New SPS frag acclimation/quarantine question

[DannyB]

Sorry if the title doesn't accurately portray what I am trying to ask here, but it is hard to sum up.

I am expecting some new acropora frags normally i just drip acclimate and dip then place in the sand of DT. I don't have a QT system suitable for coral, no light no flow, and can only fulfill a fish's needs.

So I am wondering what people have done that has worked in the past or suggestions on what should be done. I do trust the source of the frags but have started quarantining fish prior to introducing them to my system and would like to do the same for coral but just don't have the equipment for it really.

Any suggestions or recommendations are appreciated, if you just want to scold me for buying frags with no QT already in place for them, then i guess i will read it too.

Thank you in advance.

 

[DannyB]

No suggestions at all?

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Bump!

 

[Psiber_Syn]

Not sure if I'm an odd ball but I acclimate and dip and just put them in the sand don't change anything flow or light wise them slowly over a week or so move them up course I have no acros so not sure about that

 

[horseplay]

I don't do anything special other than dipping. Avoid high flow and high light in the first couple of weeks.

 

[hybridazn]

I have a qt I use, but this is what I do regardless. I first float the bags to get the Temps on par. I then drip acclimate for about an hour keeping an eye on Temps with a heater and controller I put in the bucket. After the acclimation I do a 15-20 minute Bayer dip (10 ml bayer/8oz water). Then I cut all frags off the plugshelf and reglue them to fresh plugs. I give them a good rinse in a bucket of clean tank water and give them a good inspection. After that they go in the tank to enjoy

But if I really know the person I am getting the pieces from and trust their tanks they go directly in the tank after dip with no plug removal. But I have to really trust them lol

 

[cleopt]

To the OP,

It depends how involved you're going to be with SPS. I would suggest down the road consider having a small QT system. It doesn't have to be complex nor expensive. It can be as simple as you make it. Its purpose is for temporary holding, observation and isolation. A nano tank with adequate lighting, flow and temperature along with a small fed fish and adequate export goes a long way. Consider a QT tank size that easily allows for large water changes with clean saltwater should the need arise.

A QT tank allows you to have a place for SPS corals for temporary holding and observation. And the other plus about a QT tank is that it will quickly allow you to isolate - say an SPS you recently introduced in your DT that's out of nowhere begin exhibiting stress related reaction i.e. tissue recession.

 

[DannyB]

To the OP,

It depends how involved you're going to be with SPS. I would suggest down the road consider having a small QT system. It doesn't have to be complex nor expensive. It can be as simple as you make it. Its purpose is for temporary holding, observation and isolation. A nano tank with adequate lighting, flow and temperature along with a small fed fish and adequate export goes a long way. Consider a QT tank size that easily allows for large water changes with clean saltwater should the need arise.

A QT tank allows you to have a place for SPS corals for temporary holding and observation. And the other plus about a QT tank is that it will quickly allow you to isolate - say an SPS you recently introduced in your DT that's out of nowhere begin exhibiting stress related reaction i.e. tissue recession.

It is something I will implement, i just don't have any lighting at all at this point

 

[maroun.c]

If you don't have a quarantine ready I would at least dip with any available dips Bayer Revive Coral RX... This will kill any pests but not eags that might on the corals. A quarantine will allow you to isolate and observe the coral for some time.
My regimen includes couple of dips on arrival the. Weekly dips if there is any sign of pests and if not another dip Ina week before corals go to DT. For monties I dip weekly for 3 weeks and if no sign of pests coral goes to DT.

 

[cb684]

One of the problems that I had with using a separate tank for quarantining frags, was that I would add new stressed frags to a system that is rudimentary compared to my main system; and I knew that the best chance for survival for the new frags was if I added them into my main system. Using a separate quarantine would be even harder if it was for expensive frags. I also do not like the idea of acclimating the frag to a system and then having to acclimate it again when adding to the main display.

I am not saying it does not work. Obviously separate simple (often small) setups works for many people. I just do not like the idea.

