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

[Squidward]

Yes. Having an ich free tank makes life so much easier and no worries of sudden ich outbreaks. And no, stress doesn't magically make ich appear.

 

[Tamberav]

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?

No idea my Nitrates as I never test for them anymore. My kit expired last year and it didn’t seem worth to take the time to test. I have seen happy tanks in many different Nitrate ranges.

I guess I can say when the tank was a display instead of a frag tank my Nitrates were 20-30 and my PO4 was 0.08. I am
Not sure why you need below 10? Maybe if chasing a certain color out of acropora.

The frag tank doesn’t have a fuge... just coral growth and I do a 5g water change every two weeks. My 80g has a large fuge and I do a 10g maybe every 3 months or whenever. It has a skimmer on it rated for 40 gallons and a large fuge. I like to breed snails in the fuge and enjoy macros.

I went fishless for 45 days in preparation for an upgrade to eliminate ich and honestly no difference between 0 fish and 14 fish that I could really notice.

I think quality real live rock, flow, and proper lighting is the key and everything else is optional.

This was my 5g with no testing or dosing. 90 percent water change every two weeks. I set it up with two pieces of live rock from KPA Aquatics. No filtration other then the live rock. Next time I would do no sand though as it is impossible to keep clean in a 5g column. Just can’t reach it!

My tanks are all very simple. I find more
Joy in the hobby with simple tanks. I don’t like cleaning equipment or testing frequently. I focus more on the health of my fish then anything else as I like fish more than coral but coral is a very nice back drop.

 

[Tamberav]

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)?

Live rock with flow is all the filtration anything needs. People have displays that are only rock, light, and powerheads.

My fav example is WV reefers. No filter, no skimmer, no sump.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/wv-reefer’s-75-gallon-big-and-dirty.400080/

 

[ariellemermaid]

I am Not sure why you need below 10? Maybe if chasing a certain color out of acropora.

In short, just trying to follow the recommendations I see on forums and other places. Everyone says <5 for SPS. The Red Sea Recipes top out at 5ppm as well. It seems like everyone is running super low nitrates these days. I’d be hard pressed to find anyone recommending keeping 20-30ppm. Not at all suggesting this advice is correct, but again, only 1 year into reefing and trying to follow what people say it takes to be successful which is why your filter-free frag/invert tank grabbed my attention.

I’m running a Tidal HOB filter on my 20g which admittedly provides a lot of my flow with only 1 powerhead. What is it actually doing for me other than flow? I don’t know, I mean I guess it’s just a sponge, a bag of media the tank probably doesn’t need, and carbon to deal with any toxins. It probably helps keep the water clearer than it would be otherwise, I’m not sure now that I think about it. If some of the general detritus settled to the bottom though my QT CUC would probably deal with it. In the fish QT though it definitely catches and traps fish waste.

I suppose there is one thing though; I think it’s my copepod factory. Many large adults live there and I have a ton of babies in the rest of the tank after just one addition of copepods several months ago. If I ever get a mandarin I think I’ll QT it in this tank and just reset the clock on everything else.

 

[Tamberav]

In short, just trying to follow the recommendations I see on forums and other places. Everyone says <5 for SPS. The Red Sea Recipes top out at 5ppm as well. It seems like everyone is running super low nitrates these days. I’d be hard pressed to find anyone recommending keeping 20-30ppm. Not at all suggesting this advice is correct, but again, only 1 year into reefing and trying to follow what people say it takes to be successful which is why your filter-free frag/invert tank grabbed my attention.

I’m running a Tidal HOB filter on my 20g which admittedly provides a lot of my flow with only 1 powerhead. What is it actually doing for me other than flow? I don’t know, I mean I guess it’s just a sponge, a bag of media the tank probably doesn’t need, and carbon to deal with any toxins. It probably helps keep the water clearer than it would be otherwise, I’m not sure now that I think about it. If some of the general detritus settled to the bottom though my QT CUC would probably deal with it. In the fish QT though it definitely catches and traps fish waste.

I suppose there is one thing though; I think it’s my copepod factory. Many large adults live there and I have a ton of babies in the rest of the tank after just one addition of copepods several months ago. If I ever get a mandarin I think I’ll QT it in this tank and just reset the clock on everything else.

Most of these reef tanks run higher nutrients then recommend. So that’s something to think about.

