New tank.. Early introduced clown fish

[Catica405]

I will do that DKuhlmann and I will start from zero due to ich and the anemone

[Dkuhlmann]

Glad to hear it, just remember to study that setting up sticky and by all means ask us questions. You will be much better off just waiting the 90 days before you add anything to your tank. You can probably add an anemone at that time also. I would get the anemone first before the clowns. My thinking there is they will see it when first put in your tank. My two Perculas have had starting with one anemone about 4 months ago to now 4 of them and they haven't paid any attention to them. Hopefully one day they will decide to call one of them home.

Get that fish back to the lfs asap while it looks good. It more than likely had the ich from their system anyway but I wouldn't mention it at all. Just tell them your tank hasn't cycled yet and you want to wait until then to get any fish for your tank. Get a credit for the fish and get fish food or snails or something else in exchange for it You can add snails now if you have any algae, if not wait until it blooms then get them so they have something to eat

[Catica405]

If they have ich in their system, won't the snails have it too? Another question, liverock and livesand should ALL go? And I still have to sanitize the filter and powerhead?

[Catica405]

Is it possible I can get a new rock from the store where I got the liverock and tank from (not the same one that sold the clown) due to the pest anemone growing on it? I mean, would they be responsible for it?

[oldbones]

Once you remove the host (fish) from the tank, the ich lifecycle will be interrupted. In theory, 72 days later you should have an ich free system and be ready to add your next fish.

I have, however, read of exceptions to this where ich came back after the 72 day fallow, so it isn't foolproof.

[Marchillo]

You don't need new sand and rock. You need to remove the pest though.

Snails will not host ich. In theory it can hitchhike on their shells when buying them from a lfs but the tank should be good after 72 days fallow.

[CStrickland]

Originally Posted by Catica405

Is it possible I can get a new rock from the store where I got the liverock and tank from (not the same one that sold the clown) due to the pest anemone growing on it? I mean, would they be responsible for it?

I doubt it. Aiptasia is really common in the hobby, it would be hard to find a store that didn't have one somewhere in their system. I find them on frags all the time It's really not that big of a deal if you don't let it spread, but it can get out of hand and take over the tank. I just keep a close eye on new stuff, and when one pops up I kill it. So far so good. There's a few ways to murder them, and a looot of threads about it. Just make sure that when you attack you aren't like scraping it up because they can spread from little pieces. Like if you cut it off but leave some behind, 2 will grow from it, or if you smoosh it up into the water they can seed up the tank. That's why most methods involve injecting or covering the anemone, so it dies where it is.

[Marchillo]

Originally Posted by oldbones

Once you remove the host (fish) from the tank, the ich lifecycle will be interrupted. In theory, 72 days later you should have an ich free system and be ready to add your next fish.

I have, however, read of exceptions to this where ich came back after the 72 day fallow, so it isn't foolproof.

I've read that as well but I don't think it's likely. I believe I've read that after 50 days 90-something percent chance you won't get it and after 72 it's 99.xx percent. No idea where they come up with that.

Do the 72 days.

[Catica405]

Good news, the store will swap the rock for pest-free rock. This store is good! I do want to start from zero, especially because we are both soooo excited about having our first tank and would rather not wait 72 days. So please, correct me if I have a bad idea here:

- I will purchase new sand and swap that liverock. I will dump the water I have and get new.
- The little clown will go back to the store where it came from. It was definitely not nice to sell my husband a fish even after knowing the tank was one day old.
- I will purchase a QT
- I will sanitize the filter and power head

Now my questions are:
1. Do I cycle the QT before bringing the first fish to quarantine for 4 weeks?
2. Is it ok if I buy a new fish and QT-it while the DT is cycling? That should give me 4 weeks of cycling as well as 4 weeks of quarantine for the first fish.
3. Can I get any living creature for the DT for when it's cycling, like snails and stuff?
4. Do I put a filter in the QT?

