Inverts/Chaeto Quarantining

JSK · Aug 15, 2020

Hi there! I’m completely new to the saltwater hobby. I have a Red Sea Reefer 425 which has a Royal Gramma and two Clownfish in at the moment, been running about 2 months.

I’ve set up a quarantine tank, I would like to buy maybe about 10 snails and a cleaner shrimp and keep them in quarantine for a month. Does this sound like a good starting number of inverts for a new tank? And could anyone see any issues with quarantining some macro algae in the same tank with the inverts for this time...?
Thank you for your help and any advice.

ichthyogeek · Aug 15, 2020

Depends on what you're quarantining for. Ectoparasites (ich, velvet, brooklynella, etc.) can be quarantined against, as you're essentially quarantining them in a fallow tank. I believe that it's a 76 (for 100% case against ich) day quarantine, and 18 days is the normal cycle. Check out the Disease subforum for fallow options (i.e. how long to quarantine them for)!

Uronema's a no go, and I've yet to find a yay/nay on how to treat for uronema except copper and bleach...which will kill inverts and possibly macroalgae. Bacteria will always come in as well.

As for invert quantity, that looks like a good amount! What types of snails are you planning on buying, since turbos eat more than astraeas, and nassarius are different than other snails etc etc.

JSK · Aug 15, 2020

Okay lovely thanks! Yes, I would like to quarantine them in a fallow tank to protect my main tank from ich etc.

I was planning on Nassarius Snails but I’m not overly sure as I’m new to this, but I wasn’t planning on getting Turbo Snails. So if you any have recommendations that would be brilliant. Thanks again!