quarantining macroalgae and snails/inverts -- overkill?

[julianp]

I've been wondering whether or not it is overkill to quarantine incoming macroalgae, snails, other detrivores, etc?

The reason I ask is that I've worked very hard to make sure that cryptocaryon irritans, flukes, brook, and the like are completely absent from and never introduced to my main tank and would hate to waste all of that time by introducing something on the shell of a snail or in a clump of macroalgae.

And, if it would be best to quarantine, how long should it be for? I know cryptocaryon, for example, has a 6 week life cycle -- but is it necessary to quarantine macro or inverts for the entire 6 weeks?

Thanks,
-Julian

 

[julianp]

Oops -- forgot to add:

The specific reason I'm being paranoid about this (I normally don't quarantine inverts and macroalgae) is that I have a shipment coming from Indo Pacific Sea Farms and I know that they continuously pump water through their facility from the ocean. Thus, even if the items are bred/grown in a system without fish, how big of a chance is there that they are carrying something that came in from the ocean water?

I know this sounds paranoid... It's really more of curiosity thing than anything else.

 

[paulamrein]

It's paranoid, but good for you!!! I wish more people would be paranoid about those things. If I were in your shoes, I would absolutely QT EVERYTHING. Regardless of the odds. You have been very diligent why stop now? Excuse the reference, but it's like going to the doctor with a clean bill of health only to engage in activities unprotected. Why risk it? The six weeks or so it's in their is a lot better than have to re-qt everything.

 

[KCZoanthid]

I learned my lesson the hard way. I introduced a new fish without QT first and it has ich.

My tank was completely new and free of ich for 6 months. Not a single spot on any fish.

But I brought this angel home and dumped it right into the tank without a QT period. Now one of my clowns has ich along with the angel.

I've just spent about 5hrs taking over 400 pounds of rock and coral out of my tank. Then had to enlist the help of my wife to help catch all the fish. Between the 2 of us, and 4 large nets to run around and catch all the fish in the tank. Took over 2hrs just to catch all the fish.

Had to put all my fish in a 55g tank that I rigged with eggcrate baffles to keep the more aggressive fish away from the timid ones.

What a nightmare?!?!?!!!! :mad2:

Now I get to do 25% water changes in the QT tank every 48HRS for the next 8 or 10 weeks. The cost in salt alone is going to be ridiculous. 10g every 2 or 3 days x 10 weeks = about 160--170g of salt mix. Not to mention all the WORK!!

I'll NEVER introduce ANYTHING to my tank without a QT period again. Not even a snail. I'm done stocking fish in this tank, but I have not even begun to start with my corals and inverts.

Wouldn't it just totally SUCK to introduce a parasite on a clump of cheato or on the back of a snail?

Do yourself a HUGE favor and save yourself some money and grief. QT EVERYTHING.

 

[sundancer]

Agree with the above. QT everything that comes with water. KC, if it's any consolation I have a 360 and had to do what you did, 3 times!

 

[julianp]

Alright -- so I went ahead and set up a 10 gallon quarantine for the Gracilaria parvispora/sargassum/bristleworms/snails/amphipods/etc from ipsf.com today.

Do you guys think 4 weeks is enough time to QT?

I now have two 10 gallon quarantine tanks -- one bare bottom w/ PVC hiding places for hyposaline treatment on all fish. The second has a 3" sandbed, a little chaeto for pods to hang out in and some live rock.

For anyone reading this considering a non-fish quarantine tank, Petco has an awesome deal going on right now. ~$40 gets you an AGA 10 gallon tank, hood, 15w light, filter, 50w heater and net. Perfect for an invert quarantine.

 

[reefCrawler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11408786#post11408786 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by julianp
Alright -- so I went ahead and set up a 10 gallon quarantine for the Gracilaria parvispora/sargassum/bristleworms/snails/amphipods/etc from ipsf.com today.

Do you guys think 4 weeks is enough time to QT?

I now have two 10 gallon quarantine tanks -- one bare bottom w/ PVC hiding places for hyposaline treatment on all fish. The second has a 3" sandbed, a little chaeto for pods to hang out in and some live rock.

For anyone reading this considering a non-fish quarantine tank, Petco has an awesome deal going on right now. ~$40 gets you an AGA 10 gallon tank, hood, 15w light, filter, 50w heater and net. Perfect for an invert quarantine.

as you said, it's 6 weeks life cycle, I' do at least 6~8 to break the life cycle... and thanks for the other good information.

 

[julianp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11410825#post11410825 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefCrawler
as you said, it's 6 weeks life cycle, I' do at least 6~8 to break the life cycle... and thanks for the other good information.

Well, if there's one thing this hobby has taught me, it's certainly patience.

I'll throw in some live rock and I guess on the upside, the 6-8 weeks in fish-free tranquility will give the pods, snails and worms time to reproduce. If I'm lucky, maybe by the time the QT is finally over, I'll triple or quadruple the life I can introduce into the display tank.

On a related note, yesterday I finally bought my final two fish: a fat and healthy looking/very non-aggressive 6" pinktail trigger for $19! Score! Also, a blue/pink spotted goby. I put them in QT and as of this morning, both are already showing signs of cryptocaryon. Yet another firm reminder of the importance of quarantine.

Thank you all for your replies.
It's been great having a resource like reefcentral to guide me through the saltwater thing. It's a really rewarding feeling to look at the display tank at the end of the day, and knowing that because of all the hard work/paranoia, the fish are healthy and happy.

 

[Rekonn]

Glad I came across this thread, didn't know I had to worry about inverts too.

For chaeto, I did some research , and found many examples of people getting nasties from it, but how resilient chaeto is to freshwater. When I add chaeto to my system, I'm going to start with a small amount, do a 5 minute freshwater dip, and then rinse everything off the chaeto in the sink. Then I'm just going to buy a bottle of tigger pods. Note, I don't know if all macro is ok in freshwater, just know about chaeto.

 

[MyCatsDrool]

For what it is worth, I got Amyloodinium from un-QT'd chaeto:

My experience has shown recently that macroalgae does indeed need to be quarantined. A recently received ball of chaetomorpha was the cause of death by way of amyloodinium for my beloved blue spotted jawfish.

I am now fallow, treating my black and regular occellaris clownfish, and my scissorstail dartfish in a QT. Presently, I am treating them with Chloroquine and will try Hydrogen Peroxide in the next few days if conditions do not improve. I am also running UV on the display while it is fallow.

I can't tell you how much it broke my heart to have a $5 ball of chaeto introduce such devistation on my tank, and kill my beloved and most pricey fish in less than a few days. It was devistating, and the death was not pretty.

QT anything wet.