course, ended up with marine ich (so far as I can tell) and yes I am guilty of not quarantining the newbies.

I will pick up a spare tank for hospital tank tomorrow. It's a 55 gal. I'm planning on doing a 6-week hypo-salinity treatment for all but the mandarin and inverts. While the ich victims and potential victims are in treatement, I had planned on stocking up on the corals.

Questions:

1. Besides SG=1.009, what in the world do I need to do to set up the QT? I guess my question is that, if I'm starting a whole new system, does it need to cycle again? I could go bare-bottom, or whatever I needed to do, but if I am running SG so low, will the natural filtration and bacteria from a new cycle even survive?

2. Can I leave the mandarin in the display tank and exempt him from treatment?

3. Good time to start corals and featherdusters in the display tank?

4. Stock list given, would they be OK in a 55 gallon bare-bottom tank with a bit of PVC piping to hide in?

Thanks in advance.

 

[panza]

heres a good site for setting up a QT tank


An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Innovator]

Questions:

1. Besides SG=1.009, what in the world do I need to do to set up the QT? I guess my question is that, if I'm starting a whole new system, does it need to cycle again? I could go bare-bottom, or whatever I needed to do, but if I am running SG so low, will the natural filtration and bacteria from a new cycle even survive?

I would run two large sponge filters or an hob filter and two 50w heaters. How large are the tangs? I would add pvc and have at least one large enough for each tang to hide in along with small sizes for your other fish. The tank should be bare-bottom. If you can cycle the tank first, great, but if not 50% water changes must be performed daily. Technically, you should perform 50% water changes, at the very least, every other day.

2. Can I leave the mandarin in the display tank and exempt him from treatment?

If you go this route then quarantine is useless. Exempting a fish means the parasite has a host, which means your other fish will be reintroduced to the parasite.

3. Good time to start corals and featherdusters in the display tank?

If you want as long as you keep parameters in check.

4. Stock list given, would they be OK in a 55 gallon bare-bottom tank with a bit of PVC piping to hide in?
Thanks in advance.

Depends on how big the tangs are. I would add a mesh barrier and separate down the middle, separating the two hippo tangs, but that is your call since only you know how your fish behave with one another.

 

[lynxpilot]

The yellow tang and blue tangs are about 2.75 - 3". Actually, everybody is getting along really well (knock on wood). The reason I asked about the mandarin is that one of the 'expert' articles on quarantine and ich battles mentioned that they are scale-less and not susceptible to marine ich and it is also not necessary to quarantine them (as well as they will probably starve in a QT).

I could add dividers in the hospital tank and keep types separate if necessary. I guess I'm just a little worried about that sort of stocking in a tank that's half the size they're in right now.

I'm getting the tank off of craigslist.com. Spoke with the seller today and she's going to meet me right next to where I work. 55 gallon tank with nice pine stand, filter, and accessories for $150. Can't beat that.

 

[Innovator]

Make sure he hasn't used any medications in the tank such as copper. Does your mandarin eat prepared foods?

 

[lynxpilot]

No. He's brand new and has only just started nipping at the pods in the tank. As far as the new tank, I'm not concerned what they used before because I'll clean it out really good and it will only be a hospital tank.

Amazing what we'll do for these things isn't it.

 

[roka64]

Wait, take a step back, set up the QT with the same salinity as your tank. If you drop your fish into a QT with SG=1.009 they will be in a world of hurt.
As James states, you will nee to QT all of your fish. You may want to get a bottle of pods for the QT for your mandarin.