Coral/Invert Quarantine Time Frames

[Eggpaul]

Yes, but that's only if the animal entered the QT with free swimmers loosely attached. A perfect example of this would be an anemone, which could have free swimmers on it but their "skin" is too soft for tomonts to encyst upon. By contrast, a stony coral could have tomonts stuck to it and it could take up to 72 days for all the ich free swimmers to be released from the tomonts. You then wait 4 more days (76 days) for all the free swimmers to starve to death. Any velvet tomonts/dinospores would be gone by the 45 day mark, because velvet's life cycle occurs faster than ich's.

Can I use metroplex in quarantine instead of Prazipro?

 

[Humblefish]

Can I use metroplex in quarantine instead of Prazipro?

Best option is to use both via API General Cure. That medication contains both prazi & metro in powder form, which makes it safe to combine.

 

[Eggpaul]

Best option is to use both via API General Cure. That medication contains both prazi & metro in powder form, which makes it safe to combine.

If I feed metro and focus to my fish , and I have a CUC, will it hurt them?

 

[deedubz]

If I feed metro and focus to my fish , and I have a CUC, will it hurt them?

Some people say you should run carbon just in case any of the metro leaches into the water column. That said, I've treated my fish metro/focus in my dt without carbon and never had an issue.

Edit- I didn't know at the time that you are supposed to. I'd recommend running carbon if you're going to do it in DT.

 

[deedubz]

Can I use metroplex in quarantine instead of Prazipro?

If I feed metro and focus to my fish , and I have a CUC, will it hurt them?

Is there a CuC in your qt? Or is this two separate tanks?

 

[Eggpaul]

Is there a CuC in your qt? Or is this two separate tanks?

I'm planning to put a CUC in my DT today, and I've been feeding metro/focus with the food. But I have been running carbon. The QT question was separate.

 

[Eggpaul]

Best option is to use both via API General Cure. That medication contains both prazi & metro in powder form, which makes it safe to combine.

Hello, I have a foxface in QT. Seems great so far. Just in case if I medicate with api general cure, will it ruin the live rock in the QT? Can I use it later in my DT sump?

 

[Brew12]

Hello, I have a foxface in QT. Seems great so far. Just in case if I medicate with api general cure, will it ruin the live rock in the QT? Can I use it later in my DT sump?

You can, but you will want to wait a month or so after you are done with it in the QT while the medications break down. The Prazi isn't a problem, the metro may cause some issues.

 

[infinite0180]

Ok guys, so i have an idea and need some feedback. I have a 20 gallon DT thats been fishless cycling for going on 3 weeks. Its almost done cycling. In the meantime i set up a small QT for a pair of clowns i plan on purchasing this weekend. I am going to treat them with copper and prazipro so my DT will be free of fish for around 6 weeks if everything goes as planned. I was thinking i could use my new DT as a coral/invert QT so to speak. If i put a CUC and a few LPS frags (after i dip them) in it this weekend it should be safe to add my fish in like 6 weeks after treatment right? I figured its my one opportunity for a "free" QT tank right? Also, i had planned on occasionally dosing ammonia over the next few weeks to keep the BB fed so i dont have to worry about ammonia when i add the clowns. Would the CUC/Corals produce enough waste to feed my BB? I guess i would need to feed the CUC from time to time anyways right? I guess i just dont know what approach to take here. I really dont want to try to manage 3 different tanks right now just to have corals and fish. Im thinking thats too much for somebody brand new... anyways, any feedback is helpful. Thank you!

 

[Humblefish]

Ok guys, so i have an idea and need some feedback. I have a 20 gallon DT thats been fishless cycling for going on 3 weeks. Its almost done cycling. In the meantime i set up a small QT for a pair of clowns i plan on purchasing this weekend. I am going to treat them with copper and prazipro so my DT will be free of fish for around 6 weeks if everything goes as planned. I was thinking i could use my new DT as a coral/invert QT so to speak. If i put a CUC and a few LPS frags (after i dip them) in it this weekend it should be safe to add my fish in like 6 weeks after treatment right? I figured its my one opportunity for a "free" QT tank right? Also, i had planned on occasionally dosing ammonia over the next few weeks to keep the BB fed so i dont have to worry about ammonia when i add the clowns. Would the CUC/Corals produce enough waste to feed my BB? I guess i would need to feed the CUC from time to time anyways right? I guess i just dont know what approach to take here. I really dont want to try to manage 3 different tanks right now just to have corals and fish. Im thinking thats too much for somebody brand new... anyways, any feedback is helpful. Thank you!

6 weeks fallow would protect you from everything except 1 strain of ich. How commonly encountered this strain is no one really knows.

 

[infinite0180]

Thanks. Another question for you... i have a 75 watt heater in my fish QT that i want to use for water changes. Today i bought a 50 watt for the QT as well as a pair of clowns. I did not want to risk switching the heaters without calibrating the new one and making sure it works right but i also needed to get my new fish into the tank. I have not dosed any meds yet. Can i calibrate my new heater then switch them out and completely clean it so its safe to use again for WC with my DT? Or is the heater now potentially infected and i should just leave it and go exchange the 50 watt for another 75 watt for WC? The 75 watt had never been exposed to fish up until this point. Thanks

 

[SallyWho]

I'm about to set up my invert QT tank (as soon as I get some salt). It's a 10g with a heater, sponge filter, lid, and cheap light. I'll buy a small piece of live rock to stick in there, which I think will be okay since I won't be medicating that particular tank. My question is whether a sponge filter will produce enough gas exchange/water movement. I ordered a set of them online and they're much bigger than I expected, taking up probably 20-25% of the tank space. Do I need to find a teeny powerhead for better water movement? This question also applies to my fish QT tanks, which will be similarly equipped, switching the live rock for PVC elbows. So, long story short, will an oversized sponge filter be sufficient, or do I need a powerhead for my QT tanks?

