Spar's Tank Transfer Method

omykiss001 · Nov 8, 2015

I'll take wild guess who they might be, hmm. It's good they are at least willing to help out with what you are doing.

dragonfish · Dec 17, 2015

following
just started my first ttm

drstratton · Jan 21, 2016

Humblefish said:
Friday, January 13th, approx. 8:00am – Final Transfer (#4): transfer fish to new tank (Day 13)

I have a question for clarification. Once I make the 4th transfer, can I just leave the fish in that tank for 2 weeks for further observation or do I need to do another transfer on Day 13.

Jlobes · Jan 21, 2016

drstratton said:
I have a question for clarification. Once I make the 4th transfer, can I just leave the fish in that tank for 2 weeks for further observation or do I need to do another transfer on Day 13.

transfer on day 13 and then you can leave them in that tank for extended observation.

drstratton · Jan 21, 2016

Jlobes said:
transfer on day 13 and then you can leave them in that tank for extended observation.

Thank you for clearing that up. It's a bit confusing when it says final transfer #4. Oh well what's 10 more gallons!

Humblefish · Jan 21, 2016

Just to clear any confusion up, I've copy and pasted from my TTM article below: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

Day 1 - Fish is placed in initial QT.
Day 4 - Roughly 72 hours later transfer the fish to new tank. The time of day you do the transfer is unimportant, but never exceed 72 hours from the last transfer. The temperature and SG of the new tank should match the old one perfectly, so you can just catch & release (no acclimation). Transfer as little water as possible with the fish.
Day 7 - Repeat.
Day 10 - Repeat.
Day 13 - Repeat and done (fish should now be ich free).

Day 1 is when the new or sick fish is first received into the TTM environment. So, it is technically considered the first transfer.

Therefore, Day 13 is technically considered the fifth transfer and the fish requires no further transfers after that. (Although you may continue on if you wish.) The fifth transfer can be into a more permanent QT or even the DT, if the fish is ready for that (remember 1 month total observation time is required to rule out velvet, brook, uronema & bacterial infections.)

drstratton · Jan 21, 2016

Thank you! Sunday will be my 5th transfer then! I kind of missed the part about Day 1 being the first transfer, makes total sense now! As of right now both fish are doing great and in 2 1/2 more weeks barring no problems they will be in my DT! Thanks again!

RMAS0934 · Feb 13, 2016

If I was to do TTM after purchasing a new puffer, such as a dogface, how would you suggest transfer of the fish from one tank to the other? I ask because they recommend you do not use a net or subject the puffer to ingesting air. However, I worry that using a cube or container to transfer it would cause way too much water contamination from the other tank...any advice would be appreciated!

edosan · Feb 13, 2016

* By colander: Easy to scoop them up with, and probably the safest method of all. You can find rectangle ones to make it even easier (example from Bed Bath and Beyond:

Works great!

RMAS0934 · Feb 13, 2016

So this method wouldn't risk too much air intake for the puffer if it were to..."puff" so to speak, as opposed to a net, correct? Thanks!

melypr1985 · Feb 13, 2016

RMAS0934 said:
So this method wouldn't risk too much air intake for the puffer if it were to..."puff" so to speak, as opposed to a net, correct? Thanks!

I think he will be just fine. It's not as stressful on the fish as you might think.

RMAS0934 · Feb 13, 2016

Great! I went a got a couple tanks, heaters, and everything else today for TTM. Thank you...

Reefahholic · Mar 18, 2016

This is by far the best method I've ever used to eliminate ICH. Completely stops the life cycle if done correctly.

I've still got a 100% success rate after doing more than 20+ TTM's.

Reefahholic · Mar 18, 2016

The 72 Hr rule is key and making sure you sterilize things is very important. Or leaving them dry for long enough to know it's dead. You do four total transfers and you'll be ICH free.

Pura Vida · Mar 20, 2016

@Humblefish two questions, can I use this transfer method with anemone and frog spawns also or do they need to stay in the infected tank to cycle with rock, sand, attached coral, etc? Also I've read 6 weeks and 75 days is needed to kill ich running with no fish, which is correct? Thanks in advance, I'm tired of managing this and want it gone!

Humblefish · Mar 20, 2016

Pura Vida said:
@Humblefish two questions, can I use this transfer method with anemone and frog spawns also or do they need to stay in the infected tank to cycle with rock, sand, attached coral, etc?

TTM only works on fish because they carry trophonts with a 3-7 day life cycle before dropping off. Coral/inverts, on the other hand, can carry the tomont stage which can remain encysted for up to 72 days (30 days is more likely) before rupturing. Therefore, it's best to isolate these in a fishless environment (ex. frag tank) before introducing to your DT. This also gives you time to watch out for coral pests (ex. flatworms) before these contaminate your display.

Pura Vida said:
Also I've read 6 weeks and 75 days is needed to kill ich running with no fish, which is correct? Thanks in advance, I'm tired of managing this and want it gone!

76 days fallow in my recommended fallow period for ich. This should eradicate any & all diseases from your DT (except for uronema).

Pura Vida · Mar 20, 2016

Looks like I will be setting up two quarantine systems to deal with this. One for the fish, one for the corals and inverts and everything else in this tank goes by by. Clean this tank, start it cycling and then reintroduce. Never really liked the aquascape anyways so this will give me the time to do it right. Thanks for the fast response @Humblefish! Time to get this done

Humblefish · Mar 20, 2016

Pura Vida said:
Looks like I will be setting up two quarantine systems to deal with this. One for the fish, one for the corals and inverts and everything else in this tank goes by by. Clean this tank, start it cycling and then reintroduce. Never really liked the aquascape anyways so this will give me the time to do it right. Thanks for the fast response @Humblefish! Time to get this done

A fishless frag tank is a good idea for QT'ing future coral/invert purchases. But for the purpose of going fallow, you can just leave the corals/inverts in the DT for 76 days. Only the fish need to be treated in a QT.

john.m.cole3 · Apr 5, 2016

Question: I have many other people telling me that ich is present in all marine fish and that there is no cure for it. They say the fish's immune system has to be boosted to suppress it. What are your thoughts on this?

edosan · Apr 5, 2016

john.m.cole3 said:
Question: I have many other people telling me that ich is present in all marine fish and that there is no cure for it. They say the fish's immune system has to be boosted to suppress it. What are your thoughts on this?

Ich is like mosquitos!
Is present in all marine fish? mmm do not think so, might be present, sure (in all).
No cure for it, not true

Learn about the life cicle, and then attack, it is not easy, but possible, I did it. Thanks to HumbleFish advice!
You will not find a magic pill or drug that cure ich in reef tanks (REEF in capitals), that is for sure. (so far), fish only tank, a different story.