Looking for qt corals online
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BighohoReef
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What are you looking for? LPS, SPS, Softies? Sadly there aren’t many places that I can say “QT” The sites I’d probably trust the most are Tidal Gardens (all coral types), @Battlecorals (SPS) and Jason Fox @jfox (all coral types) you’ll pay a little bit of a premium but all well worth it. I would still recommend going through the normal procedure of dipping/inspecting the corals when get them.
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BighohoReef
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GlassMunky
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I don’t honestly know of anyone who does that. most vendors move through corals too quickly to deal with keeping them all separate for 76 days without any cross contamination.
you’re gonna have to QT them on your own.
you’re gonna have to QT them on your own.
GlassMunky
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None of them go through a Full and Proper QT of being in a fish less tank with no new additions for 76 days unfortunately.
BighohoReef
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You’re going to be hard pressed to find any vendor that does that in a shared system. I recommended those three because they are the most pest free... and Adam @Battlecorals is one of the best online vendors at keeping his systems clean. QT typically is the responsibility of the buyer, do I agree with that? No, but sadly it’s part of the culture of this hobby. You could buy from a private seller but without seeing their system how would you know? again the responsibility falls on the buyer
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The reason I recommend TD, BC and JF was because they share videos of how they run their facilities, you essentially see what type of shops they run. The bigger guys like WWC/TSA/TCK LA Divers Den, etc have quality assurance but sadly can only control so much managing the number of large systems with thousands of frags of corals. Long and short of it is you’re probably going to find similar answers from folks the best QT is ultimately you.
I’m bumping this to see if anyone else can chime in... this is a great question that I’m hoping someone in our community can help answer.
.The reason I recommend TD, BC and JF was because they share videos of how they run their facilities, you essentially see what type of shops they run. The bigger guys like WWC/TSA/TCK LA Divers Den, etc have quality assurance but sadly can only control so much managing the number of large systems with thousands of frags of corals. Long and short of it is you’re probably going to find similar answers from folks the best QT is ultimately you.
I’m bumping this to see if anyone else can chime in... this is a great question that I’m hoping someone in our community can help answer.
BighohoReef
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If he only did LPS and softies as well we’d all have pest free systems and he’d be a bazillionaire lol.
Your best source would be a local skilled fishkeeper willing to keep a coral qt running fulltime. Honestly many coral qt tanks have to go through what fish qt tanks go through of continuously being taken down or put up.
It is hard with LPS because anything can hide in their skeleton or lay eggs. With SPS you just break off the frag plug and dip and you can eliminate most pests.
You can quarantine all you want and it does not mean something may not still slip through. There are quite allot of vendors that do dip and quarantine and some are better than others. No one wants to intentionally give someone a pest it can ruin your business.
It does not mean that there still is not some pest out there we have not seen yet. It does not mean that something may become resistant to our dips and meds.
I keep a small AIO tank to quarantine everything myself no matter how much I trust something. It cost me a little over 200 to set up.
Right now for my aquaculture system I am setting up a larger tank for quarantine.
You can quarantine all you want and it does not mean something may not still slip through. There are quite allot of vendors that do dip and quarantine and some are better than others. No one wants to intentionally give someone a pest it can ruin your business.
It does not mean that there still is not some pest out there we have not seen yet. It does not mean that something may become resistant to our dips and meds.
I keep a small AIO tank to quarantine everything myself no matter how much I trust something. It cost me a little over 200 to set up.
Right now for my aquaculture system I am setting up a larger tank for quarantine.
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I know of only 2 places that QT fish for you, and it's a high premium. For corals, the better shops have done some quarantine, so you get what you pay for here.
If they're LPS, pull them out once a week for a month, dip, rinse and put back. For SPS, I'll echo what everyone else said; the ones from Battle Corals or Unique corals that are propagated (not collected or maricultured) are almost always pest free (not algae free). Always, always dip anything from anyone's tank though. It literally takes 15 minutes tops and there are a gazillion products on the market (I like bayer + 2 little fishies revive). The LPS grow so slowly that it's highly likely they're coming from the ocean, so you're best to just inspect, dip, rinse repeat for a few weeks.
If they're LPS, pull them out once a week for a month, dip, rinse and put back. For SPS, I'll echo what everyone else said; the ones from Battle Corals or Unique corals that are propagated (not collected or maricultured) are almost always pest free (not algae free). Always, always dip anything from anyone's tank though. It literally takes 15 minutes tops and there are a gazillion products on the market (I like bayer + 2 little fishies revive). The LPS grow so slowly that it's highly likely they're coming from the ocean, so you're best to just inspect, dip, rinse repeat for a few weeks.
GlassMunky
2500 Club Member
Dipping doesn’t prevent fish diseases from entering your tank though, which is what the 76 day fallow QT is for.
coral pests are easy enough to deal with and don’t require anywhere near that long of being observed.
Few coral growers keep corals in systems without fish, for good reasons. Fish perform useful functions in the tank.
Could, in theory, a fish parasite hide out on one of your coral frags? I suppose in theory. Most of us just dip and inspect, and that seems to be enough.
The following statement is just my opinion, but I dont think anyone ever got a fish disease from a coral frag.
Anyway, I suspect its a moot point because I don't think any coral growers, even the fancy >$100 frag guys, keep their corals in fish free systems. I could be wrong, in which case I'd have some questions for them about how they keep their frag tanks doing well without fish
Could, in theory, a fish parasite hide out on one of your coral frags? I suppose in theory. Most of us just dip and inspect, and that seems to be enough.
The following statement is just my opinion, but I dont think anyone ever got a fish disease from a coral frag.
Anyway, I suspect its a moot point because I don't think any coral growers, even the fancy >$100 frag guys, keep their corals in fish free systems. I could be wrong, in which case I'd have some questions for them about how they keep their frag tanks doing well without fish
Gold3nboi
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Thank you for all these replies its nice. And as i am reading everyones advice it looks like setting uo my own qt is my option when it comes to corals. I was hoping to buy and add coral to my stale tank to brighten it up faster but patience will have to be gained rn. And what are thoughts on tsmcorals?
BighohoReef
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That is the best way to ensure you don’t get pests. If more people approached the hobby this way we could keep pests from propagating as they have at least privately. Let me know if you need help setting up your QT.
Gold3nboi
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Yes that would be nice, i just have a 20 gallon long what kind of set up is required. Also does it have to be 10ft away from tank like fish qtThat is the best way to ensure you don’t get pests. If more people approached the hobby this way we could keep pests from propagating as they have at least privately. Let me know if you need help setting up your QT.