 

[Humblefish]

I'm about to set up my invert QT tank (as soon as I get some salt). It's a 10g with a heater, sponge filter, lid, and cheap light. I'll buy a small piece of live rock to stick in there, which I think will be okay since I won't be medicating that particular tank. My question is whether a sponge filter will produce enough gas exchange/water movement. I ordered a set of them online and they're much bigger than I expected, taking up probably 20-25% of the tank space. Do I need to find a teeny powerhead for better water movement? This question also applies to my fish QT tanks, which will be similarly equipped, switching the live rock for PVC elbows. So, long story short, will an oversized sponge filter be sufficient, or do I need a powerhead for my QT tanks?

So long as you keep your bioload light, the discharge from a sponge filter will provide sufficient gas exchange/water movement. If you add more bioload, a small powerhead pointed towards the surface of the water would be a good idea.

 

[drstardust]

So I had a question regarding this table form Burgess's paper in the original post. Am I reading correctly that encystment can happen on fish scales/other tissues? I'm talking actual tomonts encysting on fish in the same way they do on rocks, coral, etc (and not referring to trophonts on afflicted fish).

If I'm reading correctly and this truly can happen, that presents a unique problem. You can't fallow your fish lol, and if you encounter a strain with a longer life cycle and only QT a fish with copper or CP for 30 days...ich can sneak by. I wonder if this could explain some potential failures of QT despite being done properly?

 

[Humblefish]

So I had a question regarding this table form Burgess's paper in the original post. Am I reading correctly that encystment can happen on fish scales/other tissues? I'm talking actual tomonts encysting on fish in the same way they do on rocks, coral, etc (and not referring to trophonts on afflicted fish).

If I'm reading correctly and this truly can happen, that presents a unique problem. You can't fallow your fish lol, and if you encounter a strain with a longer life cycle and only QT a fish with copper or CP for 30 days...ich can sneak by. I wonder if this could explain some potential failures of QT despite being done properly?

In the text of the study theronts were able to latch onto the scales, but once they tried to burrow through the epidermal (to get under the epithelium); the fish's mucous degenerated them. And these tomonts were unable to encyst, release free swimmers, continue on with their life cycle.

 

[drstardust]

In the text of the study theronts were able to latch onto the scales, but once they tried to burrow through the epidermal (to get under the epithelium); the fish's mucous degenerated them. And these tomonts were unable to encyst, release free swimmers, continue on with their life cycle.

Very good to know

 

[User]

So I'm currently doing a variation of this article, but for corals.

The idea being that people are having decent success with all varieties of corals in pico tanks, so why not apply that idea to a QT system. In a nutshell, I keep my corals in 3 or 5 litre containers with lids and an air pipe down the middle. The lids keep evaporation to a minimum, while the air does gas exchange and flow. All containers are placed in a larger tub of water that has a heater, and a small powerhead to keep all of the containers heated to the proper temp. I also keep keep the next batch of water for a 100% wc in the same tub, so that the temp is exactly the same. When it's time to do a WC I simply, in the case of corals, lift out the egg crate, and place it in the next container. If I need to flush anything I can do it at that time.

The amount of time between WC for coral only can vary, but never more than 24 hours after a feed. I've stretched it out a bit, but algae can be a problem. You can generally feed as much as you want, which is great if you're trying to revive a coral. As for matching parameters, the simpler the better. I mix IORC to 1.025 and call it a day. I'll add Stability and Prime if I think something is likely to produce ammonia. Dying corals from the LFS etc. And do a water swap every day.

I spend less than 2 - 10 min dealing with water mixing each day. I could pre mix larger quantities of water at a time, but don't have the storage. I try to always add any medications or water conditioners as close to use time as possible, since some like Prime have time limits on them. Also, because of the small sizes involved, I get to use incredibly small doses of things. So I'm not spending much money on water, salt, or medications. 1 drop of Prime per Liter for example. .625 ml of stability for 5L. 100% WC everyday for a week uses less than 8 gallons.

As for lighting, I have a RapidLED par38 bulb on a gooseneck that I can raise or lower to adjust the amount of light. I can also move a container closer or further away from the light, or dim it depending on light needs an acclimation time.

Some corals in QT, next to an african cichlid also in QT. Prepared new water behind them.



bayer dip time:


I can isolate corals and fish, keep different varieties, group them together. I QT freshwater fish and coral at the same time. Whatever works. There's a huge amount of flexibility in this system. When I don't have anything in QT, the whole system gets put away, and my spouse gets their laundry room back.

dripping in 10 fish, 2 per container. 1"/L


Sorry for the long post.

That’s pretty cool- mini TTM for fish.

I’m setting up a TTM station using 10 gallon tanks, but for my first round I’ll only be adding two baby ocellaris clowns. Think I could get away with a set of 1.5 gallon containers for a couple clowns instead of the 10g tanks?

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

Does a coral QT need to mature for a long time before it will be able to keep sps alive?

 

[Humblefish]

Does a coral QT need to mature for a long time before it will be able to keep sps alive?

You'll want to cycle it first before adding corals/inverts. And keep nitrates/phosphates to a minimum for SPS. You'll probably want to use a skimmer (HOB is fine) for an SPS coral QT.

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

You'll want to cycle it first before adding corals/inverts. And keep nitrates/phosphates to a minimum for SPS. You'll probably want to use a skimmer (HOB is fine) for an SPS coral QT.

The lack of biodiversity won’t be a problem? It seems like people have trouble keeping sps alive in newish tanks. At least I know I do.