melev

Yesterday our club held its Summer Social event: two air-conditioned chartered buses drove about 70 members around the metroplex to visit five local sponsors (fish stores). A lot of planning went into the event, and each store prepped for the sudden onslaught of potential customers pouring into their doors at once. I took plenty of pictures and will be sharing an upcoming blog about the entire day in the very near future.

As we left each store, some newly purchased livestock was carefully placed in giant insulated coolers in the belly of the bus, and at the end of the day everyone collected their belongings as well as their fish and corals and headed home. My question is are these new fish going into a quarantine tank or will they end up in the display tank after acclimation? It's well known that new fish can bring various potential issues into an otherwise healthy system, but I'm also fully aware how exciting it is to get your brand new fish into the tank to watch it explore the ecosystem. Years ago, I would do the same. It's very risky, and several times I'd suddenly see a new plague show up and kill the new fish as well as some of fish I'd had for years. Heartbreaking!

Last year I heard about Safety Stop and was very curious about it. If I can't convince others to set up a quarantine tank to hold their fish for observation for three weeks or more, would they at least do a two-part medicated bath procedure that removes external parasites? At most, it's a two-hour delay that increases the odds of successful integration of new fish. Safety Stop is veterinarian approved, using a solution that includes formaldehyde and methylene blue, and a pouch of the two-part product costs $5 for two 1-gallon bath treatments. I did a full review here: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...ew-Safety-Stop

(Disclaimer: I'm very impressed by the product and immediately began selling it from my e-shop on melev's reef: http://melevsreef.com/catalog/safety-stop because I think everyone should use it!)

Yesterday I purchased five Lyretail Anthias for my reef. Those were picked up today. In anticipation I got things ready: air pump, airline tubing, air stone, piece of plumbing to weigh the airstone down, a digital timer and two buckets marked for 1-gallon of water volume. And a packet of Safety Stop of course. When I got the call they were ready for pick up, I headed over to get my new fish.

The fish were drip acclimated to match the salinity of my system (1.023 to 1.026) over a 25 minute period.

When the water volume in the bucket was more than doubled, they were ready to go. The packet was carefully cut to add Part A to one gallon of tank water in another bucket, mixed up with my hand and the airstone was installed to provide oxygen. The fish were netted and placed in the greenish water for 45 minutes.

Part B was added to another gallon of tank water in a second bucket, the airstone moved over and the fish were transferred to the blue solution for another 45 minute bath.

Frequently during the bath periods, I would check on the fish to see if any were distressed. They were not; they simply moved about and stayed close to one another. When the timer chirped, the fish were then transferred from the bucket to the Peacemaker already installed in my reef system. (Normally I'd move them to a quarantine tank but... the 215g temporary tank is holding all my livestock currently and takes up the area where my quarantine tank was previously. I'm really hoping to get the 400g back this month and get back to my normal reef life once more and get my quarantine tank running once more.) The fish were provided a few pieces of PVC to retreat into if needed and the lid was put on top to avoid any jumpers.

The Peacemaker ( http://melevsreef.com/catalog/peacemaker ) is a great way to add new fish to your tank and avoid any potential aggression. The new fish and the current livestock see each other but they can't fight or pursue them. They share the same water and can be fed at the same time the reef is fed. After three days, I release them into the tank and everyone seems to get along without incident.

So after reading this, is there any reason why you don't use Safety Stop? I see it at the fish stores I visit both locally and when traveling to other cities, and you can get it online as well. I'd love to see this product take off and be a part of everyone's routine as it should greatly decrease failure rates / losses. It's cheap, lasts several hours and is simple to use. Be sure to read the full review linked above. Buy it from me, buy it from someone else - and use it with each new fish you get.