New tank stocking and Quarantine process.

[Jeff Hood]

Ok, back in the old days I never did a Quaranteen.  I just dipped corals and plopped fish and inverts. 

 

Fast forward to today. Ich and velvet are more Prevalent I’m told.  Flat worms, Nudibranchs etc...   only issue I ever had in past were red bugs.

 

Ive set up a 20 gallon Nano.  It’s cycled and now have two fish I put through a quarantine process.  One snail is my only clean up crew and the display has been running since September.

    I’ve also now set up another Quarantine tank for my critters and coral.  It’s also cycled and has reef quality lighting on it.  No algae as of yet growing but crystal clear reef quality water.

 

I need help help deciding on when to start buying stuff. Am I being too careful?  My plan was to buy a CUC and some starter corals and QT them for a couple months then put in the display.  Do I wait until I see algae in my QT tank?  Do I buy and feed them nori/ meaty food?  

 

Would love some guidence as this is all new to me.  

 

Display has been running since September

QT tank has finished its cycle about a week now, running for a month or so. 

 

Water parameters upon request but everything is good.  

[Clown79]

I've never quarantined corals or cuc so hopefully a hobbyist who does chimes in.

 

I have always started adding corals to my tanks after a month or so. 

 

I float the bag in my tank for 30 mins, dip the coral, then add to tank.

[Jeff Hood]

Thanks,  

 

yeah, that was my MO back in the day even with my big 600.  I have a NANO now and wouldn’t be a giant PIA if I had to tear it down but I will eventually do a bigger tank and I’m also helping a buddy set up his 800 gallon and we want to get the process down as getting a pest in there would be devastating.  We would never tear it down and the fish would be doomed to die.  We are committed to doing the QT.  Fish are easy.  A fishless QT for our corals and inverts is where I’m at a loss. What’s best practice, when and what is important.  How do I keep them alive in a new fishless tank.  

[Tamberav]

 People keep fishless frag tanks without issue. Did you start the QT tank for coral with live rock? I would think that would be the biggest thing to making a coral QT tank successful. 

[mcarroll]

If you're going to QT everything regardless of need, then you need provide a better-than-average QT setup....it needs to be habitable, not just a survival tank...or "prison tank" that you usually see depicted as QT tanks.  This is particularly true for fish, which are harder than corals.  Lots harder.  That means setting it up as (at least) a basic fish-only system....ideally with a little live rock....plus some naturalistic decorations like some fake plants.

 

Some examples taken from a Google Images search:

 

Nice size compared to some, but only outfitted as a hospital tank -- not suitable for long-term observation/habitation.

 

A little better on the outfitting, at least has the right ideas in play -- but small for most marine fish.

 

Nice if there were some fake plants.

 

Good outfitting, but bigger would be better for most fish.

 

Stress Box 2000 - don't do a QT like this....to bare, too full.  As a result these fish aren't likely to come out of QT in any better condition than when they went in.  For the higher-stress fish in there I'd wonder about survival.  The only upside of this one is that it looks like a decent size tank.

 

Very nice QT as long as it's restricted to small types of fish.

[Jeff Hood]

My coral QT tank is basically a fishless reef.  It has sand, two rocks, one magnetic frag rack, hang on the back filter, powerhead and one single AI prime light. 

    It’s defiantly habitable.  It’s lightly cycled.  

Ammonia zero

nitrite zero

nitrate is 5

phosphate low range zero PPB

 

I’ve been ghost feeding

 

no algae growing yet. 

 

So whats next?   My display is ready.  

 

I really need to start adding a CUC  but would like to QT them in this Quarantine tank first.  I’ve read reef cleaners has no ich/ pest issues but have read ibstill should Quarantine.  

 

My desire is to buy a nice lot of starter corals and a decent size CUC and keep in this fishless reef for a couple months.  

     Question is, is this tank ready? Can I keep them alive with feedings alone or do I need to wait until algae has grown significantly?

 

or just put the dam clean up crew directly into my more established display and call it a day? Am I being too cautious?

 

 

[Jeff Hood]

[Tamberav]

Acros would probably be unhappy in a newly started tank with dry rock but beginner corals should be okay. 

 

You can be as cautious as you want with your CUC but how long do you plan to QT them? You would have to leave for a lonnnng time if you were trying to make sure they were not carrying something like ich. So if you don't plan to keep them in QT for say.. 6 weeks without adding anything new... I wouldn't bother to QT them at all. If you don't mind QT for a long period, then you can certainly go for it. They will probably appreciate nori. 

 

 

 

 

[Jeff Hood]

7 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Acros would probably be unhappy in a newly started tank with dry rock but beginner corals should be okay. 

 

You can be as cautious as you want with your CUC but how long do you plan to QT them? You would have to leave for a lonnnng time if you were trying to make sure they were not carrying something like ich. So if you don't plan to keep them in QT for say.. 6 weeks without adding anything new... I wouldn't bother to QT them at all. If you don't mind QT for a long period, then you can certainly go for it. They will probably appreciate nori. 

 

 

 

 

Ok, that was my plan.  The proverbial 72 days.  Now I kinda agree with the between the lines vibe I’m getting that I’m being too cautious as the crickets and comments insinuates to me nobody really quarantines their CUC or even corals for that matter.  For a NANO that can be easily torn down and re started it maybe makes more sense.  But in our 800 gallon it’s prudent to be much more cautious.  I’m just trying to be consistent with our methods. 

     I appreciate all the feedback.  Think it’s time to jump in and get these tanks stocked.  

 

 

[Tamberav]

I would be pretty careful with a 800g too. Nano I can just fix w/e by hand but 800g I need a scuba suit 😄