Acro Eating Flatworms (AEFW), Red Bugs and other parasitic pests are unwanted guests in a SPS dominant reef tank. They can severely impact the health of corals and can be difficult to eradicate.

The Equipment

Setting up a SPS quarantine tank is a great way to keep a display tank pest free. You don’t have to invest in a lot of equipment and they are easy to maintain. I use a 20 gallon Aqueon Aquarium with an Aqua Clear hang on the back filter and a 75W heater. The tank is lit by a a single Mitras LX 7204 LED fixture and flow is supplied by a Maxspect Gyre pump.

There is no protein skimmer or sump. On a daily basis I manually replace evaporated water but in the future I will be using an old Liter Meter III for automatic top-off (ATO).

Water from my 187 gallon SPS dominant tank and a few pieces of live rock were used to establish the quarantine tank’s biological bed. Additional bacteria were introduced by soaking the filter sponges for the hang on the back filter in the sump of the 187 gallon tank.

Maintenance is pretty straight forward. On a weekly basis I do a 50% water change. Approximately 10 gallons of water is siphoned out and replaced with water from the 187 gallon tank. This is done at the same time I do water changes for the 187 gallon tank. I also wring out the filter sponges in water from the 187.

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