Coral Quarantine

Empress · Dec 7, 2016

Does TTM work on corals?

Or do I have to just observe in a regular observation tank? And if so, can it be as short as 14 days? Or do I have to wait it out for 30 days?

It's soooo HARD being patient especially with Christmas coming up. I want my tank to be bee-u-t-ful for when my parents visit! [emoji319]

RamsReef · Dec 7, 2016

Technically you are supposed to wait 74 days

helen ann · Dec 7, 2016

Hi .. there is a section here on QTing corals.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

Post 1 towards the bottom.

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 7, 2016

@Humblefish #reefsquad

for pests keep a close eye, nudis appear to be an 8 to 16 day egg hatch.
you'll also want to consider algae growth, and possible redips over time(for pest and alge).
flatworms I don't know yet(YET!!!

)
an algaecide might be a good thing too,or algae fix or, I can believe im saying it because I dont know what it is yet, but the vibrant route or other algicides would be a great Idea in qt.

Brew12 · Dec 7, 2016

Empress said:
Does TTM work on corals?

Or do I have to just observe in a regular observation tank? And if so, can it be as short as 14 days? Or do I have to wait it out for 30 days?

It's soooo HARD being patient especially with Christmas coming up. I want my tank to be bee-u-t-ful for when my parents visit! [emoji319]

Unfortunately, yes you should QT coral for at least 72 days from a fish perspective.

There is a positive though. As long as you never have fish in your invert QT the clock for each piece doesn't reset.

Once an individual coral has been in QT for 72 days it can safely go into your DT even if you have been steadily adding coral for the entire 72 days. Just don't let any QT water get into your DT.

Brew12 · Dec 7, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
@Humblefish #reefsquad

for pests keep a close eye, nudis appear to be an 8 to 16 day egg hatch.
you'll also want to consider algae growth, and possible redips over time(for pest and alge).
flatworms I don't know yet(YET!!!)
an algaecide might be a good thing too,or algae fix or, I can believe im saying it because I dont know what it is yet, but the vibrant route or other algicides would be a great Idea in qt.

I like the bayer dip on day one and a H2O2 dip on day 3 myself.

jcdeng · Dec 7, 2016

plumb yout coral qt tank to your DT's sump, just make sure there is a large enough UV on the return line from your qt back to your DT's sump. That way you can have a bee-u-t-ful display qt for your X'mas crowd to enjoy.

Humblefish · Dec 7, 2016

TTM does not work on corals. You have to isolate them in a fishless environment for 76 days to mitigate fish disease threats. Or 6 weeks would protect you from everything except one known strain of ich.

RamsReef · Dec 7, 2016

Humblefish said:
TTM does not work on corals. You have to isolate them in a fishless environment for 76 days to mitigate fish disease threats. Or 6 weeks would protect you from everything except one known strain of ich.

Always that one thing that can survive everything.

Humblefish · Dec 7, 2016

Ramasule said:
Always that one thing that can survive everything.

The problem is nobody knows just how common the 72 day ich variant is. Since it has only been encountered once, in a single study.

RamsReef · Dec 8, 2016

Humblefish said:
The problem is nobody knows just how common the 72 day ich variant is. Since it has only been encountered once, in a single study.

So they were never able to reproduce the results?

RamsReef · Dec 8, 2016

Brew12 said:
Unfortunately, yes you should QT coral for at least 72 days from a fish perspective.

There is a positive though. As long as you never have fish in your invert QT the clock for each piece doesn't reset.

Once an individual coral has been in QT for 72 days it can safely go into your DT even if you have been steadily adding coral for the entire 72 days. Just don't let any QT water get into your DT.

I thought it was 72 days since last coral piece. This was due to the possibility of ich coming in on a new piece. Or is it because its 76 days for the eggs to hatch and die, and only the eggs will be coming in on frags?

Brew12 · Dec 8, 2016

Ramasule said:
I thought it was 72 days since last coral piece. This was due to the possibility of ich coming in on a new piece. Or is it because its 76 days for the eggs to hatch and die, and only the eggs will be coming in on frags?

Nope. When the ich forms a cyst on the coral it can go up to 72 days before hatching. Once they hatch they will quickly die if there isn't a host. Unless there is a fish to feed on it cannot reproduce. So for coral and inverts the clock doesn't need to reset and as long as you don't carry over tank water it is fine.

Brew12 · Dec 8, 2016

Ramasule said:
So they were never able to reproduce the results?

I don't think they ever tried to reproduce the results.

tom reilly · Dec 8, 2016

Why aren't commercially produced corals from a no fish environment?

Brew12 · Dec 8, 2016

tom reilly said:
Why aren't commercially produced corals from a no fish environment?

I know many coral vendors keep fish in their systems, such as 6-line wrasses and tangs, to control pests and algae.

tom reilly · Dec 8, 2016

Seems it would be a positive for a coral producer to be able to say the corals come from disease free system? Even if there fish present isn't it possible to assure the fish used were disease free?

Brew12 · Dec 8, 2016

tom reilly said:
Seems it would be a positive for a coral producer to be able to say the corals come from disease free system? Even if there fish present isn't it possible to assure the fish used were disease free?

Unfortunately, no. They could never be confident that the new coral they bring in did not contain a cyst of either ich or velvet.

I guess if they ONLY grew their own coral and never introduced new corals they could do this. Let the tank go fallow for 72 days and prophylacticly treat the fish before they go into the system. That could work. Not sure how practical it would be.

Empress · Dec 8, 2016

I've never QT corals before so I don't have any lights for that.

I'll have to buy something for the 20g long. What would you suggest for mostly SPS? Something cheap, but something that will still do the job. It's going to be a long 72 days.

Also would I still need to run the HOB with media? I probably won't need any meds. I've already got a well-seeded sponge ready to go.

Thanks for all your replies! It's really appreciated. [emoji227]