Disease Free Live Rock?

[HardyG]

Are there any retailers or known members who follow a QT process for ensuring no fish diseases on live rock? I know some claim that they keep it fishless for X amount of days. Would that be what I am after? Potentially setting up a new nano AIO tank soon and wanted to check and see if I could find 10 or so pounds of rock that had all of the normal critters (good and bad) expected of “live” rock, but without the risk of introducing ich, velvet, etc to QT’d fish from wherever it came from.

 

[I never finish anythi]

If you are just setting up the tank, I'd just run fishless for a few weeks if you have concerns

 

[Fish Fan]

Good question!

I know that Tampa Bay Saltwater has their holding bins tested, and they have no fish diseases present.

I would personally just setup the tank with the rock and run it fishless (fallow) for 45-60 days, which should starve out any fish parasites without a fish host to complete their lifecycle.

Good luck!

 

[HardyG]

Good question!

I know that Tampa Bay Saltwater has their holding bins tested, and they have no fish diseases present.

I would personally just setup the tank with the rock and run it fishless (fallow) for 45-60 days, which should starve out any fish parasites without a fish host to complete their lifecycle.

Good luck!

Thanks for that. I will check them out. Ultimately I may just run a fishless cycle for a while, but was thinking if it was possible to get already cycled rock that was hopefully disease free, give it a week or 2 for a mini cycle then add some clowns and inverts in!

Not trying to get over my skis, but was hoping I could skip a little of the waiting before adding fish. I know nothing good happens fast in this hobby though!

 

[Fish Fan]

Thanks for that. I will check them out. Ultimately I may just run a fishless cycle for a while, but was thinking if it was possible to get already cycled rock that was hopefully disease free, give it a week or 2 for a mini cycle then add some clowns and inverts in!

Not trying to get over my skis, but was hoping I could skip a little of the waiting before adding fish. I know nothing good happens fast in this hobby though!

Friend, I live over my skis lol!

Yes, by adding well matured live rock, or the maricultured rock offered from Tampa Bay Saltwater, you're basically creating an "instant cycle". In my experience, saw a "mini cycle" like you say, just a short period of elevated ammonia. Hitchhiking critters by and large pulled through just fine.

Although the good ladies at Tampa Bay Saltwater have their tanks tested and show no signs of parasite DNA, I would still prefer to proceed cautiously, myself personally. I have some rock and sand on order with them, and I just plan to run the tank with the rock and sand for a couple of months before adding fish just to be absolutely sure.

 

[HardyG]

Friend, I live over my skis lol!

Yes, by adding well matured live rock, or the maricultured rock offered from Tampa Bay Saltwater, you're basically creating an "instant cycle". In my experience, saw a "mini cycle" like you say, just a short period of elevated ammonia. Hitchhiking critters by and large pulled through just fine.

Although the good ladies at Tampa Bay Saltwater have their tanks tested and show no signs of parasite DNA, I would still prefer to proceed cautiously, myself personally. I have some rock and sand on order with them, and I just plan to run the tank with the rock and sand for a couple of months before adding fish just to be absolutely sure.

Thanks for the reassurance. I imagined there would be some critters that wouldn’t survive the move and could cause some ammonia spikes which could do some real damage in 10 gallons. I wil look into Tampa reef, but I may post somewhere to see if there is a member who is a QTer who could spare some of their rock. My last tank I had a fish QT and coral QT that everything that came in went through strict protocol (may be why I got out of the hobby last time ). Maybe somewhere is crazy like me out there who I could buy some off.

 

[Fish Fan]

Thanks for the reassurance. I imagined there would be some critters that wouldn’t survive the move and could cause some ammonia spikes which could do some real damage in 10 gallons. I wil look into Tampa reef, but I may post somewhere to see if there is a member who is a QTer who could spare some of their rock. My last tank I had a fish QT and coral QT that everything that came in went through strict protocol (may be why I got out of the hobby last time ). Maybe somewhere is crazy like me out there who I could buy some off.

I get it. I try to QT everything "wet" - fish, corals, even inverts like shrimp and crabs.

 

[dangles]

TBS is great. Even if you don’t decide to wait a few weeks. I have TBS sand and have done several AquaBiomics tests. All have come back clean. I wouldn’t personally be concerned about them at all. Rock or sand.

I know AquaBiomics also offers tested live sand.

 

[HardyG]

TBS is great. Even if you don’t decide to wait a few weeks. I have TBS sand and have done several AquaBiomics tests. All have come back clean. I wouldn’t personally be concerned about them at all. Rock or sand.

I know AquaBiomics also offers tested live sand.

That makes me feel much better. Thank you for sharing your experience. Anybody you have used for inverts

 

[dangles]

That makes me feel much better. Thank you for sharing your experience. Anybody you have used for inverts

ReefCleaners. I've ordered from them a couple of times without issues. I know others have as well.

 

[HardyG]

ReefCleaners. I've ordered from them a couple of times without issues. I know others have as well.

