Do you REALLY quarantine your coral for Ich?

[Punchanello]

Really interested in people's experiences here.

Do you give your corals the 76 week quarantine fallow treatment? Have you ever suspected a frag brought Ich to your tank in the tomont stage? If you don't quarantine coral for Ich, do you have a method to manage the risk?

I'm seriously considering my options. Having lost fish to Ich and on my second fallow attempt I'm wondering what it really takes and what an acceptable level of risk might be.

 

[Lizfrank1234]

I personally have QT all my frags so far for 76 days

 

[Big G]

I QT my fish
I QT my corals for 76 days
I QT my inverts for 76 days
I QT my macroalgae 16 days

 

[Punchanello]

I QT my fish
I QT my corals for 76 days
I QT my inverts for 76 days
I QT my macroalgae 16 days

Can you walk me through your invert and coral QT set up? Why only 16 days for the macroalgae? Thank you

 

[Punchanello]

Just came across the sticky - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

I have seen two youtube videos in the past week effectively calling QT a waste of time and in some cases more harmful than ich. I was particularly annoyed that neither person had experienced fish losses due to ich and were still offering this advice along with a bunch of inaccurate, anecdotal and unscientific info.

I just can't justify this line of thinking.

 

[Big G]

Just came across the sticky - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

Yep. That's the guideline based on science not just anecdotal experience.

 

[Reefahholic]

I don’t QT coral, but should. Yep...it’s like playing Russian Roulette. I do QT snails and macro algae though, because I’ve had ICH come in on both of those.

When I get ICH from a coral, I’ll start QT’ing coral from that day forward. I do dip and rinse all my frags well and brush them with a soft bristled tooth brush. I’m sure this has helped me on the coral end.

 

[Cthulukelele]

You're going to get a skewed view of how many people actually do this on here. There are definitely people who qt every coral. I haven't met a single one of them IRL. Obviously it is beneficial, but it's an unrealistic burden for most people.

Also here's my own personal bias at play. As someone whose job involves regular use of aseptic technique, I find it highly likely that something as ubiquitous and robust as ich has made its way into nearly every tank in existence at one life stage or another.

Good water parameters, decent fish qt process for treating obvious problems, high quality food, and low stress environments seem to be far and away the most important things from what I have read/the people I have met IRL for having a happy, healthy, disease free fish population.

 

[User]

Just came across the sticky - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

I have seen two youtube videos in the past week effectively calling QT a waste of time and in some cases more harmful than ich. I was particularly annoyed that neither person had experienced fish losses due to ich and were still offering this advice along with a bunch of inaccurate, anecdotal and unscientific info.

I just can't justify this line of thinking.

Lol, I love that Leo and his shoebox QT are still the pic fir that thread

 

[GatorScott]

To be honest I don’t QT anything lol. But I only have 3 fish and I do dip my corals before going in the tank

 

[Punchanello]

Good water parameters, decent fish qt process for treating obvious problems, high quality food, and low stress environments seem to be far and away the most important things from what I have read/the people I have met IRL for having a happy, healthy, disease free fish population.

I imagine for the most part that is enough for most people to achieve those results.

My problem is that I keep meeting and speaking to far too many people who have sworn by less that 'best practice' QT protocols or ich management or russian roulette or snake oil and claimed long term success without incident or death, only to be wiped out and never seen again. They rarely come back for the good of other reefers and say, "you know what? I got it wrong. Don't do that".

My frustration comes with the intellectual dishonesty or at best, ignorance posing as expert opinion that we see so much of on this topic (not a reference to you). There's a guy on Youtube right now who's sponsored, only had a tank for nearing on two years, has never lost a fish and therefore is encouraging others not to QT or treat prophylactically and spreading opinions like, Ich is like a cold.

I know few people will go to the extent that I might to manage the risk of ich or other diseases and that many of them might be just fine. I also know few go to the extent that they claim they do.

 

[Mariette]

I know this is an older thread but I stumbled upon it while searching for coral quarantine protocols and I just had to weigh in.

I QUARANTINE ALL INVERTS AND CORALS FOR 76 DAYS. I usually do 3 maths just for fun. I literally was in a coral store a few weeks ago hoping to buy fish and macro algae w the staff swearing up and down that they have practically no chance of fish diseases. I asked how, assuming lady would tell me about their qt process but she said it’s because MOST of their fish are captive bred. Yeah. I then witnessed another staff member accept a coral trade in from a walk in and place the coral straight into the display with the other corals. The sales lady, registering my horror, assured me the corals have an entirely different water system than the fish and so diseases can’t transfer. I agreed to buy the fish and algae with a mental note to quarantine. Would you believe the lady then took a bag of water FROM THE CORAL TANK to place my fish in?!? Lady then Tried to sell me just the macro algae assuring me parasites don’t eat algae. No concept of water being contaminated or cross contamination. I was baffled. Needless to say, I left empty handed. I’ve had my tank nearly wiped out twice from disease and it’s absolutely heartbreaking. I DONT TRUST ANYONE. QUARANTINE EVERYTHING!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

 

[4FordFamily]

Just came across the sticky - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

I have seen two youtube videos in the past week effectively calling QT a waste of time and in some cases more harmful than ich. I was particularly annoyed that neither person had experienced fish losses due to ich and were still offering this advice along with a bunch of inaccurate, anecdotal and unscientific info.

