Large Prolifera crash

[darrellh]

Hi,

I have a 215 FOWLR with a 75 gal refuge/sump that recently experienced a large Prolifera crash (large Booster mix package from FloridaPets). I noticed signs of the macro going sexual a couple of days after I first put it in the refuge, but thought it would recover. After 3-4 more days, my fish (mostly Damsels) started dropping off 1-2 per day until I realized what might be happening and pulled what Prolifera was left from the refuge. I started several 20% water changes and added carbon and poly filters. The tank has somewhat stabilized, but even after 3 weeks the remaining fish seem a little stressed.

My question is how long will the toxins dumped from the Prolifera remain? I would eventually like to add more delicate fish and possibly some corals. I have ~200 lbs of live rock between the main and refuge, a 2 year old DSB in the refuge, and an inch of coarser sand in the main tank. Do I need to start over and dump the live rock and sand, or will the nasties left by the Prolifera completely clear up over the next couple of months?

Thanks,
Darrell

[Anthony Calfo]

The smaller water changes are not very effective. You need to just do one large water change ( I have no fear doing near 100% with adjusted seawater)... or a couple beefy ones (two 50% waterchanges in a few days).

Change carbon weekly, and Ozone is fab if available.

This all could have been avoided by properly quarantining the new livestock my friend. Hard lessons

Please do learn and apply proper QT procedure and you will go much farther in this hobby, my friend (and save organisms lives/not wasted).

Anthony

[darrellh]

Anthony,

Thanks for the reply. Until this happened, quarantining plants would have never occurred to me. Assuming I quarantine macros with new saltwater, is there anything else I need to provide other than strong lights and flow? How long should I quarantine macros, and what acclimation procedure should I use once it's time to move it into the main system?

Thanks,
Darrell

[darrellh]

can anyone tell me what the black dot over the envelope symbol in the far left column for this thread means?

[TippyToeX]

Originally posted by darrellh
can anyone tell me what the black dot over the envelope symbol in the far left column for this thread means?

Those dots mean you have posted to the thread.

If you scroll all the way to the bottom of any forum you will see, just below the Forum Jump, an explanation for all of those envelopes.

[Anthony Calfo]

indeed... anything wet with seawater can carry disease, pest or predator. Especially when coming from wholesaler and retailer systems with hands, nets, central filtration, etc that makes exposure to other sick or infected organisms very possible if not likely.

As for QT... 4 weeks of disease free symptoms is minimum.

Steve Pro et al have scribed some fab articles and threads on this subject. Please do look back at the reefkeeping.com archives for Steve's article as well a a keyword search of this forum. All for more perspective and "how to" for QT protocol.

kindly, Anthony

[Steven Pro]

This is the article Anthony mentioned,
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-1...ture/index.htm

[darrellh]

Hi Steve/Anthony,

I read the article, but it didn't say anything about how different macroalgaes should be cared for while in quarantine and how they should be acclimated going into and coming out of quaratine. Is this information available somewhere?

Is there some treatment for macros that would remove the pathogens/parasites to help short-circuit the quarantine period? Beyond carrying bad hitchhikers, wouldn't it be sufficient to keep a close eye for it going sexual which I would have to do regardless whether or not it just came out of an extended quarantine?

Thanks,
Darrell

[Steven Pro]

It does not sound as if the Caulerpa had any pathogen or if it did, that was not the problem. From the short period of time in your hands until it died, it sounds as if it simply shipped poorly. In that case, the decomposition that happened in the display would have occurred instead in the safety of the quarantine tank where there would have been no other collateral damage.

[darrellh]

Any suggestions on how to care for macroalgaes during quarantine? I'm assuming at least the lighting is different from what Steve Pro's article suggested for animal quarantine.

Thanks,
Darrell

[Anthony Calfo]

simply address the needs of each animal, bro... if its a a shallow water algae, then give it daylight... if its deepwater, then heavy blue... if the QT creature is non-photosynthetic, then indirect room light is good for a quiet QT stay.

Since the QT tank is so shallow... low wattage lamps will be fine/cheap.

A bit of common sense here, my friend. The needs of these animals are what they are.

If you put a high light creature in a deep tank, then you may need more intense light to penetrate the water deep enough to meet its needs, etc.

Its all really as easy as you would expect/guess.

[darrellh]

it just seems that if it's not cared for properly while in the quarantine tank (different from what it will see when it gets into the main tank), then it's still very prone to going sexual once it comes out of quarantine...sorry I'm being such a PIA, but my common sense tells me that quaranting macros doesn't provide as much benefit as quarantining actual animals (assuming I can get rid of hitch-hikers from the macroalgaes, which may survive quarantining alone anyway)

Thanks,
Darrell

[Anthony Calfo]

Your line of logic makes no sense, I must say, plainly.

Risk based on what? How is it that the change in light/water flow, etc by taking the extra step through quarantine is any different than the same changes or worse from the point of collection to the buckets/pools at the collectors station... then the move to the local distribution point/wholesaler... then the move to the co-op/jobber... then the move to the retailer?

You need more info here, my friend... or you could trust the advice of an intelligent and experienced consensus. Ahem... Mr. Pro, myself, Martin Moe... Eric Borneman.... and the list goes on.

You need to understand, appreciate and apply QT procedures or you will suffer a pest, predator or disease and the next post we might see you writing is about such things

I promise you that the risk of introducing an undesirable far outweighs your perceived other risks to the macro itself.

And even if you were correct here... are you saying that the lives of all the other creatures in your tank put at risk for the lack of quarantine are not worth as much as that fistful of macroalgae you are defending against QT?

Heehee... at some point you may have to admit good old fashioned impatience as the reason for sans QT.

Anth

[darrellh]

ok, I give....I promise to quarantine.

[Anthony Calfo]

Resistance is futile