Safe to transfer corals to another tank?

[gundamz2001]

I am currently setting up another larger tank along with a QT and the cycling is almost done.

I am planning to put all the fish into the QT before going into the new tank. I have a couple of corals (toadstool, frogspawn) in my old tank that I would like to transfer to the new tank but do I need to quarantine those corals ? I am afraid that parasites etc (like ich, which I think my old tank has) may be transferred to the new tank.

If I understand it correctly, corals cannot "host" parasites, but parasites could attach to corals in free swimming stage. There will be no fish in the new tank for at least a month or so. Is it safe to move the corals now?

And do I need another QT tank for future corals?

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[Pntbll687]

If you're concerned about transferring parasites from one tank to another, then quarantine is the way to go.

Have you had a recent outbreak of ich/velvet/brook?

I would just move the coral to the new tank and keep it fish free while the fish are quarantined separately. Coral quarantine is pretty much just observation, since you can't medicate the coral.

 

[Joe31415]

Can you leave your current tank up during the transition? If you can, the easiest way, IMO, would be to put the fish in QT to be treated for whatever they have and then move them to the new DT. Meanwhile the current DT will now be fallow. Leave all the inverts (corals, snails etc) in there for 76 days and you should be good.
If you can't leave the current DT set up, I'd set up a new QT for them, using tank water and as much of the rock as you can comfortable fit in there. That'll avoid a cycle, but make sure you don't use so much you can't get at anything that you drop. Leave everything there for 76 days, then you should be able to move it all, inverts/corals/rocks etc into the new DT.

 

[Joe31415]

I would just move the coral to the new tank and keep it fish free while the fish are quarantined separately. Coral quarantine is pretty much just observation, since you can't medicate the coral.

I was thinking about that way as well. My only issue (more of an inconvenience, really) is that then the fish are going to be in quarantine for 76 days while the new tank has to go fallow.
IMO, if the OP has the space, it makes more sense to put the fish in QT with meds then move them into the new tank. By the time the fish are ready to be moved, the corals will be nearly halfway done with their quarantine.

Whatever method gets used, my general thinking is not to put the corals into the new DT since that'll start a 76 day countdown before fish can be added.

 

[gundamz2001]

Thank you for all the suggestions. Sorry I should be more specific in my situation.

I currently have one older DT that has corals and fish and am in the process of setting up QT and a newer DT. So the older DT is still up and running. Most of the fishes/corals in the older DT would not be moved to the newer DT, but only a couple corals since they have grown too big for the older DT. Eventually, I am planning to have an eel in my newer DT so all of my current fish will not be moved to the newer DT.

I am planning to get new fish this weekend or next and they will go through the CP/Prazipro treatment for about a month. So only the new DT will be fallow during this period of time.

I have seen signs of ich on the current fish, but symptoms eventually go away. But I think that still means the parasite is still in the tank?

So 76 day is the minimum amount of time I need to wait to make sure that all the parasites that could potentially on the coral to die?

Thanks again!

 

[shakacuz]

Thank you for all the suggestions. Sorry I should be more specific in my situation.

I currently have one older DT that has corals and fish and am in the process of setting up QT and a newer DT. So the older DT is still up and running. Most of the fishes/corals in the older DT would not be moved to the newer DT, but only a couple corals since they have grown too big for the older DT. Eventually, I am planning to have an eel in my newer DT so all of my current fish will not be moved to the newer DT.

I am planning to get new fish this weekend or next and they will go through the CP/Prazipro treatment for about a month. So only the new DT will be fallow during this period of time.

I have seen signs of ich on the current fish, but symptoms eventually go away. But I think that still means the parasite is still in the tank?

So 76 day is the minimum amount of time I need to wait to make sure that all the parasites that could potentially on the coral to die?

Thanks again!

76 day minimum is efficient. seems like you have it handled/planned out. good luck!

 

[Joe31415]

So 76 day is the minimum amount of time I need to wait to make sure that all the parasites that could potentially on the coral to die?

That's the general rule of thumb. Now, something you'll need to keep in mind is that the general rule of thumb for a coral/invert QT is that the 76 day count down is for each individual thing in the tank. That is, if I add a coral to my coral QT and 10 days later I add another, the new one has it's own 76 day clock, while the original one only has 66 days remaining.
However, since you're doing this backwards, that is, setting up what is essentially a temporary QT/fallow tank for inverts that will be turned into a DT, that means the 76 day countdown is reset with each new addition. So you add all your corals today and then in a month you add another one, now you have to wait 76 days from that day before added fish since that last addition may have introduced, for example, ich, which needs 76 days without fish to die off.

Hopefully that makes sense. This is why I was suggesting not using the new DT as a QT since you're going to end up with all your fish in quarantine tanks for so long.

 

[gundamz2001]

That's the general rule of thumb. Now, something you'll need to keep in mind is that the general rule of thumb for a coral/invert QT is that the 76 day count down is for each individual thing in the tank. That is, if I add a coral to my coral QT and 10 days later I add another, the new one has it's own 76 day clock, while the original one only has 66 days remaining.
However, since you're doing this backwards, that is, setting up what is essentially a temporary QT/fallow tank for inverts that will be turned into a DT, that means the 76 day countdown is reset with each new addition. So you add all your corals today and then in a month you add another one, now you have to wait 76 days from that day before added fish since that last addition may have introduced, for example, ich, which needs 76 days without fish to die off.

Hopefully that makes sense. This is why I was suggesting not using the new DT as a QT since you're going to end up with all your fish in quarantine tanks for so long.

Thank you for the explanation and everything makes sense. I'm toying with the idea of setting another small tank for QTing corals/inverts, which I will probably need down the road. I am thinking of Fluval 13.5 (Someone suggested this one as a coral QT in another thread).