Best way to kill ICH on newly purchased corals

[Deinonych]

That's what I was thinking & afraid of...



So that leaves me in a quandary. A QT for fish is a relatively simple (and inexpensive) endeavor. Tank, heater, HOB filter and a basic fluorescent light. A frag tank requires a permanent setup with better filtration & water quality, and better lighting. Since treatment of fish is incompatible with corals, it would need to be an entirely separate setup from my existing QT setup. The financial and logistical expenses associated with this make it impractical and infeasible. I'm sure others are in the same position. I'm open to suggestions, but it essentially leaves me with the option of no QT at all.

Very good points, especially for QT of SPS corals. I think LPS and soft corals would be OK with just some basic filtration and decent (T5 HO or PAR38 LEDs) for 10-12 weeks. For me, starting up a coral QT is somewhat justifiable, since I only have a few corals right now, but I can understand how it may not be practical for everyone.

I may start a thread over in the Reef Discussion forum to get some input from other folks on how to run a coral QT on the cheap.

 

[ca1ore]

No question that a fully functioning 'mini' reef tank is more expensive. In my case, however, I had a 30L running as a FW plant tank that had run its course, so the tank, heater and pump were already available. The inevitable upgrading had left me with a spare, smaller protein skimmer and an older RapidLED Par38 bulb, so the only incremental expense was a second bulb and a bag of coral sand. Live rock was 'borrowed' from the DT (which needed a bit of clearing out), along with a few members of the CUC. Water comes from W/C from the DT, so no incremental expense in salt.

Time will tell whether this setup is adequate to QT SPS or not. I think it probably will be, but we will see. Certainly it is fine for clams, LPS, and zoos/shrooms. Yes, it is obviously not possible to actually treat fish in this tank (though prazipro may be possible), but my experience with new fish is that only a small percentage end up needing actual medication anyhow (for me it is about one out of every five). The most recent occupant of my 20L hospital tank was actually a Magnifica anemone rather than a fish.

The only real challenge I have with my QT approach is that neither tank is particularly large. Future upgrade to a larger DT and aspiration for something like an Achilles would be problematic.

 

[HumbleFish]

That's what I was thinking & afraid of...



So that leaves me in a quandary. A QT for fish is a relatively simple (and inexpensive) endeavor. Tank, heater, HOB filter and a basic fluorescent light. A frag tank requires a permanent setup with better filtration & water quality, and better lighting. Since treatment of fish is incompatible with corals, it would need to be an entirely separate setup from my existing QT setup. The financial and logistical expenses associated with this make it impractical and infeasible. I'm sure others are in the same position. I'm open to suggestions, but it essentially leaves me with the option of no QT at all.

You can setup a coral/invert QT with just a little LR, heater, flow and lighting. The latter being your biggest expense. Nowadays you can buy a 4-bulb T5 fixture for $150-200; even cheaper if you can find one second hand. If you wanna add extras like an HOB skimmer, you can do it later on.

That's exactly how I setup this 29 gal. It started off as my coral/invert QT, but then morphed into a reef tank of it's own due to my laziness. :clown:

 

[Sk8r]

Been at this several decades, putting corals straight in after dip, and never had this happen, though I'm far from doubting your word. Did you use CoralRX or some other dip?
I would also take a look at your alkalinity, just as a precaution, though usually with corals this is not an issue. S/B ca. 8.3.

 

[Deinonych]

Been at this several decades, putting corals straight in after dip, and never had this happen, though I'm far from doubting your word. Did you use CoralRX or some other dip?
I would also take a look at your alkalinity, just as a precaution, though usually with corals this is not an issue. S/B ca. 8.3.

I use CoralRX with all of my new corals, giving them a 15 minute bath after temperature acclimation. I'm almost certain ich came in on one of two (or both) corals I purchased in late June, as my fish started showing signs a few weeks afterward. I have quarantined every fish, and none showed any signs until after those corals were added. Previous fish had been added four weeks prior to the corals, and they were quarantined with Cupramine.

Not taking the chance again with my fish, as it was extremely stressful (for the fish and me) to get them out of my DT. My foxface is still mad at me.

 

[Deinonych]

You can setup a coral/invert QT with just a little LR, heater, flow and lighting. The latter being your biggest expense. Nowadays you can buy a 4-bulb T5 fixture for $150-200; even cheaper if you can find one second hand. If you wanna add extras like an HOB skimmer, you can do it later on.

That's exactly how I setup this 29 gal. It started off as my coral/invert QT, but then morphed into a reef tank of it's own due to my laziness. :clown:

Very nice! Does one even need a 4-bulb T5? I was thinking I could get away with a 2-bulb or a single PAR38 LED for a temporary QT. Not planning to add SPS anytime soon - just LPS and zoas/palys.

 

[HumbleFish]

Very nice! Does one even need a 4-bulb T5? I was thinking I could get away with a 2-bulb or a single PAR38 LED for a temporary QT. Not planning to add SPS anytime soon - just LPS and zoas/palys.

You could probably get away with a 2-bulb T5 for LPS/zoas. I have mostly softies & LPS in my 150, and they did fine for 3 months under VHOs when my MHs went down.

 

[Deinonych]

You could probably get away with a 2-bulb T5 for LPS/zoas. I have mostly softies & LPS in my 150, and they did fine for 3 months under VHOs when my MHs went down.

Perfect, thank you. Really appreciate the advice!

 

[Deep Reef]

Sk8r, the reason I started this thread was due to a new ICH outbreak. I had previously had an ICH outbreak and did TTM with a fallow DT for 12 weeks. brought my fish back into the DT in April. All was good until mid July when I had ICH again. the only thing added to the tank were 2 corals. A toadstool and a disc/slipper coral. 2 weeks after adding them i found ICH in the tank again. only conclusion is that they brought it with them. I had used Revive for a dip. I wonder if the Bayer dip might have killed it....I think i will be looking to set up my QT with better lighting so I can QT the coral also.

 

[thelostrican]

Well you know, any excuse to set up a new tank it's a good excuse...I think...hehe...FYI...I keep a nano for my corals...