Is it possible to have a pest-free tank from the get-go and keep it that way?

To answer your question yes it is possible,in my 680lt reef i did not have a single aiptasia for over six years until i added a single frag with a tiny little aiptasia hidden deep in the rock,today the tank has tons of it.

Ive added a copperband but he doesn't seem to be chowing much of it.

Decided to nuke the rocks in my new cube to keep it of as far as possible but I'm sure it'll come back eventually as it just takes a little spore even in the water from someone else's tank to introduce these things so its extremely difficult to totally keep away from it.
 
It is really good info from everyone.. Great help guys.. I just set up my new tank a week ago and am on holiday in ballito now.. Bought a bottle of bacteria at the aquaria shop today.. Used it on a previous tank and it had an awesome outcome.. So I'm starting my new tank with washed dead rock.. No nasties and a lekker bottle of bacteria that I am going to dose...
 
i have tried my best to get rid of white spot in my tank when i got a new tank and moved everything from the one to the other. i moved all my coral and rock accross and removed all my sand this removed the sand which eliminates one of its parts of its life cycle causing it not to be able to live any longer i also doesed with paragaurd. i did this for 6 weeks.

in the end my fish seem to be alot hapier and healthier but at the same time you can never get rid of white spot as the fish will always have it and like everyone has said your fish just becomes strong enough to beat it off by itself.

its also a bit of a pain to try and keep it out with quarenteening your fish and also dipping all corals before placing them in your tank. but in the end it makes for a healthier tank and better chance for servival so its worth it
 
RocketRooster said:
And by pest-free I mean, completely sterile in terms of the organisms you don't want?

Or is that an impossible dream?
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Yes it is easy,but to have it sterile is impossible,your tank after all is run biologicaly which is why you get parrasites.

To get the relative protists of the protist white spot and velvet to cull their own kind,is a very easy thing to do,but no tank will remain parasite free unless it is stable.

Then you will never see the white spot protist engage your fish again or the next part of the evolutionary part of the parrasite community in a reef tank,that being velvet.
 
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Well watch this space. Planning on moving all inverts to new tank after dipping corals and rocks. In the current tank, the fish will be treated with paragaurd, then slowly moving fish over. Started a little boyu tl550 that I will use in future to quarantine any new fish. Hoping this works.
I agree totally with the concept that good husbandry and good feeding will keep your fish immune systems tops. I recently added a Desjardini, got WS in a day after introduction (yes, my tank has WS), it overcame it and looks like its on the way to recovery.
 
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Lol, you make it sound as if marine tanks are always disease free! Where shall I start? Coral-munching flatworm, aiptasia, cyano, whitespot, anything you DON'T want in your tank.

With freshwater, it's easily achievable since qt'ing with chemical treatments is so straightforward.

From what I've gleaned, this is much harder with marine reef setups, since chemical treatments for qt are much trickier with inverts and whatnot.

I've been reading a lot about the various problems guys have had with unwanted inmates, and tbh it makes for a bit of paranoia in the uninitiated like yours truly. :)
 
A reef is full of pests and that is natural, you have to design the bio filter to help control those pests by using nature.

Cyano exists from excessive nutrients and the type of lighting and time of lighting used.

That’s easily fixed; you use enough hard working algae else where in the system to consume these nutrients to starve out the cyano.

I don’t have any cyano.

Treatments for marine quarantines are simple, copper chloride works the best in quarantine.
If you use life forms that eat aptasia,then you don’t have aptasia at all.

If you use dead sterile coral, to become your own live rock, you don’t introduce/hitchhikers as pests at all.

I wash corals and algae before using them and not pest get in that way.

Protists get in no matter what and other protists will consume them if you set up an area for this.

I haven’t had any parasites in over 14 years and I take some of the guys fish that have parasites to cure them for them.

Read what you like, believe what you like, its not my concern.
 
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pkc said:
Read what you like, believe what you like, its not my concern.
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I read your views with interest and respect, but it is statements like the one above that concern me, it comes across rather arrogant and smacks of the belief that ony your experiences are the correct ones. If it wasn't your concern what we read, believe and like, why waste your precious knowledge on us simple reefers, maybe you should stick to your higher knowledge base and not treat us like children. There are many guys/gals that have years of experience and have used tried and tested methods and I am inclined to say that I will like what they write, believe in them and not worry about your concerns. No disrespect intended.
 
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I meant disrespect either, just facts, nothing more, its just going on to long that’s all.

It’s not publicised what I do, well a little is now and more to come, so its best to just think my ways and others out there that do it these ways are to far out there to bother with and let it go, that’s what I mean!

If you don’t believe it, why waste words?

That’s cool.

I never believe anything unless I have done it or have seen it.
 
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