Ich Quarantine Questions

[TaylorJames]

Around 4 months ago I introduced a fish with ich into my tank and it wiped out a bunch of its tank mates. Wont be doing that again. I waited to do the fallow treatment until I got back from my honeymoon. Last night I bought a 20g breeder tank with a HOB filter and some PVC corners to get the tank started. Here is a list of what is in the tank.

20g breeder
Fluval Aquaclear HOB filter rated 30-50
Eheim Jager heater 100w (I dont need much heat in my garage in California)
Hydor Koralia power head
Some PVC pieces for fish homes
Seachem bacteria starter
RS blue bucket salt

Fish going in the tank.
1 Yellow tang
1 Marine beta
1 Fox Face ( small )
1. Bristle tooth tang

The tank has been running since last night, mixed fresh RO water with salt. I added the bacteria today.

I have a few questions.

1. Seachem says I can add the fish at any time once I start adding the bacteria... Should I be worried about this?
2. Should I add some rock from my DT to help with the cycle?
3. Some of my fish still show signs of ich. What temp and SG should I run?
4. What should I use to treat the tank?

Thanks!

 

[DLHDesign]

1) Nothing in that bottle will harm the fish. Adding them into the tank now may result in ammonia spikes, but it may also not. I would suggest getting an Ammonia Alert Badge so that you can keep an eye on that most critical of values passively. Even better; if you have a SenEye Reef monitor, that will monitor to a finer precision - and add alarms for all sorts of key params.
If you keep the QT clean (change filters daily - or more often - and clean out any uneaten food/detritus several times per day), then you can add the fish into a seeded tank and generally not run into problems while the bacteria establish. Keep a bottle of SeaChem Prime on hand just in case, and don't start any copper treatment (if you choose that route) until you have a handle on the ammonia control without using additives (because they won't be an option once you start).

2) If you plan on treating the ich (which seems to be the case); I would not, no. Any treatments you do will make that rock either pointless or a problem.

3) Normal SG. Temp can be slightly lower than normal; in the low to mid 70's is generally where I aim for. Lower temperatures reduce metabolic rates, which helps buy you time to address any issues that come up. This isn't overly critical - not worth buying a chiller or anything if temps settle out higher. But if you have the option, run a QT cooler than a DT.

You can often help the fish still showing signs by giving them a 5min freshwater dip.

4) The DT must be left fallow (fishless) for 76 days. The only other "option" would be to restart the tank - which generally isn't an option at all. There are no reef/invert safe cures for ich that are 100% effective.
For the QT, check out the "How to Quarantine" topic if you have not already.

 

[TaylorJames]

1) Nothing in that bottle will harm the fish. Adding them into the tank now may result in ammonia spikes, but it may also not. I would suggest getting an Ammonia Alert Badge so that you can keep an eye on that most critical of values passively. Even better; if you have a SenEye Reef monitor, that will monitor to a finer precision - and add alarms for all sorts of key params.
If you keep the QT clean (change filters daily - or more often - and clean out any uneaten food/detritus several times per day), then you can add the fish into a seeded tank and generally not run into problems while the bacteria establish. Keep a bottle of SeaChem Prime on hand just in case, and don't start any copper treatment (if you choose that route) until you have a handle on the ammonia control without using additives (because they won't be an option once you start).

2) If you plan on treating the ich (which seems to be the case); I would not, no. Any treatments you do will make that rock either pointless or a problem.

3) Normal SG. Temp can be slightly lower than normal; in the low to mid 70's is generally where I aim for. Lower temperatures reduce metabolic rates, which helps buy you time to address any issues that come up. This isn't overly critical - not worth buying a chiller or anything if temps settle out higher. But if you have the option, run a QT cooler than a DT.

You can often help the fish still showing signs by giving them a 5min freshwater dip.

4) The DT must be left fallow (fishless) for 76 days. The only other "option" would be to restart the tank - which generally isn't an option at all. There are no reef/invert safe cures for ich that are 100% effective.
For the QT, check out the "How to Quarantine" topic if you have not already.

Thanks!

I was thinking I could add the rock for a few days, and then take it out before I add any chemical treatments. Not sure if just a few days would help anything.

Yes, restarting the tank is not an option. I have too many expensive corals that im not willing to put through a restart.

 

[DLHDesign]

You could add the rock then take it out; but along with the good, you would get the bad. It's unlikely to drastically change the course of your QT process all that much, but shifting about rocks in your DT is likely not going to help anything in there...
Since you already have the bacteria starter, you've already kick-started the QT tank - which would really be all that moving the rock in would do.

Make sure you have a sponge in your HOB. That is primarily where your bacteria will populate; though they will also attach to the plumbing pieces and glass. Bacteria do exist in the water itself, but not to any significant degree when compared to the bacteria attached to surfaces.
It's not a horrible idea if you have them to float any extra HOB sponges you might have in the QT tank. This allows them to saturate as well. Then when you clean out one filter, you have another one already seeded with bacteria ready to go. Without that, you may experience ammonia spikes following the cleaning of the sponge.