PDA

View Full Version : Moving tanks. Considering how to make the new one pest free


MJAnderson
10/11/2006, 12:36 PM
Hey there,

Looking for move from my 72g to a 180g. I made some mistakes on my 72, namely buying LR and not cooking it. I currently have hair and bubble algae, aptasia and hydriods, all from some LR I got from a fellow reefer. Also, due to a tripped circuit breaker on my QT tank, I ended up not QTing one fish, so I wouldn't be suprised if the tank had ich, although I haven't seen it yet.

What I'm wondering is what I can do to make the new tank as problem free as possible. My plan.

1) Order 100lbs of LR and cook it in darkness for 2 months.
2) Add the cooked rock and new sand into the 180.
3) Move as many inverts as I can find into new 180. New tank will be withouth fish for 6 weeks.
4) Move all my corals to my new prop tank, which will be used for coral QT during the move.
5) Move the fish one (depending on size) at a time into QT for 6 weeks, then move to new tank. Treat with hypo in QT.
6) Take out the old LR and cook for 2 months. Add to new tank.

Clean out old tank and sell. Enjoy new tank with 0 issues.

Some questions. Can you ever get rid of algae? Will 2 months of cooking eliminate aptasia and hydriods? I don't see any red bugs or AE flatworms currently. How long should corals stay in QT? 6 weeks to eliminate any ich cysts?

And most important, is this worth it or will it all come back eventually?

Fredfish
10/12/2006, 11:04 AM
Algaes and hydroids are something you will always have in a system. Cooking the rock for several months will not get rid of them.

Some things I would do:

1. Use your present tank as a quarantine for your fish. Only if any of the fish show signs of ich would I move them to a separate system to treat and re-quariantine. Less stress on the fish this way.

2. get a couple of good tangs (not all tangs are good algae eaters) or rabbit fishes to control algae.

3. let your new system sit for more like 3 months for the system to properly establish and then slowly move fish and other livestock over to ramp up the biological capacity of the tank.

Good luck.

Fred