My FOWLR Tank

[Andy Sager]

If I may, I see one potential issue with your setup. Dwarf Angels do like to establish territories and hide and while the way your lay out of the rocks looks nice, it's a bit too open and appears to lack many individual territories or hiding spots ( especially for the multfasciata). I would add more smaller pieces underneath to break up the line of sight while still allowing for water movement. The 75 is a rather small tank for an adult Imperator which means that your fish will not be very happy as it grows and might very well start bullying the smaller Angels and other fish it's own size. It could easily take over the entire rock formation for itself. ( I have raised multiple Juvy Imps to adulthood in a 75 before needing to rehome them so I am speaking from experience. )
I'm with you in liking Angels and Butterflies. My 2 favorite fish groups. There are a few Butterflies that will do well in an Aquarium but there are not a lot of them tho. And your clown tang also get's rather large. I was in the import business and got some from the Marshall Islands that were over 12" long. GORGEOUS fish so enjoy them as they grow.
Lastly, if you hear grunting, it's the Imperator. They can get LOUD!!!!!!!! LOL

Hope this helps

 

[LaloJ]

If I may, I see one potential issue with your setup. Dwarf Angels do like to establish territories and hide and while the way your lay out of the rocks looks nice, it's a bit too open and appears to lack many individual territories or hiding spots ( especially for the multfasciata). I would add more smaller pieces underneath to break up the line of sight while still allowing for water movement. The 75 is a rather small tank for an adult Imperator which means that your fish will not be very happy as it grows and might very well start bullying the smaller Angels and other fish it's own size. It could easily take over the entire rock formation for itself. ( I have raised multiple Juvy Imps to adulthood in a 75 before needing to rehome them so I am speaking from experience. )
I'm with you in liking Angels and Butterflies. My 2 favorite fish groups. There are a few Butterflies that will do well in an Aquarium but there are not a lot of them tho. And your clown tang also get's rather large. I was in the import business and got some from the Marshall Islands that were over 12" long. GORGEOUS fish so enjoy them as they grow.
Lastly, if you hear grunting, it's the Imperator. They can get LOUD!!!!!!!! LOL

Hope this helps

Hello Andy, thank you very much for your contributions. What do you think about removing some rocks so that the emperor has more space? and especially when I'm going to add more fish, as I mentioned before my interest is angels and butterflies, and I see that we agree that they are spectacular fish. I have seen some Fish Only tanks from Japan, with various angels and butterflies but little rock.
I think you are a bit confused, the photo I placed with the multibarred angel and my clown tang is from a couple of years ago, currently I only have the emperor angel. I didn't know they were making noises, thanks, although this guy just stands in the corner of the tank to order food lol.

 

[Andy Sager]

Hello Andy, thank you very much for your contributions. What do you think about removing some rocks so that the emperor has more space? and especially when I'm going to add more fish, as I mentioned before my interest is angels and butterflies, and I see that we agree that they are spectacular fish. I have seen some Fish Only tanks from Japan, with various angels and butterflies but little rock.
I think you are a bit confused, the photo I placed with the multibarred angel and my clown tang is from a couple of years ago, currently I only have the emperor angel. I didn't know they were making noises, thanks, although this guy just stands in the corner of the tank to order food lol.

Woops. I just looked at the pics and didn't realize they were old. But the statement still stands and might have been part of the reason you had the past failure. Mixing Angels is tough. The " rule" used to be to add different families vs same ones ( i.e. Holocanthus, Pomacanthus, centrpyge, genocanthus, etc vs all of one type) but now, tank size plays a more important role ( while still, not all Angels mix).
Here's the problem I see: Imps can get VERY territorial so removing the rock is going to shrink the number of territories making adding new fish more a problem once he gets established. To be honest, depending on what fish you plan to get in the future, you should add them in a certain order and the odds are, since you plan on doing Butterflies, the Imp should have been the last fish added, not the first. I suggest you keep this in mind as you add your other fish. ( I can help with the order if you give me a list of your potential fish.)
C mesoluscus are a tough fish. Their hardiness really depended on where they were collected ( if you got a wild one). I'd be more upset if your new dead one was a tank raised one.

As for the tanks you've seen, be careful with how you try to replicate them. You don't know how long the fish actually lived that way. Yes, there are some species that are open water species but most of the ones in the hobby are reef types so they will do better, as I explained earlier, with hiding spots and territories.

