Quarantine and new tanks

[austinl]

Hey everyone,

I'm getting ready to add a very small clean up crew and two clowns to my new tank.

My question is this...would you skip quarantine in a fresh system? Or would you still put them in a smaller quarantine tank?

Obviously future additions of fish/coral would go into quarantine.

 

[sa6hir]

DO NOT add anything without quarantine. Including cuc and corals. The best thing to do is buy the corals and clean up crew, snails, Crabs, urchin, starfish etc and leave them in quarantine without adding an medz. Cuc and corals are just carriers so if left in quarantine say 6 weeks, parasites etc will die off due to not having any host to feed off i.e. Fish. Then once you got your corals and cuc you can srart with fish & treat with meds if required . Also remember if say you brought a hammer coral and 4 weeks later you brought a shrimp/torch coral your quarantine clock will restart from the time u added your last edition. The reason to add coral and cuc first is because they are sensitive to many meds. Hope this helps.

 

[Brew12]

Also remember if say you brought a hammer coral and 4 weeks later you brought a shrimp/torch coral your quarantine clock will restart from the time u added your last edition.

I agree with almost all of this, except this one point. For coral pests, the clock does reset when you add new corals. From a fish parasite perspective it does not as long as you are careful not transfer any water by dipping corals or rinsing inverts. Ich and velvet will only attach to a coral or invert if they drop directly off of a fish. If you add a coral with ich on it, that ich will hatch but the new generation will starve without reattaching to other coral or inverts in the tank. For most coral and inverts it is recommended to leave them in QT for 76 days. For shrimp and some crabs you can move them out of the DT when they molt.

 

[austinl]

Thanks for the replies guys. I undestand and agree with the concepts and timelines however my question is more along the lines of can the main tank be used as the first quarantine spot in this case for two fish and a small cuc, and then all subsequent additions go through the normal quarantine process in a different tank.

As the system is new the quarantine system is also new. I have seeded the main system but not a quarantine system as of yet. Meaning no food source for a clean up crew.

Corals I will be adding later after once there is a more stable system and then of course will be put in quarantine.

 

[sa6hir]

Thanks for the replies guys. I undestand and agree with the concepts and timelines however my question is more along the lines of can the main tank be used as the first quarantine spot in this case for two fish and a small cuc, and then all subsequent additions go through the normal quarantine process in a different tank.

Simple answer is NO...

Once if you do introduce ICH/velvet to your system the only way to treat it would be to treat fish with meds and leave tank fish less for 6 weeks + so u will have to remove the fish, you don't want to add copper to display. So save the heartache. Even if the fish don't show signs doesn't mean they are free of ich/valves.

 

[CarrieB]

Ideally, you should leave a new tank fishless for 76 days. This ensures that you aren't starting out with parasites in the tank. The CUC should be in the tank during this time, because it's QT for them, too.

Put the fish through a separate QT.

 

[Brew12]

Thanks for the replies guys. I undestand and agree with the concepts and timelines however my question is more along the lines of can the main tank be used as the first quarantine spot in this case for two fish and a small cuc, and then all subsequent additions go through the normal quarantine process in a different tank.

As the system is new the quarantine system is also new. I have seeded the main system but not a quarantine system as of yet. Meaning no food source for a clean up crew.

Corals I will be adding later after once there is a more stable system and then of course will be put in quarantine.

I wouldn't recommend it, especially when starting with clowns. Clowns can carry Ich and Velvet but, because of their thick slime coats, they may never show symptoms.
I know many people think it is overkill, but I have treated every fish that has gone into my DT with both copper and Prazipro prior to going in the tank. I've had it stocked for 6 months now and have only lost my royal gramma. No idea what happened to him but I worry I trapped him in a cave when cleaning the tank.
It is very comforting to know that my tank is very likely to be disease free.

That said, I am a big fan of the Paul B method of using live food and great husbandry to allow fish to develop an immunity. Unfortunately, I don't live on a coast so getting live food to feed them daily would be a huge time and financial burden. So I stick with as solid a QT plan as I possibly can.

 

[austinl]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

I have done some further reading and if I am understanding the whole tormont and cyst stages I am wondering if this would work.

My proposed stocking plan is as follows

CUC (small amount first)
Fish
Corals

Having both a new system and a 20 gallon setup as a quarantine tank would this be a good way to start out.

Place the starter CUC in the main display tank to combat the start up algae. No other additions to main system for 76 days.

First fish placed into the quarantine tank and medicated appropriately for ick etc etc. (76 days as well?)

Once fish have cleared quarantine add to main tank.

Clean and disinfect quarantine tank and restart with whatever the next additions are.

If next additions are fish treat as necessary for 76 days? With nothing else in the tank

If next additions are coral/inverts ensure no fish in the tank, dip corals as needed and feed inverts(no dips for inverts)



My understanding is that the cysts/tormonts if any that were on the initial inverts added to the display tank should be dead after the 76 days and would pose no harm to future inhabitants.

This allows me to quarantine in two places at once essentially if I understand correctly.

Thanks for the all the help everyone look forward to hearing your responses.

 

[Brew12]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

I have done some further reading and if I am understanding the whole tormont and cyst stages I am wondering if this would work.

My proposed stocking plan is as follows

CUC (small amount first)
Fish
Corals

Having both a new system and a 20 gallon setup as a quarantine tank would this be a good way to start out.

Place the starter CUC in the main display tank to combat the start up algae. No other additions to main system for 76 days.

First fish placed into the quarantine tank and medicated appropriately for ick etc etc. (76 days as well?)

Once fish have cleared quarantine add to main tank.

Clean and disinfect quarantine tank and restart with whatever the next additions are.

If next additions are fish treat as necessary for 76 days? With nothing else in the tank

If next additions are coral/inverts ensure no fish in the tank, dip corals as needed and feed inverts(no dips for inverts)



My understanding is that the cysts/tormonts if any that were on the initial inverts added to the display tank should be dead after the 76 days and would pose no harm to future inhabitants.

This allows me to quarantine in two places at once essentially if I understand correctly.

Thanks for the all the help everyone look forward to hearing your responses.

You have a great plan. The only thing you miss is that you don't need to QT fish for 76 days since you can treat those with copper. I like to treat the fish with copper for 14-16 days and then move them to a clean QT. Otherwise, you can treat them with copper for 30 days, remove the copper from the system, and then observe them for a week or 2.

 

[boisblancboy]

I really like Austin’s plan as I have no interest in getting any disease or parasites in my tank when I finally set it up.

I want to do things patiently and safe. With that said following what Austin is going to do and start with a small CUC will you need to supplement them with any food since there aren’t any fish to produce waste?