Any point in quarantining fish if NOT doing inverts/corals?

[1Clown]

As per title is it a waste of time if not quarantining every single wet thing to be placed in the tank?

Other than fish, quarantining snails would be easy for me where as corals I believe I would struggle with, I'd fear losing them in a QT tank especially SPS which I've never had success with in a display let a lone a tiny AIO nano for QT.

 

[Tamberav]

Probably not a total waste since disease comes on fish more often and removing frag plugs and any rock from corals and rinsing will help a lot.

I use a 25g AIO for my coral QT which works really nice. Maybe SPS will grow better in your QT lol My 5g grows them faster then my 80g!

 

[1Clown]

Probably not a total waste since disease comes on fish more often and removing frag plugs and any rock from corals and rinsing will help a lot.

I use a 25g AIO for my coral QT which works really nice. Maybe SPS will grow better in your QT lol My 5g grows them faster then my 80g!

I have a 12 AIO I might use, can it be used for BOTH coral and inverts as a quarantine? Also what would it require to continue being used as there will be no fish to produce waste etc..

 

[ariellemermaid]

Following to see what folks have to say. A similar conundrum I’ve had: if you’re going for ich eradication (vs. ich management), then are fish that can’t be treated with copper completely out (mandarins, eels, etc)? One fish, with one spot of ich you can’t see, could ruin months or years worth of strict QT work. Same thing for a coral/invert QT; you’re always going to be adding new things to it. What if just one free swimmer makes it to the DT on the stuff that’s done?

I’ll add to what someone said above though; corals thrive in our 20g coral/invert QT. The only SPS corals we’ve killed were after we added them to our 40g DT. Which is so frustrating after keeping them alive for 76 days! Can’t figure out why that tank kills corals; same par, same parameters, same salt and WC schedule. We’ve given up and are working on setting up a 200g tank.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

You can feed the tank a.small.amount
.ghost feeding. Lol.
D

 

[ariellemermaid]

I have a 12 AIO I might use, can it be used for BOTH coral and inverts as a quarantine? Also what would it require to continue being used as there will be no fish to produce waste etc..

So our approach has been a permanent 20g nano reef coral/invert/specialty crab tank. Sand, live rock, reef lighting, the works. When something breaks off a coral we frag it and add the leftovers to the rock. This way it’s not just a barren QT, it’s a great little reef of its own.

I don’t know where the waste comes from. The nori we feed to the crabs, crab and snail waste, snails dying and getting eaten, bacterial turnover, etc. But we do weekly WC to keep the nitrates under 10. So cycling and having some nutrients in the tank just hasn’t been a problem; I’d love for the nitrates to be lower in fact.

 

[MONTANTK]

Honestly the only thing I’d quarantine is fish. I don’t really see a point to quarantining inverts because it’s pretty unlikely they’re going to carry anything into the tank. I can kind of understand quarantining Acros but most other coral I personally find it unnecessary. Fish are most likely to spread diseases to each other and it’s always good practice to make sure it’s healthy and eating before placing it in your display

 

[ariellemermaid]

Honestly the only thing I’d quarantine is fish. I don’t really see a point to quarantining inverts because it’s pretty unlikely they’re going to carry anything into the tank. I can kind of understand quarantining Acros but most other coral I personally find it unnecessary. Fish are most likely to spread diseases to each other and it’s always good practice to make sure it’s healthy and eating before placing it in your display

We’ve considered this approach. It’s also true the places we buy corals from use coral-only tanks. The counter argument though is that there’s no telling how long the place you bought the coral from has had it and where it came from before. Humblefish has a chart from a study demonstrating that ich cysts can live on just about everything except like starfish. And cysts can release ich free swimmers for up to 76 days. So while the risk is probably very low I completely agree, there is scientifically proven risk there.

Also in defense of coral QT is everything other than ich. Monitoring new corals closely in a small tank for coral pests which could infect other corals in the DT, etc.

 

[MONTANTK]

We’ve considered this approach. It’s also true the places we buy corals from use coral-only tanks. The counter argument though is that there’s no telling how long the place you bought the coral from has had it and where it came from before. Humblefish has a chart from a study demonstrating that ich cysts can live on just about everything except like starfish. And cysts can release ich free swimmers for up to 76 days. So while the risk is probably very low I completely agree, there is scientifically proven risk there.

Also in defense of coral QT is everything other than ich. Monitoring new corals closely in a small tank for coral pests which could infect other corals in the DT, etc.

I totally get it and I’ll never criticize anyone for deciding to QT everything but for me it just isn’t worth the hassle when it comes to inverts/corals. I mean if I had the resources I’d probably consider quarantining acros and maybe zoas. But even with zoas I feel a simple dip will take care of most pests that would come on a zoa or many other types of corals. AEFW is a different story though since I’m pretty sure dips don’t have any impact on eggs

 

[Azedenkae]

As per title is it a waste of time if not quarantining every single wet thing to be placed in the tank?

Yes, because:
1. If a disease happens in the QT and say the fish dies, it is much easier to just reset the QT and be done. In your display you'd probably don't want to eithet redo everything again, or do a fallow period, or treat the whole tank.
2. Treating the whole display tank may not be as fun as the QT tank as you may be working with a much larger volume of water.
3. If you already have fish in the display, each time you add a non-quarantined fish you may significantly risk the lives of all your fish at once. Whereas QTing means it is only the fish in the QT that may die.

