Marine velvet & quarantine tanks

#1
Hi everyone,
First off I never had to quarantine before-due to luck I guess. I was finally ready and prepared for a mandarin goby in my 125 gal. He didn't eat much when I had introduced him and after 4 days he kicked the bucket. I pulled him out as soon as I saw him. I believe he introduced velvet into my tank, because within 2-3 days my 6 other fish died. I currently have no fish. I heard it doesnt attack inverts or corals, and you can tell that my trigger had died since all the snails and hermit were out during the day. I read up and learned my tank needs to be fishless for 72 days. I definitely plan on that.
Now I'm planning on having a quarantine tank and need some info on how to set that up? Is it something you have running at all times or only when planning on a new arrival? Do you use tank water from the display?
Also I'm planning on what I want in the future-a lot of what I had in my tank were my starter fish and a bunch came from an online order as a birthday gift and he chose the fish. I want a reef tank and currently have mushrooms, candy cane coral, some zoas, and hollywood stunner. I would like reef safe fish and community fish, so my snails arent afraid and so I can have shrimp. (Trigger loved the taste and he learned it from my valentini puffer way back when) just wondering what suggestions anyone has for fish? I love tangs, though I would only get 1, and I love clowns. I like fish who have little quirks too so if there is a type that does lemme know.
Thanks guys
 

SkyShark

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
Sorry to hear about the fishes you lost. As far a quirky fish, I love watching the interaction between my yasha goby and pistol shrimp.
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
This is basically all you need to be very prepared with a quarantine setup.

- 10-20 gallon tank
- Cheapo HOB filter (the ones with a sponge are best)
- Pvc fittings (like elbows and couplers) for hiding spots
- Medicine on hand in case something shows up (formulin and cupramine are a must)
- small Clip on lamp
- air pump and sponge filter
- activated carbon and cuprisorb to remove medicine after treatment.

After your 72 days have finished, add the sponge filter into your sump so it is pre seeded with bacteria whenever you need get a new fish or need to quarantine something. Everything can be left in a closet until needed.
 
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szavoda

Butterfly Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
Another variation on QT:

Start with tank transfer method (TTM). You need two duplicate setups - I use 20g long tanks next to each other. For each tank:

- HOB Filter
- Air Stone (great back up in case the HOB dies or you forget to plug it back in after feeding - duh)
- Heaters
- Filter floss - I seed filter floss from the DT to help with ammonia.
- Thermometer
- PVC for hiding spots
- Cover :)

TTM works like this - the various stages of Ich mean that at sometime, the parasite is on the bottom of the tank waiting to "hatch", at which point they go back up to your fish and attach to them. The length of time that the Ich is on the bottom of the tank is no less than 3 days (72 hrs). So, to combat Ich, we simply transfer the fish from a (potentially) contaminated tank to the fresh tank after 71 hours. Then, the "hatchlings" have no where to go after they hatch (I know it is not really hatching). Repeat this 4 times to catch any Ich that was in a different stage. The schedule looks like this (for me):

Day 1 - put into first tank
Day 4 (9:30 pm) - Transfer
Day 7 (8:30 pm) - transfer
Day 10 (7:30 pm) - transfer
Day 13 (6:30 pm) - transfer

Between transfers, the dirty tanks and everything else get cleaned and dried very well. Let dry for 24 hrs. Then refill. Never let anything from the dirty tank touch the new tank - nets, hands, heaters, thermometer, filter material, etc.

After the last transfer, I leave in QT and medicate with a mixture of PraziPro and Chloroquine Phosphate for a period of 2 weeks, observing for any illness. If I have not seen anything suspicious after the 4 weeks of total QT, I move to the DT. Many people may prefer to leave in QT much longer, but I feel that if something has not manifested physically by now, it is ok.
 

Walter White

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
szavoda;359613 said:
Another variation on QT:

Start with tank transfer method (TTM). You need two duplicate setups - I use 20g long tanks next to each other. For each tank:

- HOB Filter
- Air Stone (great back up in case the HOB dies or you forget to plug it back in after feeding - duh)
- Heaters
- Filter floss - I seed filter floss from the DT to help with ammonia.
- Thermometer
- PVC for hiding spots
- Cover :)

TTM works like this - the various stages of Ich mean that at sometime, the parasite is on the bottom of the tank waiting to "hatch", at which point they go back up to your fish and attach to them. The length of time that the Ich is on the bottom of the tank is no less than 3 days (72 hrs). So, to combat Ich, we simply transfer the fish from a (potentially) contaminated tank to the fresh tank after 71 hours. Then, the "hatchlings" have no where to go after they hatch (I know it is not really hatching). Repeat this 4 times to catch any Ich that was in a different stage. The schedule looks like this (for me):

Day 1 - put into first tank
Day 4 (9:30 pm) - Transfer
Day 7 (8:30 pm) - transfer
Day 10 (7:30 pm) - transfer
Day 13 (6:30 pm) - transfer

Between transfers, the dirty tanks and everything else get cleaned and dried very well. Let dry for 24 hrs. Then refill. Never let anything from the dirty tank touch the new tank - nets, hands, heaters, thermometer, filter material, etc.