If I was adding a small quarantine tank, I would likely add a automatic water change system in my main tank system, and use the outflow to constantly add water to the frag tank. I would not use a sump, and I would let the water overflow from the quarantine to a sink drain. I would likely add a couple of small rocks, a wavemaker, and a small heater. I would likely not use ATO and probably would use a lid to decrease evaporation. I would use a similar light source I use in my display, but smaller (or with lower intensity). With that, I would not need to worry about water changes, Alk, Ca, organics, NO3, NO2, NH4, PO4, Mg, etc... And I would know I am giving the best stable environment to keep the frags alive. I am not sure what would be the best water change percentage/day for the quarantine tank, and that would be likely limited by the size of your main system. But I would add a small, shallow tank that is only 10 to 20% volume of the main system so if you do a 1% water change / day on the main system, that would be a 5 - 10% water change on the quarantine tank.

Anyways, just a thought.

CB

 

[DannyB]

One of the problems that I had with using a separate tank for quarantining frags, was that I would add new stressed frags to a system that is rudimentary compared to my main system; and I knew that the best chance for survival for the new frags was if I added them into my main system. Using a separate quarantine would be even harder if it was for expensive frags. I also do not like the idea of acclimating the frag to a system and then having to acclimate it again when adding to the main display.

I am not saying it does not work. Obviously separate simple (often small) setups works for many people. I just do not like the idea.

If I was adding a small quarantine tank, I would likely add a automatic water change system in my main tank system, and use the outflow to constantly add water to the frag tank. I would not use a sump, and I would let the water overflow from the quarantine to a sink drain. I would likely add a couple of small rocks, a wavemaker, and a small heater. I would likely not use ATO and probably would use a lid to decrease evaporation. I would use a similar light source I use in my display, but smaller (or with lower intensity). With that, I would not need to worry about water changes, Alk, Ca, organics, NO3, NO2, NO4, PO4, Mg, etc... And I would know I am giving the best, stable environment to keep the frags alive. I am not sure what would be the best water change percentage/day for the quarantine tank, and that would be likely limited by the size of your main system. But I would add a small, shallow tank that is only 10 to 20% volume of the main system so if you do a 1% water change / day on the main system, that would be a 5 - 10% water change on the quarantine tank.

Anyways, just a thought.

CB

I really like this idea.

 

[mic209]

One of the problems that I had with using a separate tank for quarantining frags, was that I would add new stressed frags to a system that is rudimentary compared to my main system; and I knew that the best chance for survival for the new frags was if I added them into my main system. Using a separate quarantine would be even harder if it was for expensive frags. I also do not like the idea of acclimating the frag to a system and then having to acclimate it again when adding to the main display.

I am not saying it does not work. Obviously separate simple (often small) setups works for many people. I just do not like the idea.

If I was adding a small quarantine tank, I would likely add a automatic water change system in my main tank system, and use the outflow to constantly add water to the frag tank. I would not use a sump, and I would let the water overflow from the quarantine to a sink drain. I would likely add a couple of small rocks, a wavemaker, and a small heater. I would likely not use ATO and probably would use a lid to decrease evaporation. I would use a similar light source I use in my display, but smaller (or with lower intensity). With that, I would not need to worry about water changes, Alk, Ca, organics, NO3, NO2, NO4, PO4, Mg, etc... And I would know I am giving the best, stable environment to keep the frags alive. I am not sure what would be the best water change percentage/day for the quarantine tank, and that would be likely limited by the size of your main system. But I would add a small, shallow tank that is only 10 to 20% volume of the main system so if you do a 1% water change / day on the main system, that would be a 5 - 10% water change on the quarantine tank.

Anyways, just a thought.

CB

Someone I knew did something similar, except he had it setup to where water from his display would drip into coral QT, that would drain into Fish QT and from the fish QT it would go down the drain. And his display was filled with new saltwater. Pretty solid system and no need to acclimate fish or coral to the display once they were done with QT/Treatment.

 

[Patrick Cox]

What do some of you do for light acclimation? I am assuming that most of the well known online vendors already have their corals under good lighting so is light acclimation much of a concern in this case?

 

[cb684]

What do some of you do for light acclimation? I am assuming that most of the well known online vendors already have their corals under good lighting so is light acclimation much of a concern in this case?

That is true but the frags will be stressed from the trip and dipping. I am sure I what I do is more than what is necessary, but I put the frags in a magnetic shelf and starting from the sand I go up about 2-3 inches every week.