Coral and invert QT/Observation tank questions

[Fish Fan]

I am trying to setup some QT and/or Observation tanks for some livestock I am hoping to bring home soon. For fish, I'm going to use the method found here on R2R and I have a tank up and running for fish.

With corals, I still need to do more research on the dipping process itself, but basically I know I want to dip them for coral bugs when I first bring them home, and then place them in their own observation thak and keep them fallow for up to 76 days to starve out any fish parasites they may also be harboring.

Could I please ask, with a coral observation tank, is it best to run this tank bare bottom and use a frag rack, or is actually better to set this tank up like its a full on reef tank with sand and rock? It seems to me that having rock and sand would help provide the most stable environment for corals in observation, and since I won't be medicating this tank, I thought this would be a good idea.

Additionally, I want to keep new inverts like crabs, snails, and shrimp away from fish. My question here is, can I keep the motile inverts in the same observation tank with the corals or is it best to have a separate tank for the corals and for the other inverts (plus a third for the fish)? If the motile inverts need their own tank, should this have sand and rock, or just bare with a dish of sand and PVC hides?

I'm in the process of setting up my quarantine systems right now, and hope to bring some livestock home soon after. I cobbled together a simple rack for 3 (and up to 6) 10 gallon tanks, as well as a 29/20L if I ever need the extra room. I'm driving the tanks with AC70's with cycled bio media, and I have the same light over the coral observation tank that I have on my display tanks. In the picture bellow, the tank on the left is temporarily housing some freshwater fish while I reboot their tank.

 

[Spare time]

QT inverts til they molt or for 45 days at 81F assuming they are not a cooler water species. Frag racks are best for corals since pests can hide in sand and rocks. Corals and inverts can be quarantined together but in one batch since anytime you add anything you reset the clock

 

[Fish Fan]

QT inverts til they molt or for 45 days at 81F assuming they are not a cooler water species. Frag racks are best for corals since pests can hide in sand and rocks. Corals and inverts can be quarantined together but in one batch since anytime you add anything you reset the clock

Thanks for your reply! I've heard the 45 day (and even 30 day) timeline for inverts, as well as the molting thing and upping the temp. My thought was I could keep all the inverts (corals included) together and just keep them all for the full 76 days, just to be extra safe. As far as the temperature, I'm not worried about expediting the process, and just to keep everything easy and consistent I'm shooting for 78F on all my tanks, QT's, DT's, even freshwater. It was also pointed out that some animals like snails don't do well at higher temps.

But you're basically saying for the coral observation tank, I should run it bare bottom and with a frag rack? This is how I had originally planned on doing it until I got to thinking it could have sand and rock. For the other inverts, I was planning on getting an CUC order from ReefCleaners, some of which, like Nassarius snails, I think would require sand? If so, then maybe it would be best to have a third tank for the motile inverts with at least a dish of sand?

And to your point about resetting the clock, I did in fact pick up my Yasha goby and Randall's pistol shrimp today, I have them currently together in one of my 10 gallon tanks. In addition, I'd like to get the CUC and some corals ordered up in the next few days to a week. I'd like to kind of get everything going on the same day, and do everything like one big batch. If I decided along the way to add another fish, for example, that fish would get its own tank and its own clock, so to speak.

Thank you again for your help!

 

[Spare time]

Thanks for your reply! I've heard the 45 day (and even 30 day) timeline for inverts, as well as the molting thing and upping the temp. My thought was I could keep all the inverts (corals included) together and just keep them all for the full 76 days, just to be extra safe. As far as the temperature, I'm not worried about expediting the process, and just to keep everything easy and consistent I'm shooting for 78F on all my tanks, QT's, DT's, even freshwater. It was also pointed out that some animals like snails don't do well at higher temps.

But you're basically saying for the coral observation tank, I should run it bare bottom and with a frag rack? This is how I had originally planned on doing it until I got to thinking it could have sand and rock. For the other inverts, I was planning on getting an CUC order from ReefCleaners, some of which, like Nassarius snails, I think would require sand? If so, then maybe it would be best to have a third tank for the motile inverts with at least a dish of sand?

And to your point about resetting the clock, I did in fact pick up my Yasha goby and Randall's pistol shrimp today, I have them currently together in one of my 10 gallon tanks. In addition, I'd like to get the CUC and some corals ordered up in the next few days to a week. I'd like to kind of get everything going on the same day, and do everything like one big batch. If I decided along the way to add another fish, for example, that fish would get its own tank and its own clock, so to speak.

Thank you again for your help!

You can put sand in an invert QT if you want. I just prefer bare bottom since its easier if I need to wipe out the tank (i.e. aiptasia gets in)

 

[Fish Fan]

You can put sand in an invert QT if you want. I just prefer bare bottom since its easier if I need to wipe out the tank (i.e. aiptasia gets in)

Yeah, that's why I was thinking about a pan or dish of sand that could more easily be removed and even discarded as needed.

 

[Inverted Reef]

I wanted to shed some light on this subject. If you are QT'ing for fish parasites, as long as your QT tank (invert and coral tank) is over 10 feet away from any tank with fish in it, you can go the full 76 days with no problem. With these parameters you can also add coral at anytime and your 76 days does not start over. You just have to keep track of your frags to ensure that they have all been in the QT tank for 76 days. The reason why it doesn't start over is the "free swimmers" need a fish host in order to survive. As long as there is no fish then they will die. 76 days at normal tank temp is the time needed for all the Tormonts to hatch and then find a fish host. If they don't find a host then they will die. I would just recommend rinsing all of your frags (or performing another dip) prior to transferring them to your display tank and you should be able to rinse all of the "free swimmers" off.
As far as inverts go, urchins and starfish you can rinse with display water and toss them right into your tank as Tormonts cannot encrust on them. Those that molt (shrimp and crabs) you can wait for them to molt (then wait 3 days for their new exoskeleton to harden) and then put them right in your display tank. All others will require 76 days at normal tank temp or 6 weeks (45 days) at 80.6 degrees or above. If your temperature dips below the 80.6 degrees your 6 weeks will need to start over (or you can just continue to the 76 day mark and be fine).

Hope this helps!

 

[Fish Fan]

I wanted to shed some light on this subject. If you are QT'ing for fish parasites, as long as your QT tank (invert and coral tank) is over 10 feet away from any tank with fish in it, you can go the full 76 days with no problem. With these parameters you can also add coral at anytime and your 76 days does not start over. You just have to keep track of your frags to ensure that they have all been in the QT tank for 76 days. The reason why it doesn't start over is the "free swimmers" need a fish host in order to survive. As long as there is no fish then they will die. 76 days at normal tank temp is the time needed for all the Tormonts to hatch and then find a fish host. If they don't find a host then they will die. I would just recommend rinsing all of your frags (or performing another dip) prior to transferring them to your display tank and you should be able to rinse all of the "free swimmers" off.
As far as inverts go, urchins and starfish you can rinse with display water and toss them right into your tank as Tormonts cannot encrust on them. Those that molt (shrimp and crabs) you can wait for them to molt (then wait 3 days for their new exoskeleton to harden) and then put them right in your display tank. All others will require 76 days at normal tank temp or 6 weeks (45 days) at 80.6 degrees or above. If your temperature dips below the 80.6 degrees your 6 weeks will need to start over (or you can just continue to the 76 day mark and be fine).

Hope this helps!

Thank you for the help! This is along the lines of what I've been reading and what I'm going to try to shoot for.