As for the grunts, yeah, those Imps are a pistol. I was at a customer's house who had raised an Imp ( in a 300 Gal tank) and was about 12"-14" when I was there. We were sitting in another room when feeding time came around and we heard this deep grunting in the room. I had heard grunts before but this was deep and LOUD!!!!! My customer said, " Oh, that's the Imp. He gets really POed when feeding time is late. " LOL So have that to look forward to.

 

[LaloJ]

Well, I lost my fish for other reasons, the multibarred was collected in Indonesia, and it's known that the specimens that are collected there have less chance of adapting to captivity than the fish that are collected in the Marshall Islands. So mine after several weeks refusing to taste food simply passed away, and I have not tried another since then although I would like to do it but in a dedicated tank.
I thought the same as you when I was presented with the opportunity to buy the emperor, having him as the first fish in the tank is not a good idea knowing its temperament, but the price was very good and the fish was healthy so I took it, although I know that I need a plan B if things don't go well and his personality becomes very aggressive.
Of course, mixing angels is quite difficult and stressful, but they are the best fish, and I also see that you are knowledgeable about angelfishes, do you know the work of John Coppolino? That guy is my idol, he keeps over 50 angels in his 1300 gallon tank.
Quite funny story about the sounds of the angel emperor, this is the first one that I have, I had never kept it even though they are quite popular fish in the hobby, but it's funny to see him order food, I just hope he is a calm guy with the other tankmates, I'm still not sure what other angels I'm going to add, but as for butterflies I'm thinking in Chaetodon auriga, gutattisimus and punctatofasciatus, but the availability of these fish makes me doubt if I can get them.

 

[Andy Sager]

I've been keeping marine fish since the 1970s and was in the fish business for over 45 years so I have some experience. No, I have not heard of John Coppolino but I can tell you that the 1300 gallon tank has a lot to do with his success with that many Angels.
Unless things have changed, Indo fish used to be the better choice than say the Philippines because of catching methods. Fish from the Marshalls used to come through Hawaii so they spent less time in a bag in between stops. That does have an effect on the fish. Multifasciata are a tough fish. Feeding issues can come from internal pathogens as well as psychological reasons. I happen to love the Tibecin nox ( Midnight Angel) but they are so secretive that in order to keep them well and healthy, you will barely see them.
As for your Butterfly selection, the Auriga will be the hardiest ( if you get net collected ones) and should be the last butterfly you add. The Chaetodon guttatissimus and Punctatofasciatus are going to be a tough because their diet is mostly corals. If you like the spots, I can suggest C. millaris ( Lemon Butterfly) which feeds on non coral foods as well as, if you want to spend the money, C. declivis. ( My association with C declivis dates back to it's first introduction to the U.S. I imported one of the first 2 that came to the states. ) I've also had good success with Yellow Longnose Butterflies and net caught Copperbands ( Chelmon rostratus ) if you are willing to feed worms, as well as Raccoons ( C lanula), Pearlscales ( C xanthurus) and Heniochus acuminatus. In my Butterfly tanks, I fed clams on the half shell along with other foods. I'd get live clams cheap from the seafood market, slice in half and freeze them. Thaw out a half and it would be gone in less than 15-20 minutes.
Hope this helps.

 

[LaloJ]

I can get fresh clams and mussels, luckily I have some fishmongers near here, a couple of years ago I had a vermiculated angel in QT, the guy was doing fine after 5 weeks but he was only eating clams and starting to try mysis. Unfortunately I got sick and neglected the process, and I can't do it, but he was the only one that I have been able to see in person eating something in captivity. Also at that moment I lost a baronessa butterfly that was already beginning to eat NLS pellets, it was a shame.
I have read about the behavior of the auriga butterfly, and there are good and bad comments about its behavior. Declivis, Burgess and Mitratus are very difficult to find, I'm in Mexico and here it's not so easy to get unusual marine fish, and I also have bad experiences due to their aggressiveness, even they are beautiful. Well, you have a long way to go in this hobby, that's great .

