Ich on Corals and Inverts ?

[mcola78]

Long story short...I have been in this hobby for 18 years and have figured out the coral end of things but have never setup a QT tank (i know...booooo!). Well, I am sick of playing Russian Roulette and just recently had an ich outbreak in the tank so moved all fish to QT tank and am on week one of Cupramine Treatments. I will never go without QT'ing fish again.

The DT has inverts and corals in it and my understanding is that after 10 weeks all of the ich should be gone.

So moving forward...when July 30th comes...

FISH: I will now always QT for 6 weeks (2 with Cupramine and 4 to observe) if no signs, add to DT

...BUT...what is the process for other new items I add? Corals, Inverts? QT? How Long?

 

[b0bab0ey]

I've been told that 3 days spent in an invert-only QT (meaning, no fish can ever be kept in that tank) is adequate. Personally, I use my 29g frag tank for just this purpose. I think you can get by with just a little LR, a heater and a small circulation pump. I've added sand, coral frags, a HOB power filter, a HOB protein skimmer and some T-5 lighting to mine over time. But I think all that is optional.

 

[mcola78]

Most of the corals would be sps and I really dont want to setup a third tank but looks like this is what I will have to do. I was wondering if anyone did fresh-water dips on corals and inverts to add in to remove ich?

 

[Hoosierfan]

I could be wrong here, but I don't think ich can be transferred through corals and inverts. Corals are usually dipped to get rid of other pests such as red bugs, flatworms, etc. Inverts don't really need to be QT'd, just acclimated and added to the DT. Feel free to correct me if someone knows better.

 

[mcola78]

I think the confusion (and I again I could be wrong too which is why I asked this question), is that while ich cannot survive without fish, it can accidentally be transported on a coral or in the water the coral is in. My concern is that if I buy corals that come from a tank that has ich in it and then want to add to my tank, what is the best process to ensure the parasite does not accidentally transfer with the coral or invert into my tank?

 

[b0bab0ey]

I think the risk of not QT'ing corals/inverts is minimal but it's still there. Coral dips kill pests, but I haven't read anything conclusive about them killing parasites/Ich. I've read plenty of posts on here from people who swear they contaminated their tank with Ich by adding a coral from an infested tank.

For what it's worth, I tasked snorvich with this exact same question in the thread below. Read post 8 onward:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2156084

 

[mcola78]

Thanks b0bab0ey! That helped to clarify. Looks like my corals will now have a three-day grace period before entering the main tank.