First Corals - New QT vs waiting for mature tank?

[NancyFish]

So I’ve seen people say wait for mature tanks and others say go for it in new ones. I’m just confused on why waiting for a mature tank - if you’re going to put it in a new QT first?

Like what is the best way to QT, or for the more sensitive corals that “need” a mature tank, do you just not QT?

 

[Ron Reefman]

A) Waiting for the 'mature' tank means your corals won't go in a tank that is likely to have some kind of algae issues that may damage or kill the coral.

B) Even if you do quarantine the coral, how long do you intend to keep it there? In 20+ years, I've never quarantined anything for more than a week or 10 days.

C) If you don't have a lot of expensive corals in the tank, what are you protecting? To be honest, I do a fair amount of wild collecting since I live in SW Florida and snorkel in the Florida Keys. When I bring home an assortment of critters, I separate them first. hold them that way for a few hours to watch them, then put them all into a holding tank (not really a QT). Then I move some critters like snails over to the DT over the first few days. Very few critters stay in the holding tank for more than a week.

D) If I'm buying corals, they will go in a holding tank for a very short time so I can see them open up and see that they look healthy.

E) Do I run some risk using my procedures? Probably. Have I had issues doing it my way? Sure, I let some pest anemones loose in the tank and it took time to clear the infestation. But over 20+ years and around 10 to 12 different tanks, the issues have been inconsequential as far as I was concerned.

 

[NancyFish]

A) Waiting for the 'mature' tank means your corals won't go in a tank that is likely to have some kind of algae issues that may damage or kill the coral.

B) Even if you do quarantine the coral, how long do you intend to keep it there? In 20+ years, I've never quarantined anything for more than a week or 10 days.

C) If you don't have a lot of expensive corals in the tank, what are you protecting? To be honest, I do a fair amount of wild collecting since I live in SW Florida and snorkel in the Florida Keys. When I bring home an assortment of critters, I separate them first. hold them that way for a few hours to watch them, then put them all into a holding tank (not really a QT). Then I move some critters like snails over to the DT over the first few days. Very few critters stay in the holding tank for more than a week.

D) If I'm buying corals, they will go in a holding tank for a very short time so I can see them open up and see that they look healthy.

E) Do I run some risk using my procedures? Probably. Have I had issues doing it my way? Sure, I let some pest anemones loose in the tank and it took time to clear the infestation. But over 20+ years and around 10 to 12 different tanks, the issues have been inconsequential as far as I was concerned.

I didn’t realize the mature part thank you. And what am I protecting, at this point you’re right, nothing lol. I just didn’t know if it was better to QT for the future of the tank, and how that plays out. I seen some people say a quick dip and into their tank, others longer. And then lots of talk about hitch hikers. So mainly trying to make sense of it all.

As of now we only have 2 fish in QT, and even that feels like a bummer when everything is new. Ultimately I just didn’t want to spend so much time trying to QT fish just to bring in more issues with other things like inverts and corals.

Even the inverts feel confusing because people say to get a fresh batch if you have an algae need - others say QT to avoid pest, which means time.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Quarantine is a good thing... especially if your tank has enough livestock that could be at risk that it would be a financial hardship or significant loss.
But I don't think most people do quarantine and I doubt most people dip corals. I think the few people that get some kind of pests in their tank are the vocal few and not the vast majority that don't quarantine and still have no issues. But that's just my opinion. I'd like to see R2R do some polling about this!

And I don't dip my corals, and as stated above I hardly keep anything in a holding tank (not a quarantine tank) for more than a few days. Even critters I collect from the wild. I just want to see things in holding so I can see if there are aiptasia or other pests.

 

[Dom]

So I’ve seen people say wait for mature tanks and others say go for it in new ones. I’m just confused on why waiting for a mature tank - if you’re going to put it in a new QT first?

Like what is the best way to QT, or for the more sensitive corals that “need” a mature tank, do you just not QT?

QT and waiting for a tank to mature are two different things.

QT is about isolating new fish in case they are carrying disease. It is in QT that you can safely treat new fish with disease, without impacting your existing fish in their display tank.

I QT for 90 days, which is more than the established 56 days. But as a procrastinator, it works for me.

I feel the definition of a "mature" tank is somewhat subjective. Here is a thread on "mature" tanks that may shed light:

What is a "Mature Reef Tank"?

I could not find a similar post, so I wanted to start a thread to see what others think…. What exactly is a "Mature Reef Tank"? Or what does it mean to have a mature tank? While this phrase is probably used in every area of the hobby, I found it used particularly often when a new hobbyist is...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[NancyFish]

QT and waiting for a tank to mature are two different things.

QT is about isolating new fish in case they are carrying disease. It is in QT that you can safely treat new fish with disease, without impacting your existing fish in their display tank.

I QT for 90 days, which is more than the established 56 days. But as a procrastinator, it works for me.

I feel the definition of a "mature" tank is somewhat subjective. Here is a thread on "mature" tanks that may shed light:

What is a "Mature Reef Tank"?

I could not find a similar post, so I wanted to start a thread to see what others think…. What exactly is a "Mature Reef Tank"? Or what does it mean to have a mature tank? While this phrase is probably used in every area of the hobby, I found it used particularly often when a new hobbyist is...

www.reef2reef.com

It’s starting to make a bit more sense to me. I just had a hard time wrapping my head around it. I mean everything I was reading said mature and wait and bigger for stable parameters.. then all of a sudden it’s like but make sure to QT for 2.5 months in a new fallow tank (well new if your new to this I guess).

It felt like I was contradicting myself, the idea it was hard to keep corals alive in a just starting tank - vs it’s better in the long run to put them in a less of everything tank first.

 

[Dom]

It’s starting to make a bit more sense to me. I just had a hard time wrapping my head around it. I mean everything I was reading said mature and wait and bigger for stable parameters.. then all of a sudden it’s like but make sure to QT for 2.5 months in a new fallow tank (well new if your new to this I guess).

It felt like I was contradicting myself, the idea it was hard to keep corals alive in a just starting tank - vs it’s better in the long run to put them in a less of everything tank first.

Try substituting "established" for the word "mature".