Why QT corals?

[twoodall]

I have a QT set up have a couple fish in it now. I have read and read about the benefits of QT for fish and the DT. What are the benefits of QT for corals?

 

[SeanT]

Several.
Among them are to observe/treat disease and parasites that can spread in your display and wipe out the rest of your corals.

 

[kdc527]

It depends what type of corals your qting sps I know certain types of bad critters lay eggs at the base of some sps. i usually give my corals a freshwater dip to kill any hitchhikers on the rock or plug it came with.

 

[twoodall]

We are talking LPS for now. Torch, Plate and Moon Rock.

 

[stanlalee]

I never quarantine any corals and not once had an issue. All my sps are bought small and aquacultured from aquacultured coral only tanks from sources I trust. I dont do the SPS trading and frags from peoples display tanks for this reason. I dont know LPS and zooanthid to have significant enough parasite issues to warrant quarantine. I also have a sixline wrasse. If I were worried I'd get a dip like seachems before adding them and be done with it.

 

[twoodall]

I bought these three corals and two fish from a advertisers here on RC. I like the specimens, on the surface they look like good quality, but it is my first purchase from them. The website did mention they had a Marine Biologist on Staff, but the degree isn't posted on the website. HA!

 

[crvz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13379099#post13379099 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stanlalee
I never quarantine any corals and not once had an issue. All my sps are bought small and aquacultured from aquacultured coral only tanks from sources I trust. I dont do the SPS trading and frags from peoples display tanks for this reason. I dont know LPS and zooanthid to have significant enough parasite issues to warrant quarantine. I also have a sixline wrasse. If I were worried I'd get a dip like seachems before adding them and be done with it.

well, most folks don't have problems, but when you start trading and obtaining various corals at a frequent interval you'll likely reap the benefits from the QT. There are numerous zoanthid pests, from nudis to snails to spiders, and LPS can bring in diseases. If you're confident that the lineage of each tank you're buying from is completely safe, then sure there's no need to QT, but being able to have that kind of confidence is a stretch at best.

 

[sassafrass]

I didn't and wished I had it cost me a lot of money and some color morphs of zoo's I might never find again

 

[twoodall]

Does the rule for just ambient lighting apply for corals in QT or should I supply a greater amount of lighting?

 

[ACBlinky]

For corals, light = food; in QT they need the same lighting (or as close as possible) as they had when you bought them, and/or will have in your display.

A couple of my reasons for QTing or dipping coral:
1) It gives you time to identify any pests that may have ridden in on the coral, and do something about them
2) With LPS, I like having them in a quiet tank or the sump for a bit; this allows me to 'fatten them up'. Lots of LPS are starving by the time we buy them, and time in QT lets them eat in peace and recover without being mauled by fish or shrimp.

 

[tmz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13378675#post13378675 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kdc527
It depends what type of corals your qting sps I know certain types of bad critters lay eggs at the base of some sps. i usually give my corals a freshwater dip to kill any hitchhikers on the rock or plug it came with.

Most sps will bleach if you give them a freshwater dip.

 

[tmz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13380807#post13380807 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ACBlinky
For corals, light = food; in QT they need the same lighting (or as close as possible) as they had when you bought them, and/or will have in your display.

A couple of my reasons for QTing or dipping coral:
1) It gives you time to identify any pests that may have ridden in on the coral, and do something about them
2) With LPS, I like having them in a quiet tank or the sump for a bit; this allows me to 'fatten them up'. Lots of LPS are starving by the time we buy them, and time in QT lets them eat in peace and recover without being mauled by fish or shrimp.

Once pests such as acro eating flatworms,red bugs ,montipora eating nudibranch and/or various lps infections enter your tank they can destroy it and are very difficult to erradicate.