Why cycle coral Quarantine Tank?

jjencek · 12/04/2018, 08:21 AM

I got AEFW and plan to Quarantine all my acros for 6-8 weeks.

I have read and watched several sources about how to setup a QT. Most of them are talking about cycling the tanks and making sure to have a good healthy bacteria started.

I was planning to:
1. Have only acro corals in there
2. Doing water changes once per week (50% or so with water from DT)
3. Lights
4. Pump for movement
5. Heater
6. and maybe a charcoal

Do the corals produce any waste for the bacteria to eat?

mcgyvr · 12/04/2018, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjencek

Do the corals produce any waste for the bacteria to eat?

Absolutely..
All living organisms have input and output..
Even in death we are still contributing to the "load" by decomposition.

Piper27 · 12/04/2018, 09:47 AM

This is the easiest way to kill your acros when getting aefw. Setting up a fast qt that's not cycled is going to be hard to keep stable. Why not treat the acros from your display tank and dip once a week? Or try that new in tank treatment purge? Or use fws at a double dose and baste the corals often til they die off?
Take your time, if there is a heavy infestation then find the ones that are worst off and have eggs and dip them and scrape the eggs or glue the eggs. Get the population down and you won't have to act as fast. Start basting the corals every couple of days til you decide your method of treatment.
Dipping from the display is the easiest way and you won't loose anything if done right. You could setup a qt and let it cycle but I always see people loose stuff anyways, and you will still have to dip once a week, and you will still have to cut all the corals off of their rocks.

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Piper27 · 12/04/2018, 09:53 AM

And you want to cycle the qt tank because if you don't ammonia will build up and things will die off. It's hard to create a temporary environment that is stable and close enough to your display tank where the acros will not be stressed. Aefw stress out the acros in the first place so any other stressors will likely kill them. If can be done if you take your time and adding rock to the tank definitely will help. Make sure flow is very similar to the display. This is one thing that people don't realize will stress the larger colonies badly.

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jjencek · 12/04/2018, 02:20 PM

Thank you for the advice. Yes, it is loud and clear. Cycle the QT or just treat without it.

I did omit one detail when asking the question. I am already planning to stress the ..... out of them by upgrading from 60 gal tank to a new 100 gal tank.

I thought I would move all the rock including all fish and all non-acros to the new setup and QT my acros.

All of my acros are still pretty much frags I acquired over the past year or so and I thought doing numerous water changes were going to keep the ammonia down. I could put some of the live rock into the QT with them.

Piper27 · 12/05/2018, 09:29 AM

If they are all frags dipping would be so easy. How many frags do you have?

But I guess you could transfer half of the tank over to the new one and keep some rock and your frags in the old tank with no fish.

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bertoni · 12/05/2018, 08:45 PM

A single piece of good live rock probably would be enough to filter a tank with Acropora. They won't emit much waste.

jjencek · 12/05/2018, 11:34 PM

There are 30 frags. Some of them pretty small. I also can use two large sponges from my current RedSea filtration to get some bacteria. So how about something like this:

15 gal tank
same lighting as the new tank (radion)
same water movement (APEX WAV)
heater
2 sponges from my old tank
egg crate
heater
water changes using my DT - every 3-5 days
dipping in Coral Rx or Bayer every week

do the above for 4 weeks

bertoni · 12/06/2018, 12:45 AM

The sponges should be okay, although I'd watch the nitrate level. The live rock would do nitrate reduction, but it might be contaminated by medications. Sigh! I guess I'd use the sponges.

jjencek · 12/06/2018, 01:17 AM

I don't plan to use any medication in the QT itself. I will dip the corals and rinse them outside of the QT.

So the medication contamination should not be a problem, but in theory I could have aefw on the rocks from the acros. I would need to quarantine the rocks without the acros afterwards before returning them back to the DT.

Let's just use the sponges and toss them afterwards.

