Cali Kid Corals

Chromis’s Quarantine tank resurrection

Chromis

Supporting Member
With a few years of reefkeeping under my belt it was super easy to pop this QT tank up just in time for @anathema ‘s tank breakdown/upcoming CFM.

Equipment:
IM 25 lagoon
IKEA kitchen island borrowed from the kitchen - a perfect fit for the IM25!
BRS doser and gallon water jug (for alk)
Lamp timer - it has been in a drawer since I got an APEX but still had the time/dose settings saved from my last use somehow!
Inkbird temp controller
300W Finnex titanium heater element (fits perfectly in the IM25)

I have some rocks that just cycle through bleach - cure in established tank sump - place in QT tank. Repeat. Instant QT tank cycle. The rocks have fanworms and pineapple sponges so probably won’t need any mechanical filtration.

I have never seen benefits from skimmers in such a small tank and plan to do large frequent water changes w/Fritz salt to maintain everything besides alk, which I have noticed requires dosing even in such a small tank.

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Wiring is all fixed to the underside of the stand for aesthetics and to protect from drips
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Normally I only set this tank up in the garage when it’s not crazy hot, but I could not deal with the chiller plumbing and it was urgent to set up, so I put it in the air conditioned house (with spouse approval!)

So simple!

I just have to figure out how to rig one of my spare Radion X15s to a Kessil gooseneck by Sunday :)

Dosing Reefroids to keep the live rock/sponges/fanworms/bacteria happy.
 
You need an ATO. But very simple approach. I like it.
Yea, hopefully the diluted alk mix will help with fluids - not having consistent top off can be a source of alk swing. In the garage the tank gets fitted with a custom float valve plumbed to our RO gravity feed.
 
Wow, what a nice setup!
Can you give more detail about your process of cycling rock through bleach, then curing in a sump, then repeating? Did your current rock get fanworms and sponges while in the sump? Do you intend to use this QT for new corals and observe them for pests and health issues? If any arise will you treat outside of the tank, then return the corals to the tank?
 
Can you give more detail about your process of cycling rock through bleach, then curing in a sump, then repeating? Did your current rock get fanworms and sponges while in the sump?

When I’m done using the QT, I put the rocks and frag rack that were in it into a 5g bucket of tap water and bleach (maybe a cup of bleach). I let that sit a at least a week, then rinse the rocks with a garden hose and put them back in a fresh bucket of bleach water for at least another week or so. After rinsing them off they soak in tap water in the bucket for a day and then I leave them outside to dry. You have to use your judgement on how many times to cycle them through bleach and how much bleach to use based on whether the rocks look/smell clean once they’re dry.

Once clean, the rocks go back into the sump where they pick up bacteria and fanworms/sponges/pods/etc. When I need to setup a QT I just pull rocks from the sump (doesn’t have to be exactly the same rocks).

Do you intend to use this QT for new corals and observe them for pests and health issues? If any arise will you treat outside of the tank, then return the corals to the tank?
Yes new corals will stay in QT getting dipped and observed until they’re clean. They will get treated in the QT tank if anything requires medication. You need to leave them in a while also to see what grows out (like algae, vermatid snails, pests from eggs that survived the dip).
 
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