Are pests unavoidable?

[PugsAndFish]

Are pests unavoidable if you don't qt your corals? I used dry rock and dipped everything in coral rx but somehow ended up getting some pests (and some good things like pods). The pests aren't too bad. It's a few aiptasia i took care of and bubble algae, both of which are under control. I got some sponges too but they're supposedly good.

If unavoidable if you don't qt, I'm thinking of just re-using my bio media in my new tank to help the tank mature faster since I'll get the pests in my old tank in my new tank any ways.

 

[Coralreefer1]

Best thing you can do is inspect your coral for unwanted hitchhikers!

 

[hoppy]

I feel your pain- I’m in the same boat- started with all dry rock and sand, dipped all corals, quarantined fish and chatteo and yet have aptasia (mojano’s) and now I see a healthy bristle worm population- I’m guessing came in either on chatteo unnoticed or on a snail/ in a dead shell.
Hindsight I may have been able to prevent this with even stricter quarantine. Obviously just being cautious isn’t enough.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I think you'll find a variety of answers to your question. In part it depends on how expensive the stuff in your tank is and how much do you want to protect it.

When I started I didn't quarantine or dip. I got aiptasia which I had to work to remove. So I started a QT for fish and just did inspections of new coral. After years of doing the quarantine tank for livestock, especially since I do collect wild livestock from the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico (legally with a license). But I never had any issues with fish or any of the wide variety of animals I was bringing home, I quit using the QT. I also had a 65g shallow reef tank (4'x2'x14") and I put most of the wild caught livestock I collected in that tank to observe (not quarantine). I never had any issues. I sold my big DT and the shallow reef tank and now I just have a 40g cube DT and a 16g 'holding' tank. The 40g DT has all kinds of animals in it, some that I literally pick up off the beach!

IMHO, I think I've had way more issues with livestock I've bought online, from any LFS or even from friends who reef than I have with any of the wild collected livestock! But then if something bad happens to my tank, it's just full of zoas and anemones and I'd be out about $500 in livestock. For comparison purposes, my 120g DT had $2500 worth of sps corals and a defective chiller that didn't turn off killed 80% of my coral (all sps).

 

[lapin]

Are pests unavoidable if you don't qt your corals?

Yes but you could get lucky and not have any pests on your incoming corals. Kinda like winning the lotto.

 

[Subsea]

I have never qt in 47 years. @Paul B & I are in the camp that sees stress kill more fish than parasites or pathogens combined. Healthy auto immune system is a reefers best friend. A healthy diet of live food will cure what ails you. To that end, I use natural food webs which process inorganic & organic nutrients to feed live food of differrent sizes.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I have never qt in 47 years. @Paul B & I are in the camp that sees stress kill more fish than parasites or pathogens combined. Healthy auto immune system is a reefers best friend. A healthy diet of live food will cure what ails you. To that end, I use natural food webs which process inorganic & organic nutrients to feed live food of differrent sizes.

I don't think the OP is talking about fish parasites such as ich.. Moreso coral pests.. flatworms, aiptasia, red bugs, etc.

 

[PugsAndFish]

I don't think the OP is talking about fish parasites such as ich.. Moreso coral pests.. flatworms, aiptasia, red bugs, etc.

Yea I'm talking about coral pests - aiptasia, bubble algae, dinos, etc.

QTing corals is super pricey (tank, filter, light, ATO, dosing, etc). It's like a second system even though you could get away with a non-display type thing.

I went ahead and put in some of my old stuff into my new tank since it's unavoidable for the most part and I won't be qting future frags. Fingers crossed.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Yea I'm talking about coral pests - aiptasia, bubble algae, dinos, etc.

QTing corals is super pricey (tank, filter, light, ATO, dosing, etc). It's like a second system even though you could get away with a non-display type thing.

I went ahead and put in some of my old stuff into my new tank since it's unavoidable for the most part and I won't be qting future frags. Fingers crossed.

Personally, I think it is totally avoidable and worthwhile with coral QT. I've had AEFW a few years ago and I never want to go through it again.. That makes it worth the effort for me.

 

[tankstudy]

Yea I'm talking about coral pests - aiptasia, bubble algae, dinos, etc.

