corals and marine velvet

micki3

New member
I have read that marine velvet can obtain energy from light. Is this true? And how do I quarantine my corals that have been in a tank with marine velvet with out light. how long can corals and anemones survive with out light? Or do I just not worry about it because the marine velvet will eventually die off with out fish anyways? I am planning to quarantine my corals and anemones because I am taking this opportunity to change the sand in my tank. So rather than just leave the tank fallow, I am going to completely drain and clean and start over. In the mean time I will be quarantining the inverts. Fish are already in quarantine with copper treatment.
 
Velvet is a dinoflagellate, and both the tomont and dinospore (free swimming) stage can use light as an energy source. Velvet tomonts can encyst to hard (non-tissue) parts of coral and even some inverts. The good news is velvet will starve to death after 6 weeks in a fishless environment, even if you run the aquarium lights. The presence of light only prolongs it's life; it doesn't keep the parasites alive indefinitely.
 
Even better news: Velvet and lck can't encyst on living coral tissue. So if you get freshly cut frags or have the store cut the corals off the frag plug so that no dead skeleton or rock is exposed (aside from the fresh cut surface) the likelihood of bringing cysts with the coral is very minimal.

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