[Shawn O]

Originally Posted by Catica405

Good news, the store will swap the rock for pest-free rock. This store is good! I do want to start from zero, especially because we are both soooo excited about having our first tank and would rather not wait 72 days. So please, correct me if I have a bad idea here:

- I will purchase new sand and swap that liverock. I will dump the water I have and get new. No need to dump the water or sand, unless it's contaminated with something. Any new live rock you get could bring in more ICH or pests from the store. You could always soak the rock and sand in pure RODI water for a few days and then dunk the rock in vinegar and leave outside for a week to dry out completely.

- The little clown will go back to the store where it came from. It was definitely not nice to sell my husband a fish even after knowing the tank was one day old. Probably for the best.
- I will purchase a QT Get two of everything; 10 gallon tanks, ammonia alert badges, containers to transfer fish with, etc. Might as well get yourself set up for TTM now and do it with every fish you buy.
- I will sanitize the filter and power head I believe you can soak the powerhead in vinegar to sanitize.

Now my questions are:
1. Do I cycle the QT before bringing the first fish to quarantine for 4 weeks? Sure
2. Is it ok if I buy a new fish and QT-it while the DT is cycling? That should give me 4 weeks of cycling as well as 4 weeks of quarantine for the first fish. Correct
3. Can I get any living creature for the DT for when it's cycling, like snails and stuff? AFTER your newly set up tank is completely cycled, and is starting to get some algae, you can add a few snails and hermit crabs.
4. Do I put a filter in the QT? You can run filtration in QT. It's not needed during TTM as you will be replacing all of the water every three days, and filtration equipment will have to be disinfected and dried completely between each TT.

[Marchillo]

I'm sure you could rinse the sand, dry it out etc but for 20-40 #s of sand probably less of a hassle to go new.

If it were me I would do new water and sand. You want to empty the tank completely and dry it out and let it stay dry for 24 hours like qt procedures. If the store is ok with it Id return the rock 1 day and pick up the new rock like 3 days later once everything is free of ich. What kind of filter do you have? I see you mentioned that a couple of times.

[Catica405]

I have a bio wheel power filter by Marineland

[Catica405]

Originally Posted by Marchillo

I'm sure you could rinse the sand, dry it out etc but for 20-40 #s of sand probably less of a hassle to go new.

If it were me I would do new water and sand. You want to empty the tank completely and dry it out and let it stay dry for 24 hours like qt procedures. If the store is ok with it Id return the rock 1 day and pick up the new rock like 3 days later once everything is free of ich. What kind of filter do you have? I see you mentioned that a couple of times.

I agree with you. I dont have much time to sit and rinse the sand and have the risk of having cysts of ich hiding in it

[Marchillo]

Id probably toss the biowheel piece and get a new biowheel.

The rest should be all plastic. Give it a good rinse and let it dry out. Some use a mild bleach solution when QTing to clean. I do not. I try to get everything dry quickly by running a fan directly on the equipment and going a little longer than 24 hours - like 36 - 48 hours. Since you have a known issue I would take extra precaution.

[Happyschneider]

If you keep the LR, then you keep the Ich! Just wait the 72 days before you add any fish and you are good!

If you add any snails or shrimps from a system where you are not absolutely sure there is no ich in it, then it starts from zero again. The question you got to ask yourself is how much effort you want to put into staying ich free. If you do not do TTM for your fish, you don't really need to go through all this effort in my opinion. Safe yourself the trouble.

[Happyschneider]

Oh, and even if you get all new LR, you cannot be sure that it is ich free until you buy it dry, really dry. There can't be a singly drop of water anywhere. That includes deep inside the rock!

[Marchillo]

I guess this is true but everyone who buys live rock waits 72 days? I didn't do this. I guess I passed Russian Roulette with my live rock.

