Should inverts be qaurantined?

[Crackem]

Humblefish how long does it take for Ich or tomonts or cysts to die in a fallow tank? If I stock my tank with a cuc and sps while its fallow would there be any chance my fish that will be in qt can get Ich or other diseases when added to the dt?

 

[Humblefish]

Humblefish how long does it take for Ich or tomonts or cysts to die in a fallow tank? If I stock my tank with a cuc and sps while its fallow would there be any chance my fish that will be in qt can get Ich or other diseases when added to the dt?

72 days. That is the longest known time (Colorni and Burgess study 1997) it took for all the theronts to be released from a group of tomonts. If a theront cannot find a fish to attach to within 48 hrs, it dies. However, it's infectivity is greatly reduced just 6-8 after leaving the cyst; so much so that it's probably incapable of attaching to a fish (too weak). So you might wanna go fallow for, say, 75 days just to be completely safe. Anytime you add corals/inverts the fallow period must restart, as those are capable of "housing" tomonts i.e. the encysted stage.

 

[Flashy Fins]

Yes, if you want a 100% disease free tank, you QT everything. Coral and invert QT should be done separately from fish. Since most corals and inverts are exposed to ich in stores (fish in frag tanks; shared plumbing on all tanks), I think of them as covered in tomonts and QT 10 weeks fallow with NO new additions in that time (clock starts over, otherwise); fish QT is done in tanks that only have fish.

If you QT all life together, you cannot run copper and certain other meds. Even if you avoid medications, the certainty of tank transfer method on a fish is undone by sticking it in a tank with other life that has been exposed to ich in the last 10 weeks, including snails, coral, and just about anything else wet/alive.

My coral and invert QT is a 10g, but I think I'm going to switch to a 20g, since evaporation each day makes it hard to keep the salinity from swinging wildly, given the impact on such a small volume of water. Corals aren't too happy in there right now.

 

[Humblefish]

Yup, you can't QT corals/inverts & fish together as that will cancel out the benefits of proper QT.

 

[Tek]

What if the coral doesn't have a base or a plug?

I keep mainly sps so I anti pest dip and use a brush to scrape of anything suspicious.

 

[tjiddy]

When QTing fish, it's an active process with medicating, dips, and water changes. What do you do to the coral/inverts while quarantining? Just leave them in the fallow QT tank?

 

[Flashy Fins]

When QTing fish, it's an active process with medicating, dips, and water changes. What do you do to the coral/inverts while quarantining? Just leave them in the fallow QT tank?

Yes, for inverts. With corals, I dip them before the go in and watch for pests during their stay in QT. I also dip before they go into the main tank, unless the coral had a bad reaction to the dip the first time (rare, but does happen).

Some people who do not care to do a full QT on inverts like shrimp will rinse them off with clean saltwater, put them in new saltwater for a few days to let them poop out anything funky they might have in their system and/or wait for them to molt, then do another clean saltwater rinse, before adding them to their main tank. Much better than adding them directly to the tank, but personally, I feel most comfortable placing mine in the coral QT for those 10 weeks.

 

[Humblefish]

Yes, for inverts. With corals, I dip them before the go in and watch for pests during their stay in QT. I also dip before they go into the main tank, unless the coral had a bad reaction to the dip the first time (rare, but does happen).

+1 Those who choose to forgo coral QT should at least do a dip like CoralRx. It probably won't save you from encysted tomonts (fish parasites) or eggs from coral pests, but it does eradicate some of the nasties. For inverts, you can at least pour some tank water over the specimen before he goes into your DT. Again, it won't help if there's anything stuck to the shell or exoskeleton, but it should wash away any theronts i.e. free swimmers that just happen to be in a drop of water on the animal.

 

[Crackem]

Hi again
I just want confirmation that I can stock my display with a cuc and sps frags(after I dip frags) without doing qt if my tank has no fish in it. After I put my last frag and cuc in then I should qt everything from that point on. I will go fallow after I put the last frag, snail, or crab in for at least 72 days.

 

[Flashy Fins]

Hi again
I just want confirmation that I can stock my display with a cuc and sps frags(after I dip frags) without doing qt if my tank has no fish in it. After I put my last frag and cuc in then I should qt everything from that point on. I will go fallow after I put the last frag, snail, or crab in for at least 72 days.

Yes, you can, since in your case the display will serve as a fallow QT during those 72 days.

 

[Chapo]

dang wish I read this 10 min ago !

 

[Crackem]

Hi I am quoting myself to get an answer to another question I have. My 120 Is now fallow but I plan on adding sps frags so that I don't have to quarantine them. I am dipping them tho.

How do I make sure my tank stays cycled with out having any fish in it? I've been feeding my cuc some pellets a few times a week. I also added some seachem stability after a water change as directed. I was also planning on adding Dr Tims all in one. How can I be sure my tank stays cycled so I can add fish after they get qt? I plan on going fallow for at least 72 days after the last frag is added. Any additional sps frags will be put in qt once fish are added to the display.

Hi again
I just want confirmation that I can stock my display with a cuc and sps frags(after I dip frags) without doing qt if my tank has no fish in it. After I put my last frag and cuc in then I should qt everything from that point on. I will go fallow after I put the last frag, snail, or crab in for at least 72 days.

 

[Humblefish]

How do I make sure my tank stays cycled with out having any fish in it? I've been feeding my cuc some pellets a few times a week. I also added some seachem stability after a water change as directed. I was also planning on adding Dr Tims all in one. How can I be sure my tank stays cycled so I can add fish after they get qt? I plan on going fallow for at least 72 days after the last frag is added. Any additional sps frags will be put in qt once fish are added to the display.

Keep doing what you're doing. Just tossing in a pinch of flake every 2-3 days will sufficiently maintain bacteria levels. There will still be some bacteria die-off, so I recommend adding all your fish back over 2-3 weeks to avoid a possible mini-cycle. Add the small, sissy fish ahead of the larger, more aggressive ones.

 

[Crackem]

Sounds good humblefish, and I'd like to thank you for all the advice you've given to me. Adding all fish over a 2-3 week timeline might be hard to do because my qt is a 20 long. I'm sure I'll have more questions,Thank You again.