TheStrangler
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- Feb 20, 2020
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Ahoy all, I know there are thousands of these threads because I've read most of them, but there were a few points I'd like to have confirmed and some that I didn't find fully addressed. I'm preparing to setup my first coral quarantine tank. I've purchased a large number of corals from a reputable vendor but reputable vendors have a lot of things come in and out so I'm playing it more cautiously this time. I've previously bought my corals pre quarantined so I had simply dipped and placed in display tank, called it good, and have not run into any issues to this point. I'm sort of more concerned about placing corals into a freshly setup system that is not as stable as my DT. I won't have an auto top off, apex monitoring, and all of the other little automation pieces that I have on DT that make life easier.
Getting into it, general consensus is observation + knowing what pests you're targeting and quarantine is the way to go. I'm going with reef primer dip, a loupe, a toothbrush, peroxide for scrubbing spots of algae (without touching the corals in question), and iodine. Im not opposed to bayer but I'm skipping it due to it clouding the water making observation tricky. I'll be removing frag plugs before anything goes into DT if not on arrival.
1) First question I've got is regarding the iodine. I know euphyllia and zoanthids are prone to bacterial infections from stress. Should the iodine be a preventative dip on arrival for LPS/Euphyllia/Zoanthids? I can't really find a clear answer on whether brown jelly disease and the like just comes from the shipping stress and should be preventatively treated with iodine, or you wait for it to display before treating with iodine. I did not plan on iodine dipping anything besides LPS/Euphyllia/Zoanthids, and really its just the euphyllia that I'd consider iodine dipping on arrival.
2) Speaking of on arrival, should you dip when your corals arrive, or wait a few days to dip? I've seen the WWC and other vendor videos that ask you not to dip the corals on arrival due to the added stress after shipping, however I'm not receiving corals from them. With a QT setup I'd lean towards allowing them to settle from the stress of shipping before dipping. But I guess I don't know if its a big deal if the coral pests make their way into the QT tank or not.
3) For the QT tank setup itself, should you use water from your DT or fresh mixed saltwater? I was thinking I'd do a water change and use the old tank water for the QT tank given that its freshly setup and not going to be cycled. I figure my tank water has a little bit of nitrate/phosphate in it that the corals would probably require over fresh mixed salt water. It'd also be more stable than whatever I'd get mixing 5 gallon buckets of saltwater. For the QT setup I've got a little hang on filter I guess primarily for water movement and oxygen, powerheads, a heater, egg crate + magnetic frag racks. No substrate, but I could take some rock rubble out of my sump.
I'll probably think of other things, but these are the unsolved mysteries I have at the moment. Thanks all
*edit*
These are all frags, not colonies. LPS and softies, no acros/sps.
Getting into it, general consensus is observation + knowing what pests you're targeting and quarantine is the way to go. I'm going with reef primer dip, a loupe, a toothbrush, peroxide for scrubbing spots of algae (without touching the corals in question), and iodine. Im not opposed to bayer but I'm skipping it due to it clouding the water making observation tricky. I'll be removing frag plugs before anything goes into DT if not on arrival.
1) First question I've got is regarding the iodine. I know euphyllia and zoanthids are prone to bacterial infections from stress. Should the iodine be a preventative dip on arrival for LPS/Euphyllia/Zoanthids? I can't really find a clear answer on whether brown jelly disease and the like just comes from the shipping stress and should be preventatively treated with iodine, or you wait for it to display before treating with iodine. I did not plan on iodine dipping anything besides LPS/Euphyllia/Zoanthids, and really its just the euphyllia that I'd consider iodine dipping on arrival.
2) Speaking of on arrival, should you dip when your corals arrive, or wait a few days to dip? I've seen the WWC and other vendor videos that ask you not to dip the corals on arrival due to the added stress after shipping, however I'm not receiving corals from them. With a QT setup I'd lean towards allowing them to settle from the stress of shipping before dipping. But I guess I don't know if its a big deal if the coral pests make their way into the QT tank or not.
3) For the QT tank setup itself, should you use water from your DT or fresh mixed saltwater? I was thinking I'd do a water change and use the old tank water for the QT tank given that its freshly setup and not going to be cycled. I figure my tank water has a little bit of nitrate/phosphate in it that the corals would probably require over fresh mixed salt water. It'd also be more stable than whatever I'd get mixing 5 gallon buckets of saltwater. For the QT setup I've got a little hang on filter I guess primarily for water movement and oxygen, powerheads, a heater, egg crate + magnetic frag racks. No substrate, but I could take some rock rubble out of my sump.
I'll probably think of other things, but these are the unsolved mysteries I have at the moment. Thanks all
*edit*
These are all frags, not colonies. LPS and softies, no acros/sps.
