How to Quarantine Coral and Inverts

[Big G]

That would probably depend on the types and amount of coral in the tank and how much you may be feeding them. It's always smart to do weekly water changes, but I'll be the first to admit that mine only gets a water change every few weeks or so. I also rarely scrape algae off the glass. lol Basically ... if you are QT'ing acros and milles or other corals that like nice clean water, then do them weekly. If you are QT'ing leathers and zoas, then you may not need to do them that frequently. Ya know?

Your advice on QT'ing corals and inverts has been spot on. Thanks for the help. Have a great weekend!

 

[melypr1985]

Your advice on QT'ing corals and inverts has been spot on. Thanks for the help. Have a great weekend!

anytime and you too!

 

[Brisay01]

Thank you for an awesome article . I just set up a 20g coral qt; filter , heater, powerhead,sand , light , and Ato. My question is regarding cycling and maintaining a cycle in the absence of fish . I plan on adding Dr Tim’s one and only , (I also have a chunk of marine pure in my hob filter.) Anyway , as I did with my fish qt and DT, I plan on using pure ammonia as a food source for the cycle . My question is , can I use significantly less ammonia to cycle in preparation for corals as opposed to fish since the bioload will be much less? Thanks !

 

[Big G]

Thank you for an awesome article . I just set up a 20g coral qt; filter , heater, powerhead,sand , light , and Ato. My question is regarding cycling and maintaining a cycle in the absence of fish . I plan on adding Dr Tim’s one and only , (I also have a chunk of marine pure in my hob filter.) Anyway , as I did with my fish qt and DT, I plan on using pure ammonia as a food source for the cycle . My question is , can I use significantly less ammonia to cycle in preparation for corals as opposed to fish since the bioload will be much less? Thanks !

Hey Br, I just did the same thing a couple of months ago using Meredith's guidelines. I used 1 drop from an eyedropper of ammonia per gallon for my 20. So 20 drops. That tested out to be approx. 1 ppm. Which worked great. Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Brisay01]

Hey Br, I just did the same thing a couple of months ago using Meredith's guidelines. I used 1 drop from an eyedropper of ammonia per gallon for my 20. So 20 drops. That tested out to be approx. 1 ppm. Which worked great. Hope this helps a bit.

Thanks for the quick response . Any chance you remember which ammonia you used? I use , and still have on hand , “ace hardware janitorial strength pure ammonia”

 

[melypr1985]

My question is regarding cycling and maintaining a cycle in the absence of fish .

Corals and inverts all have a bioload. They all eat and poop which will continue the cycle. You'll be feeding the inverts and can always feed the corals to keep things going.

Hey Br, I just did the same thing a couple of months ago using Meredith's guidelines. I used 1 drop from an eyedropper of ammonia per gallon for my 20. So 20 drops. That tested out to be approx. 1 ppm. Which worked great. Hope this helps a bit.

Solid advice +1

 

[Brisay01]

Corals and inverts all have a bioload. They all eat and poop which will continue the cycle. You'll be feeding the inverts and can always feed the corals to keep things going.


Solid advice +1

Thanks for the reply. Btw, just set up the tidal 55 Hob and it is really nice and super quiet . Thanks again !

 

[Bthomas]

Would any ole light work for a coral quarantine? For example would a hood with built in lights that u can buy for tanks work?
Or some cheap reef light on ebay like this one.. https://m.ebay.com/itm/28-LED-Fish-...366960?hash=item2390fd2e70:g:fiEAAOSwUchZ7vTh
I know they dont need to thrive in quarantine but they do need to be able to survive the 72 days.

 

[melypr1985]

Would any ole light work for a coral quarantine? For example would a hood with built in lights that u can buy for tanks work?
Or some cheap reef light on ebay like this one.. https://m.ebay.com/itm/28-LED-Fish-...366960?hash=item2390fd2e70:g:fiEAAOSwUchZ7vTh
I know they dont need to thrive in quarantine but they do need to be able to survive the 72 days.

I think you answered your own question there. The light needs to be good enough, but certainly doesn't need to be expensive. Do the best you can but don't short cut it with a cruddy light that will brown out your corals. Ya know? I simple T5 fixture would work for example

 

[Bthomas]

I think you answered your own question there. The light needs to be good enough, but certainly doesn't need to be expensive. Do the best you can but don't short cut it with a cruddy light that will brown out your corals. Ya know? I simple T5 fixture would work for example

Yeah I guess what I was asking is whats good enough. I don't wanna spend alot on a quarantine light for sure but I wanna get one thats gonna keep them looking good.
Do i need to worry about it being close to the display tanks light at all?

 

[Big G]

Something like this would give you a lot more light and flexibility. Corals ain't cheap
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165W-55-LE...672500?hash=item25e4381c74:g:tWoAAOSweZJaAYhC

 

[melypr1985]

Do i need to worry about it being close to the display tanks light at all?

Not necessarily, but keep in mind that if your DT lights are much stronger or higher in intensity then you may need to acclimate new corals to the DT lighting.

 

[Bthomas]

Something like this would give you a lot more light and flexibility. Corals ain't cheap
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165W-55-LE...672500?hash=item25e4381c74:g:tWoAAOSweZJaAYhC

Yeah I saw this one too just didn't know if one of the cheaper options would be good enough. I'd rather spend the money on the corals then on another light for their quarantine tank [emoji14]
But if thats what i must do..

 

[Big G]

Yeah I saw this one too just didn't know if one of the cheaper options would be good enough. I'd rather spend the money on the corals then on another light for their quarantine tank [emoji14]
But if thats what i must do..

How big is your Qt for corals?

 

[Bthomas]

How big is your Qt for corals?

10 gallon

 

[Big G]

10 gallon

The first light you posted is very small. Probably a decent choice for a 5 gal. Check these lights out. They have a fuller spectrum with reds and blues that your corals will need. I have something very similar on my 10 gal Qts. The only thing I modified was to raise the lights up a bit to eliminate salt creep: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-F...d=152756366960&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982

 

[Bthomas]

The first light you posted is very small. Probably a decent choice for a 5 gal. Check these lights out. They have a fuller spectrum with reds and blues that your corals will need. I have something very similar on my 10 gal Qts. The only thing I modified was to raise the lights up a bit to eliminate salt creep: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-F...d=152756366960&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982

Perfect thanks a bunch

 

[Big G]

Perfect thanks a bunch

You are very welcome. Best of luck

 

[Bthomas]

Thoughts on this for my coral/invert quarantine tank?
The plastic containers on the bottom i plan to fill with sand for any sand sifting inverts i may get.
(Or would it be better to just fill the bottom with sand?)
I want to be able to empty out this tank when not in use and I thought but I could be wrong on this.. can i save the sand in those containers with the lids on them till the next quarantine or would I need to dispose of it each time?

 

[Big G]

Leave enough room to clean around and or under the egg crate. The egg crate itself will get coated with diatoms, algae, etc. Might be better to cut that egg crate in half, so you can move half of it around while cleaning. I put a very shallow layer of sand on the bottom of mine. You can easily siphon it out to clean and then return to tank after cleaning, snails (I have Cerith snails in my qt) and all.