 

[Andy Sager]

I can get fresh clams and mussels, luckily I have some fishmongers near here, a couple of years ago I had a vermiculated angel in QT, the guy was doing fine after 5 weeks but he was only eating clams and starting to try mysis. Unfortunately I got sick and neglected the process, and I can't do it, but he was the only one that I have been able to see in person eating something in captivity. Also at that moment I lost a baronessa butterfly that was already beginning to eat NLS pellets, it was a shame.
I have read about the behavior of the auriga butterfly, and there are good and bad comments about its behavior. Declivis, Burgess and Mitratus are very difficult to find, I'm in Mexico and here it's not so easy to get unusual marine fish, and I also have bad experiences due to their aggressiveness, even they are beautiful. Well, you have a long way to go in this hobby, that's great .

With many Butterflies that are not solely coral eaters, their diet includes "benthic invertebrates" so any invert that dwells on the bottom is fair game. Worms, clams, scallops, shrimps, crabs, etc all are fair game and definitely help keep Butterflies going, even algaes. What I have noticed is that species that feed on coral polyps NEED to have them incorporated in their diet so feeding them a pellet might look encouraging but not really a healthy diet for long term care. We used to get Atlantic 4 eye butterflies to eat clam meat out of the skeleton of a rose coral (since live rose coral was illegal to harvest) but it didn't keep them alive. It all has to do with the digestive abilities of the species. Just because they eat it does not mean it's feeding them.

 

[LaloJ]

Oh yeah, that's unfortunate and sad at the same time. Frankly, I'm not sure if anyone is currently studying the possibility of placing specialized foods for coral butterflies on the market. Although you and I know that food needs in many cases cannot be satisfied in the long term (unless they are offered an expensive coral) these fish are still bought by beginners, and the fate of these specialized fish is sealed. There is a video about the experiences with these fish told by an expert, I will put the link here as soon as I can.

 

[Andy Sager]

Yeah, many of the Coral only Butterflies don't reach the market anymore. There are some real lookers, i.e Clown, Reticulated, Ornate, Bennetti, that come to mind but it's really irresponsible of the sellers who sell them. Once that stops and demand goes down, their collection will stop as well.

 

[LaloJ]

Hi Andy, this is the link I mentioned, I have it saved here on my laptop but I have not had time to see it, also it will take me a little more time since Matt is speaking in English, although it will be much easier for you LOL.

 

[Andy Sager]

It's an interesting talk but I have this to say: Nutrition is an important factor to health. The speaker said that he lost many of his eating fish to disease so I'm thinking if these foods were nutritionally beneficial, his fish would not have gotten sick.
You will also notice that he talks about feeding clams on the half shell as well as forcing foods into coral skeletons to get 4-eyed butterflies to eat coming from books from the 1960s ( which I was doing in the 1970s when I was more involved with marine fish keeping. )
All in all, he did not give me any real reasonable expectation of success trying any of these wild caught varieties again. That said, if you were to get tank bred specimens, you might have better success because the dietary needs of the fish growing may be able to be met using different foods, other than corals, as in the developmental stages of growth, the body tends to adapt to what it's being fed in order to grow and survive. In wild caught fish, we are getting the ones that already have an established feeding routine.
But this brings to mind Panda Bears and how they exist only on Bamboo. This article helps explains this: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/07/how-pandas-survive-their-bamboo-only-diet
If you extrapolate the Panda info into the coralivores, why do some choose specific coral species only? Possibly it's the specific zooxanthellae algae that the fish are eating to survive since it produces things like carbon dioxide, phosphorus, sulfur, and nitrogen. And FYI, Sulfur used to be a great antibiotic and possibly why wild fish don't get those bacterial diseases the speaker was having issues with? Think about why when there is coral bleaching, the coralivores leave or die off. The coral flesh is still there until the coral is actually dead. Hmmm. And why, when the fish settle out of their larval stage and they have all the foods available to them in the ocean, they choose coral to eat?
In the end tho, the real success vs failure discussion has to come down to how long a coralivore survives in a tank with no coral vs the same species in the wild. If the lifespan is dramatically different, harvesting and keeping any of them should not be encouraged don't you think?
Thanks for the link.

 

[LaloJ]

Hello Andy, sorry for the late answer, I thank you for summarizing the talk in a certain way, I have not had time to watch the video, but what you comment is highly interesting. In my point of view and based on the opinions of aquarists dedicated to maintaining tanks with butterflies, I believe that there is not even sufficient research or study of the nutritional needs of coral butterflies, we know that coral polyps are their main diet but not we know what benefits they get from them and how they nurture them. You have a very important point in terms of breeding them in captivity and accustoming them from the beginning to eating other things, but I doubt very much that this will be achieved soon, to start breeding in captivity and second and more complicated "change" their diet, in my opinion, evolution comes into play here a lot, I believe that the biological needs of an animal cannot be changed overnight, as you said it is possible that the fish is feeding but is not feeding, and of the same the lack of information on their diet also comes into play, it's a very interesting topic, but unfortunately as long as there are people who buy them then they will continue to be collected, mostly by novice aquarists. Great talk Andy .

