View Full Version : Other problems (parasites) from transferring corraline from shells?
PIPSTER
02/28/2015, 11:11 AM
Local Petco has empty snailshells they said I could have for nothing. I was thinking about getting ones with some corraline to scrape off into my new tank to start it taking off. But, I'm worried about importing parasites, particularly ich. Could this happen from just scrapping? Not planning on actually adding the shells to the tank.
Probably not; but it's possible a viable crytocaryon irritans cysts is on it if the shell was in a tank with an infested fish over the last few months.
CStrickland
02/28/2015, 12:31 PM
Do you have any stock yet? If you're still setting up and cycling without a carrier for ich I think you would have to hit just the right spot in the life cycle to bring ich. It seems like the same idea but even smaller risk as using live rock, which many people do.
PIPSTER
02/28/2015, 12:34 PM
Do you have any stock yet? If you're still setting up and cycling without a carrier for ich I think you would have to hit just the right spot in the life cycle to bring ich. It seems like the same risk as using live rock, which many people do.
i haven't even added salt yet. i will be just now starting the cycle and was going to get the shells in a couple of weeks. I know ich lasts over 12 weeks, so I'm worried about transporting that in. I'll just assume since it's petco, they have ich, since their tanks all share the same water, I believe
PIPSTER
03/03/2015, 01:20 PM
What kind of substance is corraline like? Is it soft enough to scrape with a knife? What should I use to get it from the snail shell into the tank, a knife or rub it off with something? Do I just scrape it into the water column?
bertoni
03/03/2015, 03:24 PM
The "cycle" doesn't start until you're using saltwater, well, under the more common definition. All or almost all of the bacteria growing in the system now will die when the salt is added.
PIPSTER
03/03/2015, 04:13 PM
The "cycle" doesn't start until you're using saltwater, well, under the more common definition. All or almost all of the bacteria growing in the system now will die when the salt is added.
Sorry, I didn't update you on the status of my tank...I have the salt in since Saturday night, and added some fish food to start cycling. I won't add corraline for at least another week. I'm just trying to prepare for the best way to add corraline algae to the tank, hopefully in a way that I don't add ich, too.
bertoni
03/03/2015, 05:31 PM
Okay, sounds like a good plan to me. :)
PIPSTER
03/03/2015, 05:33 PM
Okay, sounds like a good plan to me. :)
uh, so...is scraping with a knife good enough? Or do I need something else?
bertoni
03/03/2015, 06:23 PM
I would just add the shells to the tank. I don't know what the scraping is supposed to accomplish, really. I haven't seen any data that shows it increases the rate of spreading.
ReefsandGeeks
03/04/2015, 08:36 AM
I've done this before. I scraped a shell with an ice pick and tossed the shell after. I can't say if it helped or not, but I did get some good coralline growth a couple weeks later. I did have some LR in the tank already so it might have grown on it's own as well.
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