Starting over after tank devastation

jessipoof · 01/19/2018, 01:29 PM

I have two saltwater tanks that I inheirited, a 30 gal and a 420 gal. The tanks were both very mature before moving, (12 years+) along with the fish in them. About 8 years ago, the tanks were left fallow for 8 weeks during an ich outbreak, so the owner thought the tanks to be parasite free, as there had been no illness since. The tanks were moved over a period of 1 month, and were not quarantined beforehand, nor were the fish treated (where I think we went wrong). 13 Fish were moved, and 11 died in december following a devastating ich outbreak.
My question is about restocking and starting over. I would like to do it slowly, and correctly. I'm still very new to this hobby.
The remaining fish are as follows;
1 clownfish, (~5 y.o. in quarantine, treating in hypo 15 ppt, leaving the 30 gallon vacant, 12 weeks fallow will have passed on march 9th, I plan to raise salinity over time and then treat with cupramine before placing her back into the 30)
and 1 melanurus wrasse (~10 y.o. still in the 420 gallon tank, currently showing no symptoms of ich)
The 420 contains 3 pincushion urchins, a skunk cleaner shrimp, 5 mexican turbo snails, 5 hermit crabs, and LOTS of LPS and SPS coral. I want to rid that tank of ich, because I have a friend that wants to give me her purple tang eventually.

The melanurus was incredibly difficult to catch and move (we didn't know about fish traps, I now have one) and its previous owner is extremely nervous that if I try to quarantine the wrasse, she will die. which at this point leaves me with an understocked tank struggling to find new balance for an indefinite period of time.
I don't know how to properly quarantine a wrasse, and I don't want to kill it. What should I do? is my best option to leave the 420 tank as is? should I keep just the 1 clownfish in my 30?

microlady · 01/19/2018, 08:32 PM

Perform TTM on all fish and leave the displays without fish for 90 days. The wrasse will be fine in a quarantine tank. Just give it a small container with sand so it will bury itself at night. PVC makes good hiding places. Any new fish need to undergo TTM treatment followed by a 6 week quarantine period. Treating twice with prazipro is a good idea too.

01/19/2018, 01:29 PM	#1
jessipoof Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Ohio Posts: 18	Starting over after tank devastation I have two saltwater tanks that I inheirited, a 30 gal and a 420 gal. The tanks were both very mature before moving, (12 years+) along with the fish in them. About 8 years ago, the tanks were left fallow for 8 weeks during an ich outbreak, so the owner thought the tanks to be parasite free, as there had been no illness since. The tanks were moved over a period of 1 month, and were not quarantined beforehand, nor were the fish treated (where I think we went wrong). 13 Fish were moved, and 11 died in december following a devastating ich outbreak. My question is about restocking and starting over. I would like to do it slowly, and correctly. I'm still very new to this hobby. The remaining fish are as follows; 1 clownfish, (~5 y.o. in quarantine, treating in hypo 15 ppt, leaving the 30 gallon vacant, 12 weeks fallow will have passed on march 9th, I plan to raise salinity over time and then treat with cupramine before placing her back into the 30) and 1 melanurus wrasse (~10 y.o. still in the 420 gallon tank, currently showing no symptoms of ich) The 420 contains 3 pincushion urchins, a skunk cleaner shrimp, 5 mexican turbo snails, 5 hermit crabs, and LOTS of LPS and SPS coral. I want to rid that tank of ich, because I have a friend that wants to give me her purple tang eventually. The melanurus was incredibly difficult to catch and move (we didn't know about fish traps, I now have one) and its previous owner is extremely nervous that if I try to quarantine the wrasse, she will die. which at this point leaves me with an understocked tank struggling to find new balance for an indefinite period of time. I don't know how to properly quarantine a wrasse, and I don't want to kill it. What should I do? is my best option to leave the 420 tank as is? should I keep just the 1 clownfish in my 30?

01/19/2018, 08:32 PM	#2
microlady Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 492	Perform TTM on all fish and leave the displays without fish for 90 days. The wrasse will be fine in a quarantine tank. Just give it a small container with sand so it will bury itself at night. PVC makes good hiding places. Any new fish need to undergo TTM treatment followed by a 6 week quarantine period. Treating twice with prazipro is a good idea too.