Tank Parameters Of Some Masters

Tank Parameters Of Some Masters To this day one of the most frequently asked questions I get, and actually that many “old time hobbyists” get is “How do I get rid of the algae in my tank. My first question then is “what are the parameters of...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[UnderseaOddities]

I always qt fish I have a 40g breeder and a 29
I start with praziquantual then formalin then a cupramine based product, but at the end of the day it all depends on the rep of the place you got the fish was it clean, were they doing the propper maintenance,were the fish wild or captive bred,stock level,were they dosing copper in store display,all of these are all questions a buyer should ask,I used to not believe in qt I was so wrong,but eventually you will lose a fish maybe a couple,not only will you feel guilty but your pockets will start hurting aswell,It doesnt matter if you have 2 pennies to rub together or own the whole bank anybody can qt it can be as simple as a plastic tote and doing wc bi weekly and topping off by hand and running sponge filter and airstone(some products will deoxygenate the water) or something more elaborate but always know the were and how why behind your fish before you buy and decide for you self as a buyer the reputation of the person selling you the fish by asking questions stated above even the cleanest of store can have a dirty secret... Just my 2 cents

 

[UnderseaOddities]

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 all depends on the situation aswell,as a buyer we need to determine if we are buying wild ,mariculture,conditioned or aquacultured .wild and maricultured should always be dipped in coral rx and an iodine based product(if your old-school Bayer dip) and inspect the pieces for pest(eggs starfish nudis peeling tissues residue irregularities)second look for encrusting ,hydroids,hydroxsis,slime any nuiscianse algae ,jelly any tears or bleach spots)this method is mostly for hardcorals then blast with turkey baster any detritus hitchhikers or pest will be dead within 15 mins of dipping and turkey basting. for soft corals dip and baster. for pest or bacterias in softies freshwater dip or peroxide is my go to, now this is usually only neccesary for wild or maricultured take precaution too when buying frags labeled condition these are often times wild and cut up in a chop shop and only held in a system for a short time then sold.ime when buying aquacultured frags there is no need to qt unless the system is dirty.

Quality in quality out
Wild in =more pests and pathoges
Maricultured= hardier coral but more pests and problems
Conditioned=wild renamed and repriced
Aquacultured=what we want in our systems cleanest choice grown in captivity(grown and cut at least 3 times)

 

[UnderseaOddities]

It all depends on the situation aswell,as a buyer we need to determine if we are buying wild ,mariculture,conditioned or aquacultured .wild and maricultured should always be dipped in coral rx and an iodine based product(if your old-school Bayer dip) and inspect the pieces for pest(eggs starfish nudis peeling tissues residue irregularities)second look for encrusting ,hydroids,hydroxsis,slime any nuiscianse algae ,jelly any tears or bleach spots)this method is mostly for hardcorals then blast with turkey baster any detritus hitchhikers or pest will be dead within 15 mins of dipping and turkey basting. for soft corals dip and baster. for pest or bacterias in softies freshwater dip or peroxide is my go to, now this is usually only neccesary for wild or maricultured take precaution too when buying frags labeled condition these are often times wild and cut up in a chop shop and only held in a system for a short time then sold.ime when buying aquacultured frags there is no need to qt unless the system is dirty.

Quality in quality out
Wild in =more pests and pathoges
Maricultured= hardier coral but more pests and problems
Conditioned=wild renamed and repriced
Aquacultured=what we want in our systems cleanest choice grown in captivity(grown and cut at least 3 times)

Also know which corals are more prone to disaese corals in the euphildae family(torches hammers,yayas,divisas) always get jelly

Zoas always are disaese prone(zoapox umbrella syndrome) these need dipped and baster regarly and a healthy zoas should react and close up when based or when you move your hand under the light

Montis carry pests like nudibranch and nucianse starfish

If you buy full colonies on a rock you gotta look out for flatworms and your nucianse algaes, also lookout for dinoflagellates hydroids pryoxsis and cyano

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

I have been selling qted fish and inverts for 15 plus years. (last 5 commercially all over US, Canada and few international countries)
In 15 yrs i have had only 5-7 people that complaint that their fish got ich or velvet. After examining furthur, in ALL cases they added either frags, corals, rock or sand and or algae like chaeto from a non qt scale.
Only 1 person that had ich in system, drained and reset it dry and started over, complaint having ich which we could not conclude how it happenned unless it managed to survive reseting process or if made it through on one of my fish which leaves an argument that why didnt anyone else from the same tankmates get ich as well.

Anyways so if you see the chances are rare but do exist.
Best practice is to qt all fish or buy from qt vendor like myself, and or atleast scrub and wash your incoming corals and inverts if not qt them properly.