Quarantine questions...plz help!?!?!

[tlsohio]

My tank is nicely stocked and I have considered adding a couple things and until recently I thought the "Quarantine" was only for fish. But I've recently read on here where people even "Quartanine" thier live rock. Well, I've added live rock without quarantine and so far have been fortunate (knock on wood). I'd like to ad some snails, brittle starfish, porcelain crab and some corals, mostly ricordia & zoas. Can anyone tell me if I need to quarantine any of these guys. Please Help

 

[lauremf2002]

Alot of people dont quarantine inverts. Ich can be carried in by an invert though so u may want to. Although, i woulnt think that you would have to qt them for as long as a fish. I know that you can buy a dip for corals to make sure there are no bad hitchhikers and such on them. And im not really sure why anyone would qt live rock. You should cure it if its been shipped or is uncured which I guess is like a qt. If you dip it in fresh water though, most of the unwanted guys fall out.

 

[bizzmoneyb]

honestly i dont see the point of QT'ing inverts. ich does not affect inverts but can be carried "on" them. because of this there are no outbreaks and you wont know they are there. and the only way to destroy the ich is to treat with hypo which would kill the inverts, as well as anything live on the rocks.

 

[tlsohio]

Thanks so much for the input, I was beginning to get worried that I would be quarantining everything that I brought home and how much of a pain that was going to be!! I feel a little more at ease about the new comers. Thanks again.

 

[lauremf2002]

You would only have to qt the inverts as long as ich can live without a fish to host it. which i think is like a week. I could be wrong. Anyway, I dont qt inverts its just up to you

 

[mudplayerx]

I wish I would have quarantined all of the stuff I put in my tank. I believe I introduced an Oenone fulgida worm into my tank from a piece of live rock from my fiance's tank. It has since multiplied and I'm having to remove them daily.
It seems like a real headache to quarantine something, but in the long run it is a very good idea that can save you countless hours of chasing unwanted hitchikers.

 

[tlsohio]

If you had quarantined, do you think you would have been able to noticed them before you added the rock to your tank?? Sounds like a bummer, sorry!! Well, you've convinced me....I think I'll put everything in quarantine for at least a week. Thanks for that tid bit of advice.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by BizzMoneyB
http:///forum/post/2992423
honestly i dont see the point of QT'ing inverts. ich does not affect inverts but can be carried "on" them. because of this there are no outbreaks and you wont know they are there. and the only way to destroy the ich is to treat with hypo which would kill the inverts, as well as anything live on the rocks.
Correct, ich does not effect inverts. However, when ich reproduces it attaches to a calcareous surface. That surface could very well be an invert shell. You would not have to treat the invert in QT because the ich will die after it reproduces. It will not have a fish to feed from. If you were to introduce an invert into your tank without quarantine then when the ich does reproduce it will have all of your fish to feed from and infect.
You should quarantine everything for three weeks (the amount of time it could take an ich parasite to reproduce) to be sure that you do not introduce unwanted things into your tank. I know it seems like a pain but it is a much bigger pain to have to catch and move all of your fish for treatment. Believe it or not, parasites are introduced on non fish all of the time.

 

[mudplayerx]

Originally Posted by tlsohio
http:///forum/post/2993024
If you had quarantined, do you think you would have been able to noticed them before you added the rock to your tank?? Sounds like a bummer, sorry!! Well, you've convinced me....I think I'll put everything in quarantine for at least a week. Thanks for that tid bit of advice.
They say to pour soda water over live rock before putting it into the tank. It is basically just carbonated water so it is harmless, but irritates the hitchikers enough to leave the rock.
The quarantine tank should have a bare glass bottom. I guess you can use a bait trap to lure anything out of the rock. Anything would have been better that introducing quite possibly the worst worm I could have into my tank