Quarantine Inverts?

[RaymondL]

I'm wondering is it absolutely necessary to quarantine not just fish, but inverts as well before introducing into the display tank, and if so, would 4 weeks be enough?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I have never once qt'd my inverts. I float a bag of them and drop them in.

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

I asked this question not long ago, and most answers were no, don't QT inverts. So I didn't, and everything was just fine. :)

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I'm wondering is it absolutely necessary to quarantine not just fish, but inverts as well before introducing into the display tank, and if so, would 4 weeks be enough?

Most people don't bother as the odds of disease being introduced via inverts, live rock, corals, etc. are incredibly low - they're not technically zero, though, and it does happen on occasion (see the quote at the bottom).

For maximum biosecurity, you would QT anything "wet" (fish, inverts, corals, macroalgae, live rock/sand, etc.), doing a prophylactic treatment on all fish and putting everything else through a 60-76 day QT (you can technically go shorter, 45 days, at higher temps, 81F, but not every critter appreciates higher temps). Again, most people don't do this - some people have issues right away, some go years or even decades before having issues, and some don't have issues at all; it's somewhat luck based and somewhat aquarist-skill based.

If the tank is kept at 28 C consistently, then you just keep it there with no fish for 45 days and you can add the fish back on day 46.

Parasites can come in on anything "wet," including corals, live rock, inverts, macroalgae, etc. - so to be safe, the fallow countdown would have to reset with any new additions.

That said, the chances of things other than fish bringing in disease are really, really small, but not zero (IIRC, I've seen 4 or 5 instances where it happened - see below for some examples). To be safe, you can QT any new "wet" additions for 45 days at 27.3C (81F), or you can go longer (with or without lower temps) to be safe - 60-76 days is generally recommended as the safest. The good news is that this gives you time to observe anything you're putting into your system for unwanted hitchhikers like invasive algae, "Aiptasia," predatory worms/flatworms, coral-eating nudibranchs, etc.

Coral frags:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ich-or-velvet-from-a-coral-frag.1022892/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/worth-it-to-qt-inverts.987228/#post-11524692Urchin:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/adding-corals-and-inverts-during-fallow-period.1057097/Snails:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/keeping-cuc-alive-in-quarantine.977868/

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I'm wondering is it absolutely necessary to quarantine not just fish, but inverts as well before introducing into the display tank, and if so, would 4 weeks be enough?

It depends!

Isolating corals before moving them into your display can help identify pests before they get into your main tank.

If your worry is transmission of fish disease, invertebrates have been proven to be fomites (physical carriers) for fish disease. That risk needs to be managed.

If the invertebrates are coming from a fishless system, and had been held there for some time, the risk is minimal. If the invertebrates came from an aquarium with an active infection (or suspected infection) it is best to house them in a fishless system for 30 days prior to moving them to your display.

The story I always tell is that it is fairly common practice for dealers to hold sick fish in their coral systems in the hopes that the better conditions there will "cure" the fish. meanwhile, those fish act as Typhoid Mary's. Another common practice is for importers to house sensitive fish (seahorses, flashlight fish, mandarins) in their coral systems. This also allows disease to get through.