Anemone QT

SeaJay · Apr 8, 2019

I know this has been addressed on many occasions, but when I search it all I find is seemingly equal amounts of conflicting information. Some say quarantine everything, including Nems, others say let them expel their water and put them straight in display. I see rinse, don’t rise, etc. I have come to believe in quarantining everything, however if I had to wait 9 months to get an anemone because of their sensitivity to unstable water parameters, then how does it deal with being placed in a sterile qt?

I set up this little QT specifically for inverts using live sand and live rock from my DT and let it run for a few weeks doing a little ghost feeding and adding fritz 9.

My green bubble tip from divers den arrives tomorrow. Do I put him in my display or in this QT? I was going to put him in QT for 16 days as per the writeup I read by @Humblefish, but the consensus seems to be that it’s not necessary. What say ye R2R?

Kyl · Apr 8, 2019

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

*Not sure why that posted only half of what I had written. I would go with the 16+ days personally. If you're going through all the work to set up and QT in the first place, why not ensure there is as little chance as possible to introduce something into your display.

SeaJay · Apr 8, 2019

Kyl said:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

That’s what I was basing my original 16 day plan on. So it’s safe to assume that amount of time in a qt won’t have a significant negative affect on the nem? With all the fuss about not putting Nems in a new tank, what makes quarantine the exception? Is it just a short time frame they are able to tolerate?

Kyl · Apr 9, 2019

My experience is a bit different as my fallow QT is running 24/7 as a stand alone frag system, and it's been up for a bit over a year. If I was just throwing together like a 10 gallon or something, seeding it with tank rock etc would be my idea to start with like you've done, along with tank water, like my waste water from a water change. I find RBTA to be pretty hardy though, and you can always do a squirt of mysis for them after it finds a spot. Lighting would probably be the largest issue with a small QT system longer term.

SeaJay · Apr 9, 2019

He came today. I’m sure he’s stressed from his travels, but I don’t know much about these things so please let me know what you think.

I floated his bag and now he’s been drip acclimating for about 2 hours.

SeaJay · Apr 9, 2019

D-Nak · Apr 10, 2019

It depends on the nem and where and how it was acquired.

If it's "captive raised" (I hate using that term because it's difficult to define "wild" versus "captive") meaning it's come out of someone else's tank and it's been established for a while, I just temperature acclimate then dump it in my tank.

If it's "wild" meaning it was recently imported and purchased at a LFS, then I QT for a few weeks. This is done in a bare tank without sand or live rock. I do this because if the nem shows signs of infection, I can quickly treat with Cipro. Cipro can possibly kill beneficial bacteria which is why there is no live rock or sand. Also, the proper way to treat with Cipro requires 100% water changes, which would be hard to do unless it was a bare tank.

lapin · Apr 10, 2019

+1 Above @D-Nak says
Here is my Nem in current QT

OrionN · Apr 12, 2019

What do you want, or hope to achieve in QT? What specific disease. Quarantine is not a one size fit all type of activity.
I don't QT my fish but QT my corals, clams and anemones to make sure they are healthy before put them into my tank. I can tell if the animals are healthy after observer them for about 1 week.

SeaJay · Apr 12, 2019

OrionN said:
What do you want, or hope to achieve in QT? What specific disease. Quarantine is not a one size fit all type of activity.
I don't QT my fish but QT my corals, clams and anemones to make sure they are healthy before put them into my tank. I can tell if the animals are healthy after observer them for about 1 week.

I had a velvet outbreak that wiped out most of my livestock. I do not have corals and no plans to currently. I just want to adhere to a strict protocol to avoid another DT disaster. Also with something that could be difficult to remove from the display for treatment I’d rather observe in at until I’m certain it’s healthy.