A simple tank with live rock, pump and skimmer is
set up to house all new corals for inspection and treatment if needed.
Why quarantine?
Because there is an ocean of potential problems you could introduce into
your tiny reef ecosystem.
Here is some info on what pests you should look out for and what to do next.
Having reef aquaria since 1994 I have seen / experienced allot
Bad
Red spot Acropora feeding amphipod, (AKA
red bugs, red butt bugs) to
the naked eye they look like a red speck or a cluster of red specks on the tip
of an Acropora branch. They only affect Acropora species and in my option they
are not life threatening to the coral but they do affect its growth and
often its color. Do not confuse them with the other larger copepods
swimming in your system, these ones are about the size of a hair follicle, or
sharp pencil dot. They can swim if disturbed, so simply dipping the coral in an
Iodine solution (coral dip) will only kill the ones that were on the coral. The only way I have rid my system of these pests was by using
Interceptor. I found this link
The Treatment that
describes the procedure. I would also add some new cured live rock to
re-establish the natural plankton.
Bad
Black spot Montipora feeding amphipod, to the naked eye they look like a
black speck. They only affect Montipora species and in my option they
are not life threatening to the coral but they do affect its growth and
often its color. Do not confuse them with the other larger copepods
swimming in your system, these ones are about the size of a hair
follicle, or sharp pencil dot. They can swim if disturbed. Dipping the coral in an
Iodine solution seems to not affect them at all. The only way to get rid of them
is by using
Interceptor, just like for the red bug treatment.
Very bad if un checked
Montipora eating
nudibranch are quite
a pest if not found early on. They eat the living flesh of
Montipora species and can wipe out all your Montipora corals if left
unchecked, commonly first seen on the underside of Montipora capricornis but you must
check all species of Montipora for they can be found even on Montipora
digitata. They look like white, off-white, or brown fluffy spots up to 3/8"
long and the best place to look for them is at the base and undersides
of the Montipora corals. A tell tale sign of there presence is the
appearance white dead areas on the coral. The only sure way to avoid
them is to quarantines the new coral for two weeks (incase there are
eggs that haven't hatched) and check for there
presence. If you find them you should remove them by picking them off
or even better use a turkey baster to blast them off (in a separate
container), and then scrub the base rock
and all dead areas with a tooth brush to remove any possible eggs. You
can make a coral dip using Melifix( a common fish medication). Use one
cap full to one gallon container full of salt water, after about 5
minutes give the coral a shake and they should start falling off. If
they are already in your system you must be diligent about there
removal. You cannot remove them all in just one shot it will take
several weeks
checking all montipora every 3-4 days for the next month, and even then
they may reappear a few months later, so always be on the look out for
them and QT.
Very bad and can destroy allot of Acropora very
fast
Acropora eating flat worms (AEFW) Don't confuse
these with the common red planaria, unlike the red or rust colored
flatworms these worms have no problem climbing onto Acropora branches.
The adults are oval in shape, up to 1/2" from front to back and about
1/4" wide.
Here they feed on the flesh of the Acropora coral and the
zooxanthellae contained
inside. The tell tale signs of these worms are the white holes left
behind as they feed. The
adult AEFW
is very well camouflaged against the surface of the coral and during the
daytime they usually hide
in the folds between branches. When it comes time to lay eggs the adult AEFW will eat a section from the base of a colony
upon which it will lay its
eggs. There are
some coral dips that will kill them but not the eggs, but there so far
is no in tank treatment like there is for the red bugs. So far the
best remedy for removal is the use of small species of Reef-safe wrasses
and fallow the method described for removing the Montipora eating
nudibranch.