SPS Quarantine Procedure

Repost for information purposes. (external link)

Sara’s Suggestions for a Full SPS Quarantine Procedure:

This process will be for treatment of AEFWs, red bugs, Sea Spiders, Monti Nudis and the many other pests that prey on our SPS corals. Also, one time dips will not kill off the eggs that are laid by many of the pests. The dips only kill living bugs, not ones in the egg stage.

There are many dip treatment methods available and they include the following:
- Iodine Dip (Overall pest dip)
- Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure (TMPCC) - Overall pest dip
- Levamisole (pig wormer) - AEFW dip treatment
- Interceptor (dog wormer) - Red Bug dip treatment
- Fluke Tabs - AEFW dip treatment

Please note that if there are acro crabs on the corals you want to treat, you will need to remove them prior to the treatments as they will die from the dip medications.

With an incoming batch of new corals, I will first treat with a Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure (TMPCC) dip. I overdose based on the directions on the bottle and mix a batch of saltwater in a white container and mix until a coffee brown. I let the corals sit in that for 20 minutes and blast them with a turkey baster to remove any pests that hang on during the dip. Other Iodine dips can be used instead as TMPCC can get expensive, but I have had great results with TMPCC and will continue to use it.

The next immediate treatment will be for Red Bugs. Even though the TMPCC claims to be a treatment for Red Bugs, I will still treat separate for them with Interceptor. I will do a dip in a larger container based on the quantity of SPS that came in. In the past I have used about 8 gallons of water for the treatment and going forward at least a few gallons of water will be used along with a powerhead for circulation and a heater as well. In the past I have treated for 6 hours with Interceptor for 3 treatments and have rid myself of Red Bugs. I had used about a BB size section of the large dog pill, crushed it and added it to the water. I will most likely only do 2 treatments going forward as the 3rd one was most likely overkill.

I will use the TMPCC and Interceptor for the first 2 weeks of dips. All dips will occur every 7 days and the corals will be kept in a separate QT tank for 4 weeks total before they are put in the display tank.

Starting with the 3rd dip through the 5th dip, I am going to move on to Fluke tabs for continued caution treatments for AEFWs. The recommended treatment is using 2 gallons of water and 2 crushed Fluke tabs, along with a pump to keep the water circulating for 60 minutes and a heater unless you can keep your temps stable for that 1 hour treatment. Here’s a link to the fluke tabs I will use: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

For AEFWs I had treated in the past with Levamisole. Many have had some SPS not survive the treatments as Levamisole can be pretty harsh. I have had about 20% die off when using Levamisole over 4 weeks with 5 dips. Going forward I would use fluke tabs rather than Levamisole.

After the 5th treatment is done, the corals will be acclimated and added to the display tank.

Water used for the treatments will come from the QT tank. While the corals are in their treatment in a separate container, the QT tank, filter and heater will be washed in hot water with Vinegar and will be refilled with water from the display tank. The small amounts of frequent water change water for the QT will also come from the display tank.

Here are some photos of my QT tanks. The first shots show my 10 gallon tank that was used prior. I had to manually top off evaporation water at least twice a day and do frequent partial water changes throughout the week.


I have now moved to a 15 gallon tank and had a float valve drilled into the tank to that I can now do gravity feed top-off. I will still need to do water do frequent water changes to keep the parameters in check.


For lighting, I happen to have a spare 250W MH and Power Compact set-up that I use.

I cut the lighting timeframe in half as it’s hard to keep the heat down on a small tank with that much lighting (6 hours of PCs and 4 hours of MH) I had also placed my QT tank directly on the basement floor for my latest treatments and that had kept the temperature stable with a heater only. You can find some nice used lighting if you decide to QT as I do. You do not need to have MH lights as the Acro’s will survive without it, you just need to be sure to acclimate them to the MH lights when you add them back into the display tank is all.

Here is a batch of Acro's in a 6 hour Levamisol treatment:


Here's a photo of my most favored pests!


Here's a damaged Acro!

I hope you were able to pick up some idea's and feel free to comment!

