Quarantine questions

[peterac]

Hi all,

I wanted to know if there is every a need to quarantine inverts such as crabs, snails, clams, etc.?? Can they bring parasites or other disease into the main tank? It seems to me that they could possibly. If I do need to quarantine is there a special way to do this for inverts?

It seems like most people quarantine without substrate in the QT.
If I want to quarantine substrate dwellers such as gobies and blennies this seems like it might be an issue. How does everyone handle this?

Thanks,
Pete R.

 

[steve-s]

I wanted to know if there is every a need to quarantine inverts such as crabs, snails, clams, etc.?? Can they bring parasites or other disease into the main tank? It seems to me that they could possibly. If I do need to quarantine is there a special way to do this for inverts?

If you have the ability to do so, it is an added advantage. Especially given the size of your tank and the inability to remove fish. Barring that, the best suggestion is to buy inverts from tanks that do not contain fish and are not connected to any fish systems. There is a much less likely chance of importing a parasite. Parasites in general will adhere to any hard surface material when multiplying so it is more than possible to bring in a parasite on an inverts shell or coral rock base/plug.

It seems like most people quarantine without substrate in the QT.
If I want to quarantine substrate dwellers such as gobies and blennies this seems like it might be an issue. How does everyone handle this?

No substrate is a must. Many types of meds, especially copper will be sorbed into it making treatment levels hard or nearly impossible to maintain as well as trapping wastes. Your best bet here is to be sure the fish is eating at the LFS before you purchase it. Many types of benthic sandsifting gobies will rarely accept prepared foods and those that do often starve anyway. The surface area of a 450 gal tank is pretty good so you'll most likely not experience that issue in the display tank. Also keep in mind that when you select a species, make sure you first consider what types of corals you may add if any. Some are quite prone to dumping sand on bottom dwelling corals and clams that can irritate them or cause necrosis.

Cheers
Steve