12/04/2018, 08:21 AM	#1
jjencek Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Posts: 366	Why cycle coral Quarantine Tank? I got AEFW and plan to Quarantine all my acros for 6-8 weeks. I have read and watched several sources about how to setup a QT. Most of them are talking about cycling the tanks and making sure to have a good healthy bacteria started. I was planning to: 1. Have only acro corals in there 2. Doing water changes once per week (50% or so with water from DT) 3. Lights 4. Pump for movement 5. Heater 6. and maybe a charcoal Do the corals produce any waste for the bacteria to eat?

12/05/2018, 08:45 PM	#7
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	A single piece of good live rock probably would be enough to filter a tank with Acropora. They won't emit much waste. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

12/06/2018, 12:45 AM	#9
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	The sponges should be okay, although I'd watch the nitrate level. The live rock would do nitrate reduction, but it might be contaminated by medications. Sigh! I guess I'd use the sponges. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

12/04/2018, 09:47 AM	#3
Piper27 I love bengals Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Manassas Virginia Posts: 2,512	This is the easiest way to kill your acros when getting aefw. Setting up a fast qt that's not cycled is going to be hard to keep stable. Why not treat the acros from your display tank and dip once a week? Or try that new in tank treatment purge? Or use fws at a double dose and baste the corals often til they die off? Take your time, if there is a heavy infestation then find the ones that are worst off and have eggs and dip them and scrape the eggs or glue the eggs. Get the population down and you won't have to act as fast. Start basting the corals every couple of days til you decide your method of treatment. Dipping from the display is the easiest way and you won't loose anything if done right. You could setup a qt and let it cycle but I always see people loose stuff anyways, and you will still have to dip once a week, and you will still have to cut all the corals off of their rocks. Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

12/04/2018, 09:53 AM	#4
Piper27 I love bengals Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Manassas Virginia Posts: 2,512	And you want to cycle the qt tank because if you don't ammonia will build up and things will die off. It's hard to create a temporary environment that is stable and close enough to your display tank where the acros will not be stressed. Aefw stress out the acros in the first place so any other stressors will likely kill them. If can be done if you take your time and adding rock to the tank definitely will help. Make sure flow is very similar to the display. This is one thing that people don't realize will stress the larger colonies badly. Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

12/04/2018, 02:20 PM	#5
jjencek Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Posts: 366	Thank you for the advice. Yes, it is loud and clear. Cycle the QT or just treat without it. I did omit one detail when asking the question. I am already planning to stress the ..... out of them by upgrading from 60 gal tank to a new 100 gal tank. I thought I would move all the rock including all fish and all non-acros to the new setup and QT my acros. All of my acros are still pretty much frags I acquired over the past year or so and I thought doing numerous water changes were going to keep the ammonia down. I could put some of the live rock into the QT with them.

12/05/2018, 09:29 AM	#6
Piper27 I love bengals Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Manassas Virginia Posts: 2,512	If they are all frags dipping would be so easy. How many frags do you have? But I guess you could transfer half of the tank over to the new one and keep some rock and your frags in the old tank with no fish. Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

12/05/2018, 11:34 PM	#8
jjencek Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Posts: 366	There are 30 frags. Some of them pretty small. I also can use two large sponges from my current RedSea filtration to get some bacteria. So how about something like this: 15 gal tank same lighting as the new tank (radion) same water movement (APEX WAV) heater 2 sponges from my old tank egg crate heater water changes using my DT - every 3-5 days dipping in Coral Rx or Bayer every week do the above for 4 weeks

12/06/2018, 01:17 AM	#10
jjencek Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Posts: 366	I don't plan to use any medication in the QT itself. I will dip the corals and rinse them outside of the QT. So the medication contamination should not be a problem, but in theory I could have aefw on the rocks from the acros. I would need to quarantine the rocks without the acros afterwards before returning them back to the DT. Let's just use the sponges and toss them afterwards.