 

[Andy Sager]

I'm always interested in the advancements in Marine fish breeding as I was there when they weren't being bred at all. I'm amazed at some of the species that have been successfully bred to date. I'm sure at some point, the corallation ( pun intended. ) of why certain butterflies only eat certain coral polyps will be figured out. Until then, hopefully these coralavores will be left to live in the ocean more than collected. Even with the numbers imported being small, the availability for the novice to buy them just puts a bad taste in my mouth. ( But that's me. )

Feel free to ask me about any of the other fish as well. Good luck with your tank.

 

[LaloJ]

Well, unfortunately I lost my angel emperor a few days ago, I still don't understand how it happened, it is ridiculous to have lost a fish that ate from my hand and fed quite well, excellent to be exact, I made a time line and I hope to get some opinion about what could happen, here you go:

February 17- The fish arrives with my trusted dealer.
March 11- The dealer ships the fish.
March 12- The fish reaches my tank, from here it feeds 5 or 6 times a day and begins to gain weight.
March 23- Signs of cryptocarion, 3 or 4 white dots on his fins, I decide to turn off the tank lights and feed him more often.
March 25- With dots disappear.
March 28- The fish begins to eat from my hand, attacks the food hungrily, I turn on the tank lights again.
March 30- Cryptocarion appears again, 6 or 7 white dots now.
March 31- The fish is quite covered in white spots, it still eats like a champ.
April 1- Transfer of fish to hospital tank, first dose of Paraguard.
April 4- 25% water change. Cryptocarion is largely controlled, and the fish loses minimal weight.
April 6- The fish begins to breathe heavily, and begins to lose appetite (it already eats less), it only has 2 or 3 whiteheads.
April 7- I suspect an ammonia spike, I do a 30% water change.
April 8- The angel emperor looks clean in the morning and until late in the afternoon, continues to breathe heavily, but eats well, attacks food very well around 5 pm. 4 hours later the fish is pale and with white spots on its scales, and it completely loses its appetite.
April 9- The fish still does not taste food, I do a 30% water change but Cryptocarion comes back strong.
April 10- Last dose of paraguard, the fish looks bad, with white dots and pale spots on its scales, it defecates a couple of completely white feces.
April 11- 50% water change, tail and fins begin to shed, few white dots, sunken stomach. I add activated carbon to remove the paraguard.
April 12- First dose of Nitrofurazone, no signs of Cryptocarion, his breathing has been rough since April 6, he has not eaten since April 8 and the fins are shedding quickly.
April 13- The fish dies.

I will go ahead giving details of my hospital tank, 20 gallon tank, HOB filter with perlon and ceramic rings that I grow in my sump, I put 50% water from my main tank and 50% new water when starting the treatment, I would like to know what happened to this fish and why it deteriorated so quickly.

 

[LaloJ]

Observe the decomposition of the fins, it was practically from one day to the next, very aggressive.

 

[Andy Sager]

First mistake I see is when setting up a hospital tank, everything should be new. New water, new filter/airstone, etc. Nothing from a diseased tank should go into a hospital tank except the fish or invert. Most medications have a water change schedule that will usually prevent any ammonia buildup or nitrite build up in a hospital tank.
Marine parasites in that family are fast growing and can take out a fish in a few days and sometimes just hours. The big problem is that they start out in the gills which is why the fish breathes heavily at first. The white feces is not too alarming since that is typical for a fish that has not eaten for some time. ( It's important to note that if you see white feces in a fish that IS eating, that's usually a sign of intestinal worms. )
There is the possibility that the med you got was not effective because the reemerging of the parasites at different times of the day says that the parasites are leaving the fish, producing new Tomites, which starts the whole infection stage again with new parasites. ( This may help: https://www.marinedepot.com/blog/marine-ich-life-cycle-diagram-cryptocaryon-irritans-treatment )
In the future, a freshwater dip for 5-15 minutes should kill off any parasite that is external anywhere on the fish. ( This should be done before adding new fish to your aquarium.) The issue becomes with internal parasites. Should the white spots reemerge after the dip, re dip the fish and change whatever med you are using as it's not working. Make sure your meds are as fresh as possible.

