Urgent: Is it safe to acclimate fish to a high temp tank?

[cmsbthebest]

Hey everyone, long story short: Tank had Ich, ordered Cardinal Tetra before breakout, Heat treated and added a tiny bit of aquarium salt, Ich seems to have gone away. I set up a 55 gallon quarantine for the Cardinals, and tried to run it without fish for a few days to kill off any hitchhiking ich (added flake food to feed BB). However that didn't work and the cycle seems to have crashed, and the Cardinals arrive first thing tomorrow morning.

I know it is not ideal, but my 75's parameters are fine, the Ich seems to be going away, and there is no medication or chemicals in the tank right now. I have also used up any available bio media I had to get the 55 up and running, so I can't add anymore.

The main thing that worries me is the temp, at 87 degrees. Would it be alright to acclimate the Cardinals to this temp? or could it cause issues?

Thanks

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Well, your 75G can now act like a quarantine tank, also to kill ich by using heat you will need to keep your tank at high temp + salt for at least 2 weeks to eliminate ich. You will have to drip acclimation for few hours (5~6 hours) so the cardinal getting used with the high temp and water parameter, make sure you have enough Aeration in your tank and whatever you gonna use to acclimate your cardinals. TBH I don't think Cardinals would last that long in a high temp tank for 2 weeks.

 

[cmsbthebest]

Well, your 75G can now act like a quarantine tank, also to kill ich by using heat you will need to keep your tank at high temp + salt for at least 2 weeks to eliminate ich. You will have to drip acclimation for few hours (5~6 hours) so the cardinal getting used with the high temp and water parameter, make sure you have enough Aeration in your tank and whatever you gonna use to acclimate your cardinals. TBH I don't think Cardinals would last that long in a high temp tank for 2 weeks.

Yeah I have been doing the heat treatment for a little over a week now, and things are going great. I don't want the Cardinals in the tank, but I may have no choice.

I just thought of a hail mary plan: I realized I have a little bit of spare bio media in the 75 that I can put directly into the 55. I also have a few Danio that I am willing to put at risk by putting in the 55 overnight to help get the tank cycled and ready to go by morning. The biggest risk with that is introducing Ich into the quarantine tank, but the Danio's have shown no signs of Ich, and its a better gamble to make then adding the Cardinals directly into a tank that I know has Ich in it.

 

[tarheel96]

You don't need to add the danios before the cardinals arrive. Just add the biomedia at the same time you add the new cardinals. The cardinals will supply ammonia to the nitrifying bacteria which will oxidize it into nitrite and then into nitrate. As long as the bacteria colony moved over from the 75 is large enough to handle the bioload of the cardinals then the cycle will complete itself right away. Adding the danios will only increase the risk of spreading ick. Unfortunately, that might still happen because of the biomedia and water being transferred. If so, there will be a delay before it becomes fast spreading because only a small amount of water is being moved.

I'd treat the cardinals in the 55 at a lower temperature, maybe 83º, plus salt. If ick does show then treatment will take longer at 83º. Be sure to continue treatment for at least 10 days after the last spot of ick is visible on a fish so it can't return.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[cmsbthebest]

You don't need to add the danios before the cardinals arrive. Just add the biomedia at the same time you add the new cardinals. The cardinals will supply ammonia to the nitrifying bacteria which will oxidize it into nitrite and then into nitrate. As long as the bacteria colony moved over from the 75 is large enough to handle the bioload of the cardinals then the cycle will complete itself right away. Adding the danios will only increase the risk of spreading ick. Unfortunately, that might still happen because of the biomedia and water being transferred. If so, there will be a delay before it becomes fast spreading because only a small amount of water is being moved.

I'd treat the cardinals in the 55 at a lower temperature, maybe 83º, plus salt. If ick does show then treatment will take longer at 83º. Be sure to continue treatment for at least 10 days after the last spot of ick is visible on a fish so it can't return.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Thanks! So what I've ended up doing is sticking some of my bio media and 2/3rds of the filter sponge from my established AC 70 into the 55. There is some ammonia in the tank, so hopefully the BB spread to the main filter and establish the tank overnight. Cardinals will be added first thing in the morning and I am going to watch them like a hawk for the first few hours. At any sign of trouble, I am going to start acclimating them to the 75.

I'm also hoping that because the Ich is no longer spreading in my 75 (haven't had a new fish get it in a week) that it won't tag along into the 55. But I can't be certain about that.

 

[skjl47]

TBH I don't think Cardinals would last that long in a high temp tank for 2 weeks.

hello; Ich is tough to kill during most stages of it's life. That being the larval stage that first hatches out of an egg. The adult and egg stages are hard to kill.
Adding the cardinals to a high temp tank will add some extra stress. Not lately had cardinals but have kept neons in a tank that got up to near 90F a few years ago when the air temp was over 100F and my AC was down. The neons made it thru with extra bubblers and some ice floating in the water (actually ice in water bottles).

little bit of spare bio media in the 75 that I can put directly into the 55.

Hello; If the spare bio media is in the ich tank do not use it. Nor nets of any other equipment from the ich tank.

The biggest risk with that is introducing Ich into the quarantine tank

Hello; Yes to this.

Adding the danios will only increase the risk of spreading ick. Unfortunately, that might still happen because of the biomedia and water being transferred

Hello; yes to this. By the way I have stopped transfer of any water from tank to tank as a matter of regular practice.


Hello; Near as I can tell from following the thread all the available bio media is in tanks contaminated with ich. Moving such bio media to seed a new setup runs the risk of transferring some ich eggs.


I guess I might try to keep the cardinals in the 55 and start from scratch on the cycle. Not sure how many cardinals we are speaking of, but they are small fish so it might take a while for the ammonia levels to become concentrated enough to do serious harm. Looks like lots of water changes will be needed to keep the ammonia levels down.
Also keep the feeding at a minimum to avoid the additional ammonia from decay of excess foods.
Add some live plants as some are reported to take up some ammonia directly. Also live plants from a safe (non ich) source should have some of the beneficial bacteria (bb) on their surfaces and this may help get the cycle going.
Perhaps try to get some bb by getting some media from another established tank somewhere. Maybe a friend or pet shop. I also figure snails to have some bb colonies on their shells so that may be a way to get some bb. There are some snails that will not reproduce in fresh water if you are one who does not like snails.

Good luck