- Credits to Sara

Red Bug - Sentinel Treatment

Picked up some new coral colonies, but they were infested with red bugs. Contacted my vet for some interceptor, but he said he doesn't stock any but he can give me sentinel instead.

Sentinel is similar to Interceptor, but additional ingredient of lufenuron, a chitin inhibitor (insect development inhibitor). Theoretically, Sentinel should be just as effective as Interceptor in killing the red bugs, provided that the same concentration of milbemycine is supplied. Whether the lufenuron will have any side effects, good or bad, shall be seen. I wonder if the lufenuron might prevent red bug eggs from hatching, and hence, removing the requirement for further treatment.
Dustin Dorton at ORA says he was able to kill the red bugs with Sentinel (source). No additional symptoms were recorded.

The Interceptor normally used by people is the White Interceptor Flavor Tabs for 51-100 lb dogs. One tab contains 23.0 mg of milbemycin oxime. The Sentinel I received is of smaller dosage, for 25-50 lb dogs. One tab contains 11.5 mg of milbemycin oxime and 230 mg of lufenuron.
I believe each tablet weights 1.0 gram (1000 mg). Recommended dose with Interceptor is 25 mg per 10 gallons of water. Some people say 2-4X that dose is better, upwards of even 10X. Since this Sentinel contains half the amount of milbemycin, I will dose twice the amount I should have dosed Interceptor.

My quarantine tank is a half filled 20 gallon long, about 10 gallons of water volume. 0.025 g of Interceptor, meaning 0.050 g of Sentinel.
2X dose - 0.100 g of Sentinal
4X dose - 0.200 g of Sentinal
10X dose - 0.500 g of Sentinal (half the tablet)

Day 1 - 3/18
~1X dose (~0.06 g) given at 3:40pm.
6 hour mark at 9:40 pm.

1 hour mark (4:40 pm) - Tissue necrosis on base of Oregon tort frag. Superglue applied on base to attempt to stem progression of necrosis. Oregon tort frag was one of two most heavily (red bug) infested pieces. (5:10 pm) - Signs of tissue necrosis at top of frag now.
2 hour mark (5:40 pm) - Did a ~30% water change and added a small bag of carbon to attempt to stop necrosis (and prevent any others as well). I will do a big water change tomorrow and try again with another dose. No other SPS show necrosis (yet?).
3 hour mark (6:40 pm) - No further necrosis noted. Majority of red bugs no longer visible; only one bug noted on the oregon tort piece (uncertain if noted bug is dead or alive). Further treatment will be required to ensure complete eradication.

I don't believe the necrosis was caused by the lufenuron per se. The tort and one other piece was flooded with red bugs (at least 20-30 on a 1-2" piece vs the other that had maybe a handful on a ~5" colony), and I have read that red bugs mess with SPS's slime coat. Perhaps it was weakened by the red bugs, stressed by the environmental change, and the addition of medicine just brought it over the edge. Also, the oregon and one other piece didn't have flow for 24 hours, which was additional cause for stress.

6 hours later - 9:40pm: All corals look fine, except for the oregon tort still looking stressed. No further necrosis noted. No red bugs noted.

14 1X doses of Sentinel are left. Will not increase dosage for further treatment. May do further subsequent treatments for select pieces, but will leave some pieces out (no additional treatments) for observation of red bug.

LED Spotlight

Credit of LED bulb to Tom619 at SDReefs

Summary - Ingredient List - A LED spotlight bulb. $10~20. Here are some options: 120-lumen white bulb from dealextreme, 150-lumen white bulb from dealextreme, blue bulb from ebay. - LAGRA spotlight from Ikea. ($3.99 + tax) - E17 to E27 Converter from LEDLight. ($3.99 + SH) - Dimmer from Ikea. ($7.99 + tax) Total cost: ~$30 per moonlight setup

For this demonstration, I used the old LED spotlight originally sold by centralpointsecurity on ebay. I do not recommend this bulb, though I have yet to use the newer bulb listed above.
These particular bulbs work quite well as moonlights, though slightly lacking in terms of actinic supplementation. I doubt this would be strong enough as a supplement to T5s to add shimmer. The build quality is also questionable. Would not recommend this particular bulb. The dimmer is not recommended with use with most LED bulbs, but if you plan on using it only as a moonlight, it seems to be ok.