[stingeragent]

I would not start over completely. Just let the tank sit. If you pull everything and buy new your still gonna have to let the tank cycle and your qt etc anyways

[Happyschneider]

I know, I plan to do so but I guess I am different as my tank is in the office and no one will bug me if there are no fish in there

[Dkuhlmann]

What nobody here is understanding is that ich will not live without a fish in the tank. Most species or variants of ich die in 72 days but there are a few that live longer than that. I say to fallow for 90 days this way you will kill all of them.

You don't have to change out anything in the DT just let it run with no fish in it and do the water top offs. It's really that simple as long as there are no fish in the tank. You won't have to do any water changes with the exception of if you have corals, then you will do them as normal. Ich needs a scaled fish to live on, they can't live on mandarins because they don't have scales. The ich bug burrows under the scales.

You are going to waste a lot of time and a lot of money changing out sand, rock, water etc when you don't have to!

[homer1475]

I know waiting 72 days for your display to be ich free is a real PITA, but totally worth it. You can add corals during the fallow period(assuming your tank is completely cycled).

I went through this a couple months back, and really stocked my tank up with corals while the fish were in QT.

[fishgate]

Originally Posted by stingeragent

I would not start over completely. Just let the tank sit. If you pull everything and buy new your still gonna have to let the tank cycle and your qt etc anyways

No offense, but are you guys suggesting that someone with a brand new setup wait 72 days for ich to die out? I mean really? Are you on crack?

You (OP) made the right choice, dump everything and start from scratch. Nothing you have is worth waiting 3 months. You can buy your fish now and start the quarantine. When that is done the tank will be cycled. Perfect timing!

Good luck!

[homer1475]

Originally Posted by Dkuhlmann

What nobody here is understanding is that ich will not live without a fish in the tank. Most species or variants of ich die in 72 days but there are a few that live longer than that. I say to fallow for 90 days this way you will kill all of them.

You don't have to change out anything in the DT just let it run with no fish in it and do the water top offs. It's really that simple as long as there are no fish in the tank. You won't have to do any water changes with the exception of if you have corals, then you will do them as normal. Ich needs a scaled fish to live on, they can't live on mandarins because they don't have scales. The ich bug burrows under the scales.

You are going to waste a lot of time and a lot of money changing out sand, rock, water etc when you don't have to!

Exactly!!

Why pull anything(other then the rock the aptasia is on)? It's a waste of money, and will be a complete start over. Just pull the fish out, go through TTM, then leave them in QT for the 72-90 days. When its done, you just dump them back in the DT, ich free! Then as long as you TTM every new inhabitant, as well as a sufficient QT protocol, you'll always be ich free.

TTM is way to simple to not do it, if even for the peice of mind of never having to worry about ich again. It's so easy to do, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a fish that had ich knowing I could cure it before putting in my DT.

[Dkuhlmann]

Originally Posted by Catica405

Good news, the store will swap the rock for pest-free rock. This store is good! I do want to start from zero, especially because we are both soooo excited about having our first tank and would rather not wait 72 days. So please, correct me if I have a bad idea here:

- I will purchase new sand and swap that liverock. I will dump the water I have and get new.
- The little clown will go back to the store where it came from. It was definitely not nice to sell my husband a fish even after knowing the tank was one day old.
- I will purchase a QT
- I will sanitize the filter and power head

Now my questions are:
1. Do I cycle the QT before bringing the first fish to quarantine for 4 weeks?
2. Is it ok if I buy a new fish and QT-it while the DT is cycling? That should give me 4 weeks of cycling as well as 4 weeks of quarantine for the first fish.
3. Can I get any living creature for the DT for when it's cycling, like snails and stuff?
4. Do I put a filter in the QT?

That's awesome they are giving you rock sands aiptasia. Lets say that you setup a new tank from scratch, you still have to cycle it and to do a proper cycle will take anywhere from 4-6 weeks. If you start where you are now you are that much further ahead and will get through all of the algae parts of the cycle before you put any fish in. This IMO is the way to go. I would however take the new rock

[Dkuhlmann]

Remember you need to qt fish for 6 weeks or more depending on if they crop up with anything. You can do what you want but I would go the way that I've said.