Coral qt tank?
- Thread starter Balz3352
- Start date
They can be as simple as a frag tank attached to your display and sump. Most pests cannot make it from tank to tank, so this is pretty good but probably not 100% for the super-anal folks. This is what I do now - observe and dip between the tanks. It is not worth my time to do anything else.
Having a completely different system is the ultimate. Some people change their display water into the QT tank, but I would never do that - you can get backwards contamination.
I keep the same lights and parameters as in my reef. If you keep the frags/corals in there for long, you will need a way to replenish the major and minor elements. I keep a small fish and some shrimp in there to have some nutrients - damsel, cherub angel, few emerald crabs and four peppermints are my current residents. They get flake every few days. I do keep some rock and sand in there for more stability.
My process: I currently only get stuff from people that I trust. However, I don't trust anybody... I remove stuff from the plugs and get new plugs ready. I dip in Coral Rx and observe. If I see something funny, then bayer, but rarely. Coral QT for a while until I am seeing good growth, no pests (AEFW bites for me)... this can be anywhere from two weeks to a few months. Then, when I am ready, I remove them from the plugs again, CoralRx dip and put them in the display. In the case that I take something from the display to the coral tank, then I dip there too.
Having a completely different system is the ultimate. Some people change their display water into the QT tank, but I would never do that - you can get backwards contamination.
I keep the same lights and parameters as in my reef. If you keep the frags/corals in there for long, you will need a way to replenish the major and minor elements. I keep a small fish and some shrimp in there to have some nutrients - damsel, cherub angel, few emerald crabs and four peppermints are my current residents. They get flake every few days. I do keep some rock and sand in there for more stability.
My process: I currently only get stuff from people that I trust. However, I don't trust anybody... I remove stuff from the plugs and get new plugs ready. I dip in Coral Rx and observe. If I see something funny, then bayer, but rarely. Coral QT for a while until I am seeing good growth, no pests (AEFW bites for me)... this can be anywhere from two weeks to a few months. Then, when I am ready, I remove them from the plugs again, CoralRx dip and put them in the display. In the case that I take something from the display to the coral tank, then I dip there too.
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+1 I am planning on building a coral qt/frag tank that will be attached to my system like Doug suggests. I will plumb it so it can be isolated if need be, but otherwise will just be another tank on the system. I may add a UV sterilizer to the QT drain just as an added precaution but thats more of a 'nice to have' then requirement I think.
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It can be a frag tank not hooked to the system too, but for me I dont have room to keep that tank and a frag tank. So the tank will have to pull double duty, but you get the added benefit of the larger stable system. Ill make sure the plumbing is setup so I can close off the system and still keep it running should a problem arise, and a the uv for added precaution
You will need to balance the work vs the reward. Just choosing who you get stuff from is about 90% of it. Removing the frag plugs or rock and dipping gets about 9% more. Observation and dipping again goes the other .9999. I am OK with 99.9999, or so. OK, I just made those numbers up, but you get it...
The only pest that I am really worried about is AEFW. Red bugs are a pain, but easy. Red planaria are also a pain, but easy. CoralRx will knock a AEFW off of the frag and I will just throw the frag away if I see one so I ok with the very slight chance that one gets through and then makes it from the frag tank, over the overflow, down the drain, through the skimmer chamber, through the sump, through the impeller, through the chiller and into the display.
Most pests are complex enough of an organism that I doubt that any hobby-grade UV would do much unless you exposed them for a long time. I have looked into this years ago and although I cannot remember many of the specifics, other than I was not going to do it, adding UV to the drain probably won't do anything except to single cell algae and the like.
The only pest that I am really worried about is AEFW. Red bugs are a pain, but easy. Red planaria are also a pain, but easy. CoralRx will knock a AEFW off of the frag and I will just throw the frag away if I see one so I ok with the very slight chance that one gets through and then makes it from the frag tank, over the overflow, down the drain, through the skimmer chamber, through the sump, through the impeller, through the chiller and into the display.
Most pests are complex enough of an organism that I doubt that any hobby-grade UV would do much unless you exposed them for a long time. I have looked into this years ago and although I cannot remember many of the specifics, other than I was not going to do it, adding UV to the drain probably won't do anything except to single cell algae and the like.
IM 16 stock running full time. I keep a few corals in it to make sure the QT is good. Once I get the coral I inspect with a magnifying glass. If anything is found I evaluate the coral v pest to see if I risk anything, usually not. I replug if possible or wipe the old plug really well, run a razor around it. I'll then dip it in a pee cup, 40ml water to 5 ml Bauer, one time I did 15ml cause I was told the vendor was "dirty" lol. If I had to keep the old plug it gets rinsed really well then super glue it all to hell. Then they go into the qt for 1-2 months depending on what it is. It gets a final dip before going in the tank. Lots of time is spent observing during that time.