Inverts in a new QT

[marinereef]

Hello all! I have had freshwater tanks on and off most of my life and a few years ago I decided I wanted to try a reef tank. Well, that was an epic failure and it was completely my fault so this time I want to do things “right.” I know there will be ups and downs and I will make mistakes, but I want to try and avoid as many as possible. I recently purchased a new tank and have spent a good amount of time here reading and trying to figure everything out. There aren’t many questions I could think of or that have come up that I couldn’t find an answer to here. That being said there is one question that I cannot seem to find the answer for.

How to feed clean-up crew members while in QT? My display tank is two weeks into cycling and I think I have decided to QT absolutely everything before putting it into the display. I will set up a QT for inverts, and coral down the road, but obviously, it wouldn’t be an established tank and wouldn’t be able to sustain the inverts. So, is it possible to feed a clean-up crew while in QT or is it even worth putting inverts through a QT? If it makes a difference I plan on putting a UV on the tank eventually regardless of what QT I follow.

 

[Tamberav]

I QT my inverts, I just put rock in it with a light capable of growing algae and supplement with nori

 

[BristleWormHater]

QT for inverts is pretty pointless imo, they don't have any common diseases or parasites to worry about (only thing I can think of is pyramid snails). Also of you are using that tank for inverts and fish you cannot use any medication that contains copper it will kill all the inverts very fast(that includes corals too) I think coral qt can be helpful but if you buy from reputable vendors then just dipping them should suffice

 

[BristleWormHater]

Nori(a kind of seaweed sheets) will feed most of your inverts, but crabs and other scavengers will eat fish food too.

 

[marinereef]

I will definitely be running a separate QT for fish, and when the time comes for coral I will be dipping them and at the very least observing them for a time.

At this point, I am just trying to figure out the inverts. And I am torn because it seems the entire community is torn right down the middle whether to QT or not.

 

[Fish Fan]

QT for inverts is pretty pointless imo, they don't have any common diseases or parasites to worry about (only thing I can think of is pyramid snails). Also of you are using that tank for inverts and fish you cannot use any medication that contains copper it will kill all the inverts very fast(that includes corals too) I think coral qt can be helpful but if you buy from reputable vendors then just dipping them should suffice

I disagree, though I don’t claim to be an expert on fish disease. But I believe that anything “wet” that goes into your tank could possibly harbor fish pathogens.

For that reason, I QT all my motile inverts like snails, crabs and shrimp in a 10 gallon with an AC70 HOB, a heater, and not much else. As others have said, I just add some rocks with some algae and some Nori, and I recently found and like Hikari Seaweed Extreme for the herbivores. In my room, just the ambient sunlight keeps enough of the algae going for the 45-60 days I hold my inverts for; your mileage may vary. I also have a separate fish QT tank and a coral QT tank, though my next project is a 40 gallon that will QT new corals and motile inverts.

Best of luck!

 

[BristleWormHater]

I will definitely be running a separate QT for fish, and when the time comes for coral I will be dipping them and at the very least observing them for a time.

At this point, I am just trying to figure out the inverts. And I am torn because it seems the entire community is torn right down the middle whether to QT or not.

I wouldn't say it's torn, most people acclimate and throw them in. If you search for invert qt you'll find arguments about it, but it's not a common topic.

 

[Tamberav]

QT for inverts is pretty pointless imo, they don't have any common diseases or parasites to worry about (only thing I can think of is pyramid snails). Also of you are using that tank for inverts and fish you cannot use any medication that contains copper it will kill all the inverts very fast(that includes corals too) I think coral qt can be helpful but if you buy from reputable vendors then just dipping them should suffice

So... you can QT the inverts for 45 days with no fish at 81 degrees, this is to avoid ich and velvet and such which they can have encysted on them. You are basically running them "fallow".

No way am I getting disease from a $2 snail. It's 100's of dollars of fish.

 

[BristleWormHater]

So... you can QT the inverts for 45 days with no fish at 81 degrees, this is to avoid ich and velvet and such which they can have encysted on them. You are basically running them "fallow".

No way am I getting disease from a $2 snail. It's 100's of dollars of fish.

Yeah that makes sense

 

[marinereef]

No way am I getting disease from a $2 snail. It's 100's of dollars of fish.

That is exactly my thinking.

 

[Fish Fan]

If you have the tank and the inclination, there’s certainly no harm in QT’ing your inverts, though I would agree most reefers do not. It’s not that hard to care for or feed them, so if you’d feel better about it, go for it.