QT blues....

[FishWife]

So, on the 10th, we went to the GREAT WAMAS meeting, and got some golden digitata, red 'shrooms, and a couple of acropora frags, and a bunch of cheato. These SPS's have now been in our 28 g QT tank three weeks and look awful. Tips are bleached, the stalks are less populated with polyps, etc. Mushrooms look, well, OK is the best I can say. In the small tank, salinity is hard to control 'cause water evaporates overnight and then we add fresh and the thing swings like crazy. Temp is ok, but of course there's no nutrition in there whatsoever... it looks more like a penetentiary than a happy "first place" for corals to thrive while waiting to be put into the new tank.

 

How do you all do QT successfully? Do we need a sump/skimmer, etc. on a QT tank or what?

 

 

AND, while I'm at it, we're supposed to get some zoas tomorrow, so we plan to dip these SPS's (we'll SEE if they can recover in our display.. :( ) and these red mushrooms... We're getting picking up the zoas from NIKI at an LFS, so we need to pick up some dip... what brands/types should we get? (Can we use these dips on zoas?)

[dbartco]

Lots use the Tropic Marin "Pro-cure" (?) I believe.

[fab]

Corals are not concerned with the ambience of their surrounding environment, other than water quality, light and food. They do great in penetentiary style quarters. When I scuba dive on shipwrecks I see corals in places that are not at all attractive but are well lit. Often these wreck sites look worse than penetentiaries and the corals and the fish are just as happy as can be.

 

fab

Edited November 30, 2007 by fab

[Almon]

I only quarantine new fish.

 

New corals are dipped and bathed and then added to the main system but sometimes separated from other corals. I use Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure which is an iodine dip for sps corals. I use both iodine and freshwater dips for mushrooms, palys, and zoanthids. I find zoanthids really like freshwater dips.

 

Here is a useful link: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=16160

 

Quarantine Poll: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=16396&hl=

[rioreef]

Zoa thread on ReefCentral. Goes back to 2004 and is still active.

[st9z]

I usually add a couple of drops of the Salifert Flat worm Exit and then a 5 sec fresh water dip on all my new corals that I get from the lfs.

I will be doing the same to your zoas before I bag them as well, just in case

Edited November 30, 2007 by st9z

[FishWife]

Corals are not concerned with the ambience of their surrounding environment, other than water quality, light and food. They do great in penetentiary style quarters. fab

 

Thanks for this, but I wasn't thinking they needed scenery at all. My comments about the prison thing was more of a "this water/light is sub-par because the system is small, there is no skimmer or sump, the salinity and pH fluctuate more than my main system, the light is a three-bulb PC, etc." Your post is helpful: light and water quality. Got that. My question is: how to provide water quality for three weeks for fragile SPS's when I've already done so in my main tank.

 

I think I'll just dip and not QT corals from now on.

[ctenophore]

Thanks for this, but I wasn't thinking they needed scenery at all. My comments about the prison thing was more of a "this water/light is sub-par because the system is small, there is no skimmer or sump, the salinity and pH fluctuate more than my main system, the light is a three-bulb PC, etc." Your post is helpful: light and water quality. Got that. My question is: how to provide water quality for three weeks for fragile SPS's when I've already done so in my main tank.

 

I think I'll just dip and not QT corals from now on.

 

Try adding additional water movement, such as a maxijet-mod pointed at an angle to the surface so it causes the water surface to roll. This will provide good gas exchange in lieu of a skimmer. Next, cover the tank at least part way to reduce evap (but still allow for air exchange). That should help with pH, salinity, and flow. Keep a ball of chaeto in there to help with nutrient export. The light may be a little weak for acros unless they are right at the surface. Keep them on an eggcrate 1" under the water, directly over the powerhead boil for maximum flow and light. Lastly, try putting a small filter bag full of carbon where it gets bounced around by the flow a little bit, this will help with dissolved organics and any residual flatworm exit, dip compounds, etc. Also, make sure your heater is working well, +/- 1F is good.

 

Hope this helps

Justin

[dbartco]

lots of small water changes at the same temp helps too

[ctenophore]

Oh, I forgot to add: Always QT corals. You will get burned eventually if you don't. I prefer to visually inspect frags and small colonies instead of always immediately dipping them. If something develops in QT (inspect every day) then dip it. I always dip large colonies or maricultured corals on rocks though, especially if there is any dead skeleton, fresh or old. Basically, dip when there is any sign of past or present infection or infestation, but just inspect if a) no rock/base and b) all tissue looks healthy.

[FishWife]

Try adding additional water movement, such as a maxijet-mod pointed at an angle to the surface so it causes the water surface to roll. This will provide good gas exchange in lieu of a skimmer. Next, cover the tank at least part way to reduce evap (but still allow for air exchange). That should help with pH, salinity, and flow. Keep a ball of chaeto in there to help with nutrient export. The light may be a little weak for acros unless they are right at the surface. Keep them on an eggcrate 1" under the water, directly over the powerhead boil for maximum flow and light. Lastly, try putting a small filter bag full of carbon where it gets bounced around by the flow a little bit, this will help with dissolved organics and any residual flatworm exit, dip compounds, etc. Also, make sure your heater is working well, +/- 1F is good.

 

Hope this helps

Justin

 

THAT's really helpful; thanks for your time, Justin!

[steveoutlaw]

Wait........you're supposed to QT corals?

 

Seriously, I've never QT'd any of the frags that I've gotten. Luckily I haven't been burned. Looks like I better QT from now on........but I probably won't. Float 'em for an hour and into the tank they go.