 

[LaloJ]

First mistake I see is when setting up a hospital tank, everything should be new. New water, new filter/airstone, etc. Nothing from a diseased tank should go into a hospital tank except the fish or invert. Most medications have a water change schedule that will usually prevent any ammonia buildup or nitrite build up in a hospital tank.
Marine parasites in that family are fast growing and can take out a fish in a few days and sometimes just hours. The big problem is that they start out in the gills which is why the fish breathes heavily at first. The white feces is not too alarming since that is typical for a fish that has not eaten for some time. ( It's important to note that if you see white feces in a fish that IS eating, that's usually a sign of intestinal worms. )
There is the possibility that the med you got was not effective because the reemerging of the parasites at different times of the day says that the parasites are leaving the fish, producing new Tomites, which starts the whole infection stage again with new parasites. ( This may help: https://www.marinedepot.com/blog/marine-ich-life-cycle-diagram-cryptocaryon-irritans-treatment )
In the future, a freshwater dip for 5-15 minutes should kill off any parasite that is external anywhere on the fish. ( This should be done before adding new fish to your aquarium.) The issue becomes with internal parasites. Should the white spots reemerge after the dip, re dip the fish and change whatever med you are using as it's not working. Make sure your meds are as fresh as possible.

Hi Andy, thanks for your opinion, to be honest I feel quite overwhelmed now, it's as if everything I have read and learned is useless because apparently there are several ways / methods to install a quarantine tank and a tank of hospital. I know that many quarantine their fish (I'm talking about angels and butterflies) with naked aquariums, only pvc tubes, and a HOB filter with biological material from the main aquarium, they place two or three rounds of Cupramine and another two or three of Prazipro in a period of two or three months without problems. What do you think about this?
Others put their fish in a tank of coral frags where they are free from competition for food and can adapt without problems to the conditions of the main aquarium, they make the fish fat and after a couple of months they go to the main tank with other fishes, for many that is quarantining, again what do you think about this?
You mentioned that my first mistake was placing ceramic rings and water from my main tank to my hospital tank, but don't you think that if I had put the fish in brand new water it would have been deadly for a fish that was already stressed? I know of no other way to set up a hospital tank, only half the water in your tank and the other half fresh water, like a water change that the sick fish will appreciate.
Was I wrong fitting ceramic rings to my hospital tank if they are in the sump? I only have them there in case I have to use them in a quarantine or in a hospital aquarium so as not to have problems with ammonia. Or the hospital tank should not carry biological material?
I use Paraguard because I have read that they recommend it widely to treat Cryptocarion and Oodinum, for its effectiveness of course, I'm going to attach a photo of the drug label, it is all the product information, it does not mention expiration or suggestions for water changes by ammonia. Sorry if I ask a lot of questions, but since I mentioned it at the beginning, I feel overwhelmed and even disappointed.

 

[Andy Sager]

It's frustrating, I know

I get your frustration. There is a lot of info out there but not all always applies.
I have not used Paraguard but my sources say that it takes 10-14 days for this med to actually be effective. That's too long for an active infestation IMO. As I previously said, Cryptocaryon can kill a fish in a few days when new or hours if advanced. This comes from the Seachem page on Paraguard: ParaGuard™ can also be used as a medicated dip. For 1 hour dips, use 3 mL per 4 L (1 US gallon) in a container separate from your main tank. Dips may be extended if the fish show no evidence of stress. Keep in mind that many diseases linger in the water as well as on the fish. Giving a fish a dip treatment does no good if they go right back into infected water. This is why you don't use "main tank water" in a hospital tank. I would have done a dip in this ( or freshwater) before putting the fish into the sterile hospital tank.

My training was always that a quarantine tank was different from a hospital tank. Quarantining is isolating a fish/invert to observe whether medicating is required and/or a place for a new item to get accustomed to their new home and your schedules. The setup should be an established tank as the fish should be in there for a number of weeks. A hospital tank is for medicating and it needs to start out sterile ( just like a human hospital) to better ensure a positive outcome. IME, it takes roughly 5-7 days for brand new water to show signs of ammonia. You should have test kits so you can monitor what your water is doing and react accordingly. Feeding should be limited in a hospital tank to prevent excess waste and buildup of ammonia. If you use the fish as a guide, it is too late once the fish is showing signs of distress.