After the last transfer, I leave in QT and medicate with a mixture of PraziPro and Chloroquine Phosphate for a period of 2 weeks, observing for any illness. If I have not seen anything suspicious after the 4 weeks of total QT, I move to the DT. Many people may prefer to leave in QT much longer, but I feel that if something has not manifested physically by now, it is ok.
This is some good stuff right here^^^^^^^^

im pretty new to the whole qt thing myself. I've been getting some coaching by some of the best long time hobbyists around and This is very close to the method I have been following as well. Only difference is I dip the fish in paraguard for 1-2 hours when I first get the fish while it's acclimating to the qt. This is supposed to help weaken and knock off a good portion of parasites that mite exist.

chloroquine phosphate can be difficult to find. You used to be able to get it from the vet but now most will not give it out anymore. You can often find it online on sites like eBay but be warned its often cut with other crap you probaby don't want anywhere near you tank. Prazi pro is readily available and should be used in the latter weeks for fluke worms. I was recently taught to use prazi in the later stages of qt like the week or two just before placing in the display because many fish will stop eating while being treated with prazi.

i prefer very simple mechanical filters made from PVC, Tupperware, sponge and an air stone over hang on filters especially for TTM for the simple reason of it being much easier to clean and dry thouroughly in between filters. Also it's hard to get a tight cover over the tank with a hob filter.

for fish that will be in the qt for a week or more for observation I use bio spira in the water to control ammonia and nitrate levels. This stuff works! It's basically bacteria in a bottle used for instantly prepping a new tank. While I would not necessarily suggest this as a means of starting your bacteria cycle for all display tanks it works fantastic for shorter duration quarantine.

i have recently bumped my standard qt proceedure to the following:

-first 1-2 hours acclimate with paragaurd dip to an already prepped qt which is at 78 degrees and salinity of 1.021

-two weeks of tank transfer method moving the fish every 48-71 hours. (It's ok to go as much as 24 hours under 72 hour but never exceed 72 hours between moves. If you do you need to start the TTM cycle over). I feed ligly each day of TTM making sure the fish is eating well and observing for other diseases. Right before each move I feed heavily and try to get the fish to eat as much as possible.

-after at least 4-5 transfers has completed I then leave the fish in qt for 2-3 weeks using bio spira, mechanical filtration, and weekly water partial water changes for observation and to work on getting the fish eating realy well.

-after 2-3 weeks of clear observation I medicate with prazi pro for at least 1 week and continue to observe and add small food offerings each day.

at any point during this process if I see signes of of disease. I investigate and treat accordingly.

Other stuff I like to keep on hand:
prime- to treat water for ammonia in an emergency
neo plex for bacterial infections
formulin or formaldihide 35% for brooklenella
cupramine for anything which responds to copper treatment
chloroquine phosphate (from a trusted source) for treating velvet and others
bleach for disinfecting equipment between use.
fresh packets of air stones (never reuse air stones!)
a capture siv made from two pieces of Tupperware and a lid for moving fish. Avoid nets.

last but not least. Clean everything! And don't use the same piece of equipment or tool for more than one tank at a time with out cleaning the crap out of it and allowing to dry for a minimum of 24 hrs. 48 hours is better. Get two of everything for this reason.

Wow I really rambled on. We should start a new qt thread and have every one detail their process. Maybe I'll do that.
 

Walter White

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
One last thing. Don't let all this infomation scare you or discourage you about quarantining. It is over whelming at first just like everything else in this hobby. In time though it starts to make sense and is really not all that hard.

you will have losses and that's just part of the game. No matter. What though Just remeber to keep telling yourself that losing one fish is way better than losing all of them!
 
#9
Wow that's a lot of information. That's extremely helpful. Especially that you both use the tank transfer method. Yeah this is my.first big loss. I've been in the hobby for almost 4 years now and this is the first time I have run into problems.
 
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