How to quarantine from the get go

[reddfish]

I'm setting up a reef tank (my first, LPS and Soft, 55g display, 25g refuge, 30g sump, and 30g quarantine) that is very close to being ready for water, rock, and eventually fish. I was planning on getting my LR shipment of uncured marshall island next month. After reading the article, I became qiute concerned with the possibility of infecting my new system with whatever various things can come in with LR. Now I know I'm not going to be able to be knowledgable about EVERYTHING. This is my pioneering effort at reef though, not at aquaria, and I know enough to want to minimize the damage I od out of ignorance. Would the curing process and additional observation and treatment of issues be dangerous to proceed with in my display. I don't plan on having anything I currently think could act as a host until the curing process is complete and the tank is thouroughly cycled. I do have a 75 gallon empty tank that I could potentially use to quarantine my LR outside the display, but I'd have to use equipment from my display (like protein skimmer) to maintain water quality while the rock cured and quarantined. I really don't want my substrate (6" DSB in fuge, several inch SB in 55 [for goby shrimp]
0 to be contaminated with unwanted 'whatever', dormantly waiting for an appropriate host to appear.

 

[Steven Pro]

Don't worry too much about it. Curing the liverock in your display is ok because even if you introduce some fish parasite or coralivore, they won't have any potential hosts for a month or longer and should starve to death. But, after that I would recommend QT everything else.

 

[reddfish]

Thanks Steve. I figured as much, but would rather be safe than sorry. The rock will be curing for a month, and then just looking pretty for another while my funds catch up from their purchase, so if not having a host makes as much of a difference as you say (and as would seem to make sense) then I should be ok. While I'm here I should ask (I'm taking a tangent off the quarantine subject), do you have any method of choice of manually ridding LR of aptaisia (sp?) or other nuisance things that could pop up during the curing process?

 

[Steven Pro]

Let me tell you that I ran my new 120 for well over 6 months without any fish, not because I was concerned about parasites, but because I wanted to create a diversity of critters in my tank. If funds hold you back from stocking your tank, feel confident that the longer you wait the more free stuff you will discover.

As to eliminating pest anemone, let me refer you to another one of my articles,
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i3/aiptasia_impressions/aiptaisia_impressions.htm

For other potential problems, see the long list of References and Related Reading at the bottom of my Quarantine article.

 

[reddfish]

First off, Thanks a lot for your helpful reassurance and links to other info. I'll be sure to check them out. I do think I'll be leaving fish out of the picture for awhile after curing just to see what sort of critters/plants/corals/sponges/etc will mature off of this rock. That is one of my main justifications for spending more money on the marshall island LR, plus getting the uncured type. From what I've heard and read, I'll be rewarded with all the diversity.

 

[Steven Pro]

I agree. Uncured liverock can be a bit of a mess and a little work, but you are rewarded with diversity for it.