 

[Tamberav]

I have a 12 AIO I might use, can it be used for BOTH coral and inverts as a quarantine? Also what would it require to continue being used as there will be no fish to produce waste etc..

Yah it can be used for both.

I just have light and flow on mine and feed the LPS in there some mysis now and again.

The easiest way to set up a coral QT is to use real live rock.

This is mine that’s overflowing lol 45 day fallow at 81 ends this weekend though.

All it is... is quality live rock, T5s and a jebao. No filtration. Sometimes I use a little floss after a water change.

 

[mdb_talon]

But even with zoas I feel a simple dip will take care of most pests that would come on a zoa or many other types of corals. AEFW is a different story though since I’m pretty sure dips don’t have any impact on eggs

It is actually the same story with zoas. Dips wont kill nudi eggs. They are also very innefective with spiders and sundial snails. A standard dip wont do much for zoa pox.

If anything i would argue qt is even more important for zoanthids as physical inspection is harder.

In any case i QT everything i dont understand the logic of paying to have a nice tank of expensive coral and not being willing to spend a couple hundred dollars to prevent pests from getting in there.

 

[MONTANTK]

It is actually the same story with zoas. Dips wont kill nudi eggs. They are also very innefective with spiders and sundial snails. A standard dip wont do much for zoa pox.

If anything i would argue qt is even more important for zoanthids as physical inspection is harder.

In any case i QT everything i dont understand the logic of paying to have a nice tank of expensive coral and not being willing to spend a couple hundred dollars to prevent pests from getting in there.

I suppose we have two different thought processes when it comes to quarantining. I have never purchased a coral online without seeing it in person so I suppose that is why I tend not to QT. I do plan to begin order online though so it is a practice I may adopt

 

[ariellemermaid]

Yah it can be used for both.

I just have light and flow on mine and feed the LPS in there some mysis now and again.

The easiest way to set up a coral QT is to use real live rock.

This is mine that’s overflowing lol 45 day fallow at 81 ends this weekend though.

All it is... is quality live rock, T5s and a jebao. No filtration. Sometimes I use a little floss after a water change.

No filtration?! Mind blown. We’ve been thinking about upgrading our QT to a larger one. What is your philosophy on why no filtration needed (assuming crabs, corals, snails, maybe a shrimp)?

 

[((FORDTECH))]

As per title is it a waste of time if not quarantining every single wet thing to be placed in the tank?

Other than fish, quarantining snails would be easy for me where as corals I believe I would struggle with, I'd fear losing them in a QT tank especially SPS which I've never had success with in a display let a lone a tiny AIO nano for QT.

It would be easier to treat a 20 gallon at tank with meds then my 300 gallon if I had to. At least that’s my thoughts

 

[CanuckReefer]

Yah it can be used for both.

I just have light and flow on mine and feed the LPS in there some mysis now and again.

The easiest way to set up a coral QT is to use real live rock.

This is mine that’s overflowing lol 45 day fallow at 81 ends this weekend though.

All it is... is quality live rock, T5s and a jebao. No filtration. Sometimes I use a little floss after a water change.

And you fine reefer, is exactly who I was looking for on my latest post....you are Berlin original tried and true it seems and looking mighty fine. I am Jaubert 10 years plus....

 

[Tamberav]

And you fine reefer, is exactly who I was looking for on my latest post....you are Berlin original tried and true it seems and looking mighty fine. I am Jaubert 10 years plus....

I started this hobby 10 years ago and thought I needed all the stuff... skimmers, socks, fuge, carbon, puragin, vodka dosing or biopellets and this and that. Over time I removed more and more things.... this frag tank is left with nothing but flow and rock and my DT has a fuge and very undersized skimmer.

I am upgrading my 80g to a 200g and questioning if I want to use a skimmer at all. People are scared of that idea.. and ask "but why?"

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Coral dips will get most things off and im fairly positive would get any fish parasites, but they will not kill eggs from nudis, aefw eggs, or red bugs. So the main reason you want to qt coral is to avoid those plagues.

 

[ariellemermaid]

I started this hobby 10 years ago and thought I needed all the stuff... skimmers, socks, fuge, carbon, puragin, vodka dosing or biopellets and this and that. Over time I removed more and more things.... this frag tank is left with nothing but flow and rock and my DT has a fuge and very undersized skimmer.

I am upgrading my 80g to a 200g and questioning if I want to use a skimmer at all. People are scared of that idea.. and ask "but why?"

What do your nitrates run in the frag tank? We only feed a little piece of nori every day for the crabs but I struggle to keep nitrates <10 without weekly 20-30% water changes. No idea where all our nitrate is coming from. Now considering whether we need a skimmer or sump/fuge for it especially considering we’re looking to upgrade the whole tank eventually.

As for the DT/skimmer... One year into the hobby we were considering adding a DT skimmer because nitrates in that tank get out of control too without large water weekly changes. It sounds like you’ve managed to replace the need for a skimmer with a really good fuge instead?

Also, what’s your WC schedule for these tanks?

 

[ariellemermaid]

Coral dips will get most things off and im fairly positive would get any fish parasites, but they will not kill eggs from nudis, aefw eggs, or red bugs. So the main reason you want to qt coral is to avoid those plagues.

A quick Google is telling me no dip kills ich tomonts though.... I would be over the moon if it did though, and QT for a lot less than 76 days.