QT idea, looking for advice!

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

After trying hypo for months in rubbermaid QT tanks and not ridding my tank of ich, I am thinking of trying it a different way.

I am thinking of removing all LR, corals and macro from my tank and keeping them in another for now. Doing hypo once again but this time in my display and for like 3 months or something. As long as the fish do not show stress.

The plan is to remove some of the LR and all the corals right away and then fill my sump with bio balls and cycle them for the next few weeks or so. Then remove all the rest of the LR. Replace it with some kind of dry base rock for the fish to have places to hide. My tank is already BB, so no worry about sand.

Then I figured if I lower the SG slow enough the bio balls should stay cycled. Basically I would have a cycled tank at 1.008. Hopefully I can leave it there for a few months and then raise it back up.

I think I may end up going FO afterwards. So no more corals or LR. Keep the bio balls in place of the LR and just decorate with coral skeletons and whatnot. I was just away in LA for work and in my hotel there was an absolutely stunning FO tank decorated this way. It was an incredible tank! I have talked to a few people and it seems like the easiest way to keep a tank with big fish...very easy to maintain and treat for disease. Not to mention I can keep it at a lower SG. Maybe around 1.018.

Anyways, any other ideas or suggestions?

[TJSlayer]

Why not just run a UV 24/7 for a few weeks

Probably easier

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by TJSlayer

Why not just run a UV 24/7 for a few weeks

Probably easier

Because that will never rid a tank of ich. I have ozone running already which does the same as UV but is even more efficient. Im not looking for a temporary fix.

I actually thought this was a very simple way of dealing with the problem.

[mark]

Would something like this work?
-setup a tub with some tank water and LR (ideally from a ich-free system) and bio-balls and run it for a bit with nothing else in it than a heater and circulation to establish the bacteria
-after the first tub has sat for a while, remove everything from your display into tubs and sterilize DT, sump and plumbing (use bleach etc. then rinse).
-add the bio-balls and some water from the first tub to the display and the fish only (acclmitize), also the new dry base rock you mentioned. LR into the second tub.
-run the display hypo for the 6-8 weeks, keep the coral and LR going in the tubs using lights from DT (fish don't need that much).
-at end QT period raise salinity, and the LR and corals back to display.

Sort of the same you're planning. Chance to clean the system really well, then fish have the room of the display for the QT period. The hypo period doesn't effect the LR or corals.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by mark

Would something like this work?
-setup a tub with some tank water and LR (ideally from a ich-free system) and bio-balls and run it for a bit with nothing else in it than a heater and circulation to establish the bacteria
-after the first tub has sat for a while, remove everything from your display into tubs and sterilize DT, sump and plumbing (use bleach etc. then rinse).
-add the bio-balls and some water from the first tub to the display and the fish only (acclmitize), also the new dry base rock you mentioned. LR into the second tub.
-run the display hypo for the 6-8 weeks, keep the coral and LR going in the tubs using lights from DT (fish don't need that much).
-at end QT period raise salinity, and the LR and corals back to display.

Sort of the same you're planning. Chance to clean the system really well, then fish have the room of the display for the QT period. The hypo period doesn't effect the LR or corals.

Yeah thats a good idea. Basically the same as what I had planned.

The difference is that I am most likely going to make my big tank a FO with no LR after the QT period. So what I was going to do was actually just transfer some of my rock and all my corals to a smaller tank that I am going to keep as a reef. So they would not being going to a temporary home but instead a new tank that will stay up after all this mess is dealt with. No fish in the new tank for a few months to try to make sure it is ich free as well.

I think at this point its easier for me to maintain a small reef and keep my big tank as a FO for the reasons I stated above. The reef can then just have a pair of clowns of something simple.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Anyone know how cycled bio balls will hold up with the change of salinity. I remember reading that they adapt if its done slow enough but I am wondering if anyone has experience with this?