Cool. That’s who I have used in the past with great experience. Just didn’t know if anyone had done any testing from their tanks in terms of aquabiomics. I thought I remembered their tanks were all fishless.

 

[KrisReef]

Thanks for that. I will check them out. Ultimately I may just run a fishless cycle for a while, but was thinking if it was possible to get already cycled rock that was hopefully disease free, give it a week or 2 for a mini cycle then add some clowns and inverts in!

Not trying to get over my skis, but was hoping I could skip a little of the waiting before adding fish. I know nothing good happens fast in this hobby though!

Most rock diseases don’t impact fishes. :smiling-face-with-sunglasses:

The bacteria that are found on rock can be a source of disease as many pathogens live in the dirt, (so to speak.)

The other “bugs” can also be present, and a balanced bunch of microbes is naturally present in any “live” rock from an ocean environment .

We currently don’t have much control over what comes along with the rocks we buy that are ocean harvested.

 

[Pistondog]

Are there any retailers or known members who follow a QT process for ensuring no fish diseases on live rock? I know some claim that they keep it fishless for X amount of days. Would that be what I am after? Potentially setting up a new nano AIO tank soon and wanted to check and see if I could find 10 or so pounds of rock that had all of the normal critters (good and bad) expected of “live” rock, but without the risk of introducing ich, velvet, etc to QT’d fish from wherever it came from.

Somehow i was under the impression that the common fish diseases, brook and ich were not present or virulent in the wild. They are most common in big box retailers where animal husbandry is lax.
This would imply live rock from the ocean is pretty safe from these diseases.

 

[bluemon]

Somehow i was under the impression that the common fish diseases, brook and ich were not present or virulent in the wild. They are most common in big box retailers where animal husbandry is lax.
This would imply live rock from the ocean is pretty safe from these diseases.

Pretty safe yes, a lot safer than introducing a new fish or rocks from an established system with ich,

But the risk is still there.

Honestly with live rock, I’d be more concerned with introducing stuff like gorilla crabs. At least those are capturable

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

Everything in the TBS rock & sand system is harvested by us from the farm, 100% down to the water. Periodic AquaBiomics tests of the holding system have the same results, 0 fish/coral pathogens/diseases.

The entire TBS team have worked at LFSs and have seen diseased fish housed with live rock that is for sale. Even when fish and live rock are in different tanks, if they share the same water source it is a risk. Some LFS obtain live rock from taking down a tank with unknown diseases and place the rock into their systems. Because of these experiences, we are adamant about not contaminating a good thing.

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

Pretty safe yes, a lot safer than introducing a new fish or rocks from an established system with ich,

But the risk is still there.

Honestly with live rock, I’d be more concerned with introducing stuff like gorilla crabs. At least those are capturable

I'd choose a gorilla crab over velvet any day.

 

[KrisReef]

Everything in the TBS rock & sand system is harvested by us from the farm, 100% down to the water. Periodic AquaBiomics tests of the holding system have the same results, 0 fish/coral pathogens/diseases.

The entire TBS team have worked at LFSs and have seen diseased fish housed with live rock that is for sale. Even when fish and live rock are in different tanks, if they share the same water source it is a risk. Some LFS obtain live rock from taking down a tank with unknown diseases and place the rock into their systems. Because of these experiences, we are adamant about not contaminating a good thing.

Can you provide the medical records of the TBS team so we can evaluate which diseases they may expose the live rock too :face-with-tears-of-joy: :smiling-face-with-sunglasses:

The drumbeats of avoiding diseases in the hobby sometimes stops my heart with laughter. Thanks for harvesting hobby rock from the Gulf of America!

 

[KrisReef]

Somehow i was under the impression that the common fish diseases, brook and ich were not present or virulent in the wild. They are most common in big box retailers where animal husbandry is lax.
This would imply live rock from the ocean is pretty safe from these diseases.

My recollection, which could be faulty(wrong) is that” brook” is a bad disease in a reef that will persist in an untreated system?

Otherwise, fallow can remove many disease threats to fish in carefully managed systems?

@Jay Hemdal is the expert who has a grasp of these issues, ime.

Happy Mothers Day, folks!

 

[carri10]

Thanks for that. I will check them out. Ultimately I may just run a fishless cycle for a while, but was thinking if it was possible to get already cycled rock that was hopefully disease free, give it a week or 2 for a mini cycle then add some clowns and inverts in!

Not trying to get over my skis, but was hoping I could skip a little of the waiting before adding fish. I know nothing good happens fast in this hobby though!

Hi.
It’s a great feeling to start a reef tank. I remember it well.
One piece of advice, at the start, take your time. Really. Doing a fish less period, like a couple of months without any/much light will give the live rock time to sync with your tank and give you time to get all the other stuff sorted out. And there is SO much to sort out!

Don’t worry about being bored, the live rock will provide all manor of weirdness to look at!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Our pico tank is an invert-only tank (as of right now), and most of our inverts came from Live rock. I enjoy looking at that tank because I feel like we notice something new in there every week.