I just can't justify this line of thinking.

To answer your original question, yes everything wet is quarantined. I have a coral/invert quarantine set up for this purpose. Actually, it is at @HotRocks house.

I have in fact added coral and added velvet AND ich to my tank on a few occasions leading to my new "policy".

People that call QT a waste of time don't keep a lot of expert level fish, acanthurus tangs, etc. Find me someone that keeps a lot of expensive, difficult to keep fish, and has for a long time and I'll show you someone that quarantines or has a MASSIVE system and other techniques at work (unbelievably powerful UV and other methods).

 

[HotRocks]

I know this is an older thread but I stumbled upon it while searching for coral quarantine protocols and I just had to weigh in.

I QUARANTINE ALL INVERTS AND CORALS FOR 76 DAYS. I usually do 3 maths just for fun. I literally was in a coral store a few weeks ago hoping to buy fish and macro algae w the staff swearing up and down that they have practically no chance of fish diseases. I asked how, assuming lady would tell me about their qt process but she said it’s because MOST of their fish are captive bred. Yeah. I then witnessed another staff member accept a coral trade in from a walk in and place the coral straight into the display with the other corals. The sales lady, registering my horror, assured me the corals have an entirely different water system than the fish and so diseases can’t transfer. I agreed to buy the fish and algae with a mental note to quarantine. Would you believe the lady then took a bag of water FROM THE CORAL TANK to place my fish in?!? Lady then Tried to sell me just the macro algae assuring me parasites don’t eat algae. No concept of water being contaminated or cross contamination. I was baffled. Needless to say, I left empty handed. I’ve had my tank nearly wiped out twice from disease and it’s absolutely heartbreaking. I DONT TRUST ANYONE. QUARANTINE EVERYTHING!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

While it can be frustrating having to have at least 3 tanks to maintain a disease free system, it's 100% necessary IMO.

Coral/Invert QT, Fish QT, and a DT...

Or if you are like 4fordfamily and I, 6 fish QTs, a coral QT, it goes on and on and on...

 

[Cucu]

It is the best to prevent diseases. I left the coral in quarantine for 50 days before entering the aquarium

 

[Manthanol]

I also QT anything wet before going to DT. I'm running 3 fish QTs and 1 coral QT these days. Not everyone survives but the survivors are doing very well. Coral QT will help eliminate fish parasites and coral parasites such as nudibranchs. These will eat up your corals so fast and it's rampant in the trade.

 

[Big G]

While it can be frustrating having to have at least 3 tanks to maintain a disease free system, it's 100% necessary IMO.

Coral/Invert QT, Fish QT, and a DT...

Or if you are like 4fordfamily and I, 6 fish QTs, a coral QT, it goes on and on and on...

This ^^^ exactly + 1,o00,000

 

[Max93]

What I do is:

get new Coral and fish at the same time. Or, let’s say that I buy fish and then get some coral a week later. I restart my 30 day quarantine clock. This is bad because I am using my newly acquired fish as a bait for finding ich but, easy to treat with tank transfer method:

I put all inverts, fish and Coral in the same quarantine tank and start a 30 day countdown. I always always do two five day treatments with prazi. I don’t do copper unless I notice ich. Copper is borderline poison so unless I see it I don’t treat with it.

AEFW have an approximate 28 day life cycle when it comes to starvation. Ich is 76 days as we know, however if I don’t see any symptoms of ich on any of the fish in QT within those 30 full days of adding inverts and or Coral I know I do not have any ich and there is no need for me to have a second separate QT tank.

I do have a 220 gallon system though, so those of you with nanos cant realistically do my method because you’ll run out of room for fish quickly. Unless you just get everything all at once in a bigger Qt tank..

I’m basically maximizing on my time by taking a smaller risk and potentially getting the new fish sick with ich by using them as a signal. Better this than wrecking a 220 gallon system entirely with all the other animals that are 100% quarantined.

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Good water parameters, decent fish qt process for treating obvious problems, high quality food, and low stress environments seem to be far and away the most important things from what I have read/the people I have met IRL for having a happy, healthy, disease free fish population.

How is your tank coming along ? I have a friend who’s had a tank set up who NEVER quarantines a single animal in his tank. From what he told me, he lost a couple fishes in the beginning but now never loses a single one.

He is extremely hands off on his reef and from my perspective, neglects his reef. Somehow, his reef is full pf coralline and happy fish. His tank seems to be very stable, although his numbers have been tested to be out of range

 

[Cthulukelele]

How is your tank coming along ? I have a friend who’s had a tank set up who NEVER quarantines a single animal in his tank. From what he told me, he lost a couple fishes in the beginning but now never loses a single one.

He is extremely hands off on his reef and from my perspective, neglects his reef. Somehow, his reef is full pf coralline and happy fish. His tank seems to be very stable, although his numbers have been tested to be out of range

No issues with disease. Only lost 1 fish in the last year who swam into an overflow and 1 who jumped through a crack. Fat healthy fish. Tank isn't in show off condition rn because there's algae all over cuz I've been slacking on water changes, but all the fish are fat and happy. Corals are doing well too mainly big softies and then nems