For a cheap way to light the bulb, you can just use a regular socket ($1-2 at your local hardware store; see below for picture), with an extension cord ($1). ($12 total cost for setup).


However, for just $10~15 more, you can have a much nicer looking spotlight moonlight. (Click on images below for online link/source.)
LAGRA spotlight from Ikea. $3.99 + tax

E17 to E27 Converter from LEDLight. $3.99 + SH

The dimmer from Ikea is an option if you have plans to use the bulb as moonlights. However, be aware that they may damage your bulb.

Dimmer from Ikea. $7.99 + tax

Assembly is pretty self-explanatory.

Here are the results:






As a moonlight, I found the dimmer essential.

Birth of a New Tank

Despite the rational reasons against a 36" length tank, desire overtook reason and my final decision was a tank of 36" x 18" x 12" (LxWxH) dimensions.

After attempting to order the tank through Charlie at the Fish Tank Factory, I ultimately chose to place my tank order through Ron at my local fish store, Octopuss Garden. Order was placed on February 3rd (2/3), of the following specs.
   Leemar
   36" x 18" x 12" (L x W x H)
   3/8" glass
   Trimless/Braceless
   Starphire front panel
   Diamond Edge Polishing
   Black Silicone

There were some delays. One of the holes had to be outsourced, due to its unusual size (1.5" schedule 80 bulkhead size). However, ultimately, the company had drilled the wrong panel, and had to redo the tank.

Finally received the tank four weeks later on March 4th (3/4). Everything looked good, with possible exception of the additional 1" hole that was added at the last minute. The edges look a little jagged on the 1" hole, versus the smooth and beautifully crafted outsourced 1.5" hole. Otherwise, no scratches noted, no silicone mishaps noted, and tank spec seems to all be as ordered.

All plumbing parts were ordered from Savko Plastic.
A custom ATO reservoir was built by a local, Jim.


Jim also helped reskin my stand.

On the other hand, the 15" x 15" x 12" tank was ultimately used as a combination nano/fuge/frag tank, and plumbed to the sump. Separate return pump used (Eheim 1000), with a 150w VisiTherm Stealth heater in the overflow section in case of return pump failure. One A grade Picasso clownfish (purchased from Doni), a rose bubble tip anemone, a clam and various frags currently reside in the tank. A 150w Aquamedic Ocean Light (purchased used) with a new 20k Radium bulb was hung on a bent EMT conduit light arm. Two eyescrews were screwed in, and 1/16" wire rope used to hang from the light arm (crimps used).

A DIY LED spotlight is used to light the tank when the main light is off.

360 Degree View Plumbing

As I was looking for ideas on how to plumb my new nano, I came across this tank.
It's plumbed to a canister filter, so no concern for sump overflow.
I kept trying to figure out ways I can do without a true overflow and it seems if I want a truly clean tank, this method using canister filter seems to be the best way.

However, my thoughts were to DIY a custom canister filter.
I have an eheim 2234 but (1) not enough flow, (2) no light or space for chaeto/heater.

Instead, based on this article, considering making a custom canister filter with a 12L Lock n Lock container. Add an inline heater.

Parts needed:
1. 12L Lock-n-Lock plastic

2. Eheim 1000 (265 gph, 3.0"x2.1"x3.7") / Eheim 1250 (317 gph, 7.1"x3.8"x4.7") / Eheim 1260 (635 gph, 8.6"x4.6"x6.3")
3. plastic hose
4. Clear tube - FOC (from old filter)
L-joint - FOC (from old stuff)
Suction clips - FOC (from old stuff)
7. Silicon
8. Submersible light

9. Inline heater

Now, the cons of using a canister filter:
(1) harder to access equipment (pump)
(2) limited to external skimmer or NO skimmer.
(3) no ATO (besides straight to tank)
(4) no controller
(5) no automated dosing

Now the question would be:
is it worth all the cons for this 4-side view?

After all this, I may just end up with a triangular overflow and just sump it.