There was a whole discussion a while back on QT and Hospital tanks and that they could be one tank. My opinion is that that is wrong for most diseases but it is situational. It all depends on what you are treating and what you are treating with. Some meds will kill off the biological filter so you don't want to treat your main tank with a med like that. There is a difference between a prophylactic and a treatment. Paraguard seems to be more a prophylactic but I repeat, I have not used it to know for sure. I usually used the "big guns" to treat sick fish because I wanted them clean quickly.

As for an expiration date on meds, there is usually a date or code stamped somewhere on the bottle or box, separate from the instructions. If it's a code, you should be able to contact the manufacturer to see if that med is still viable.

As for water changes due to ammonia, this is a page from the Seachem site that addresses this: https://seachem.zendesk.com/hc/en-u...r-changes-when-using-the-Seachem-medications-

Okay, now that we have all that out of the way, what needs to be addressed is the WHY the fish got sick in the first place. Did it come to you carrying parasites? Was there a sudden change in your aquarium? What stress was the fish under that weakened it enough to be overwhelmed by the parasite? Something occurred in that 11 day period between the fish arriving to you and eating well and the first signs of parasites. The fact that the fish was acting healthy ( eating and such) leads me to believe the issue was on your end vs it coming in with the problem. ( Although the Singapore Angel may have had something to do with it? )

So for now, I'd leave the tank bare of fish so that there are no hosts for any remaining parasites in your main tank ( which will die off in roughly 4-6 weeks with no hosts) unless you want to install a UV sterilizer to kill off any parasites that are swimming in the tank OR you decide to give the whole tank a freshwater bath to kill off what's in there OR you strip it down and restart. ( Any of these will work. ) And now that we have discussed placing fish in the system in a particular order, you have the ability to do that now.
It's a lot of information, I know. I'd suggest taking some time to find some good books about diagnosing and treating marine fish diseases or search through some of the more reliable internet sites for diseases. Truth be told, fish keeping is more about the habitat and health then the fish themselves. Hope this helps

 

[LaloJ]

Well, unfortunately Paraguard was not what I expected, I was almost sure that it was going to be completely successful and as I saw that the points in the emperor angel began to go away quickly and that the fish was also big I was sure that I could pull it off. It was not like that, I have asked other aquarists for opinions and they believe that the problem was fungal from the beginning and that it was lodged in the gills, the bad thing is that this had to have been eradicated by Paraguard because it also covers that, but as I said , it was not so.
It's likely that there was something in my tank, some high level that I did not perceive and I trust my fish feeding and placing itself in the corner of the tank every so often to ask for food, the Singapore angel was a fish eating flakes in the distributor's tank, but when it got to my tank it hid in the rocks and only came out to die, at first I thought that this was because that is the behavior of a newly arrived fish, but it was completely clean, without signs of any disease, just like the emperor angel. Nothing changes in my tank, I usually do a water change before receiving new fish and that is what I did.
I agree that the bath is useless for a fish in medicine or in fresh water if it is going to return to the same place where the disease is, that is why I have never done it, plus I consider it quite stressful for the poor fish .
I have an ammonia test but I did not use it in the hospital tank because I think that the color of the water from the medicine would interfere with the final reading of the test, but it still did not fail with the water changes and fed what was necessary, If the fish left food in the tank, it was removed with a net.

 

[LaloJ]

I just read your article Andy, some things are clearer for me now. There is an aquarist here in Mexico who has a quarantine system in place and always working, and if a fish has problems then he goes to the hospital tank and leaves his quarantine tank without fish for several weeks (My main tank will be without fish at least 90 days) so I was talking to him too, and most likely he keeps a quarantine tank running always, the size I'm thinking of is 30 gallons, but I'm going to take it easy. So this idea of ​​quarantine would work for me more like a "separate main tank" or something like that, I have the idea of ​​installing it with a bare bottom (to prevent any parasite from having the opportunity to lodge in the sand or aragonite, and also to have easier to clean fish waste on the bottom), put rock, a HOB filter and a small wave generator. What's your opinion about it?
By the way, I kept some rocks and water from my water changes in a separate bucket before my new fish arrived, so there is no chance they have parasite cysts, I will test the water chemistry and probably start my QT tank with that, thanks again Andy.