QTing corals is super pricey (tank, filter, light, ATO, dosing, etc). It's like a second system even though you could get away with a non-display type thing.

I went ahead and put in some of my old stuff into my new tank since it's unavoidable for the most part and I won't be qting future frags. Fingers crossed.

QT'ing is very pricey. It's why I prefer to buy in bulk and QT all at once.

Despite 2-4 month QT, I still have some aptasia but I'm not too worried about a some aptasia. Compared to sea spiders, they are nothing.

I still QT everything though, 1 spider is all it takes to end my entire collection.

 

[Rcpilot]

You can eaily make a small, cheap QT with a 10g tank, powerhead, heater and a sponge for bacterial filtration. It's not really that expensive to run a QT tank, when you compare it to the damage pests can do in your reef. How much coral does the average reefer have in a 75g tank or 100g tank? I'd venture at least $1,000 -- $1,500 just in corals. If you only bought small frags and were willing to wait for them to grow out into colonies -- still several hundred dollars in coral livestock. We're not even talking about the fish - because OP was more concerned with coral pests for the time being.

There's a few different schools of thought on operating QT's. Some people save up and buy a lot of coral in one big purchase. They use the QT, and then take it down. Saves the expense and hassle of running the QT 24/7/365. Others use the QT as a side tank and it pretty much stays running all the time, usually by housing 1 trouble maker fish who isn't exactly a model citizen in the DT. When the QT is needed, the problem fish goes in the sump or someplace else until the QT tank is empty again. Having 1 small fish in a QT keeps the bacteria colonies alive when the QT isn't actually being used as a hospital. When the QT has served its purpose for the newest shipment of frags or fishies -- and it's all cleaned and reset -- Mr. Not-A-Model-Citizen fish gets to have his bedroom back.

 

[PugsAndFish]

You can eaily make a small, cheap QT with a 10g tank, powerhead, heater and a sponge for bacterial filtration. It's not really that expensive to run a QT tank, when you compare it to the damage pests can do in your reef. How much coral does the average reefer have in a 75g tank or 100g tank? I'd venture at least $1,000 -- $1,500 just in corals. If you only bought small frags and were willing to wait for them to grow out into colonies -- still several hundred dollars in coral livestock. We're not even talking about the fish - because OP was more concerned with coral pests for the time being.

There's a few different schools of thought on operating QT's. Some people save up and buy a lot of coral in one big purchase. They use the QT, and then take it down. Saves the expense and hassle of running the QT 24/7/365. Others use the QT as a side tank and it pretty much stays running all the time, usually by housing 1 trouble maker fish who isn't exactly a model citizen in the DT. When the QT is needed, the problem fish goes in the sump or someplace else until the QT tank is empty again. Having 1 small fish in a QT keeps the bacteria colonies alive when the QT isn't actually being used as a hospital. When the QT has served its purpose for the newest shipment of frags or fishies -- and it's all cleaned and reset -- Mr. Not-A-Model-Citizen fish gets to have his bedroom back.

For QTing corals, what if there is a pest in the QT tank? Ideally, wouldn't it be best to move from one qt to another if the first one is infected? Let's say it has spiders in the qt tank. Assuming the only way to kill them is to nuke the tank, then what?

 

[Rcpilot]

For QTing corals, what if there is a pest in the QT tank? Ideally, wouldn't it be best to move from one qt to another if the first one is infected? Let's say it has spiders in the qt tank. Assuming the only way to kill them is to nuke the tank, then what?

Wouldn't your QT be "clean" before the next round of frags is introduced? I've heard of people using 2, even 3 tanks to properly QT a fish. New fish would be placed in the "hospital" , monitored and treated. Then moved to a sort of "halfway house" for further observation and acclimation to foods and environment. Then finally moved into the DT, months after the initial purchase.

 

[that Reef Guy]

Remember Dipping might Take Care of Adult Pests.

But it Does NOT Kill Eggs.

After Dipping I Inspect all Corals with a High Powered Magnifying Glass used to Look at Rare Coins to see if Pests Laid any Eggs.

Taking the Coral off the Plug and Gluing it onto a New Plug is also HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

 

[O'l Salty]

Montipora eating nudibranchs are well worth QTing your corals for.