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crazy4reefs
03/27/2013, 10:59 AM
Hi All, I'm looking to add Cheato to my fuge but I am concerned about introducing parasites to my system...Should I be worried about this? I have always qt'd all new fish for 10+ weeks and have never seen any evidence of any parasites like ICH and would like to keep it that way. Do I need to QT Cheato?

saltyair
03/27/2013, 11:03 AM
very good question - if you QT everything than I would suggest yes.

danil
03/27/2013, 11:18 AM
General answer is... everything wet should be qt. The second good question 'for how long'. Here we have a split decision. One thinks full (fish) protocol should be applied. Another opinion on the subject three days is enough. Both have good arguments in their defense.

crazy4reefs
03/27/2013, 06:47 PM
Thanks for the responses

Rognin
03/27/2013, 09:44 PM
Can you treat chaeto with cupramine?? I mean it's a plant, it doesn't get stressed...

I've had to treat my FW tank and the live plants did just fine...


Edit: I'm guessing you have to rinse it properly before you add it to the tank...

danil
03/28/2013, 12:36 PM
Can you treat chaeto with cupramine?? I mean it's a plant, it doesn't get stressed...

I've had to treat my FW tank and the live plants did just fine...


Edit: I'm guessing you have to rinse it properly before you add it to the tank...

I've never heard someone treats chaeto with cupramine or in fact treats it at all. IF you want to qt everything just put the chaeto in your qt tank for corals/inverts (NO fish!) for a week. All swimming parasite should be dead by that time. They have lifespan about 3 days hence this 3 days QT theory for inverts/wet things.

Did I say no fish in this qt tank? Oh.. I did. OK.

Reefnation.Jon
03/28/2013, 12:41 PM
Can the ich parasite encyst on chaeto? if so then 72 days to be sure. if not then 3 days.

tylersarah
03/28/2013, 01:03 PM
Do fish in the ocean get ich?

Reefnation.Jon
03/28/2013, 01:06 PM
They do. But many fish travel several miles in a day therefore not allowing the parasite to hit dangerous levels as they do in our closed aquarium systems.

danil
03/28/2013, 01:28 PM
Can the ich parasite encyst on chaeto? if so then 72 days to be sure. if not then 3 days.

Are you asking question or answering one? In my post I said there are two approaches to that problem and both have convincing arguments. So there is no YES/NO answer here like in nuclear physics its all probabilities. By having QT in place we are trying to increase our chances of protecting our loving DT livestock. Check the forum for how often QT process fails on people... a lot. Does it mean we should skip QT altogether and take our chances - many do. You can up your chance by buying from reputable seller or from your fried but it's again - chances. Back to your question many thinks that week of qt for corals/inverts/wet things in fishless system is good enough to increase your chances of not getting MI to reasonable level. If you are experienced enough and have up and running permanent qt systems with proven protocols in place and have no problem to wait 8 weeks - even better. You chances to not get bad things in DT are very high. :fish1:

Reefnation.Jon
03/28/2013, 01:37 PM
It was more of an open ended question. Just hoping for some thoughts I guess.

Coincidently I am currently QT'ing cheoto right now. It came from a tank with confirmed ich. I have had it in a 5 gallon bucket in front of a window with an air pump and heater for 4 weeks now. I would think it is possible for ich to encyst on cheoto. likely no, but possible.

I am still paranoid enough to keep it in QT for at least this long.

tektite
03/28/2013, 01:56 PM
I've never heard someone treats chaeto with cupramine or in fact treats it at all. IF you want to qt everything just put the chaeto in your qt tank for corals/inverts (NO fish!) for a week. All swimming parasite should be dead by that time. They have lifespan about 3 days hence this 3 days QT theory for inverts/wet things.

3 days? You are assuming that the only parasite form present is the swimming form, which is not guaranteed at all. One week is highly insufficient as a quarantine period for anything.

If you want to be certain something like a coral or rock or even macroalgae doesn't carry ich a quarantine minimum of 2 months must be done, same as the length of time you have to leave a tank fallow (fishless) after ich is present. The odds of ich being present are low and fall drastically with time, however I would rather let the chaeto sit in a bucket for 2 months than risk thousands of dollars of healthy fish in order to add $5 of macroalgae to my tank early.

Not only ich, but other diseases could be carried in macroalgae. A local member of my club had his whole tank wiped out with Brooklynella that was transmitted to his tank via macroalgae.