coral qt?

[CoralBeauties]

there are several frags listed on swapper that I am interested in but I dont want to just drop them into the tank even with a dip.  when a qt tank is set up for corals only are you adding some iodine or such in a small amount to kill off any pests or just puting them in the qt tank to watch for any problems?  How long do you keep them in qt?  I dont have any pests in my tank now and dont want to risk it.  how long in the life cycle of most red bugs, acro worms and such.
thanks
Jeff

[lazylivin]

Here is my process for SPS.

Inspect the plug for any nuisance algae and if found will remove coral and replug. Lately I have been doing it regardless. At this time I also inspect for any tissue damage to coral or indication of pests using 10x magnifying glass.

Next is a 10 minute dip/spin/swish in revive or coral rx at double recommended strength with a couple drops of flat worm extract.  While this is occurring I inspect for any aefw to come off or other pests. Use a white piece of paper under the clear dip container so they can be seen easier. This is the best time to use the magnifying glass because the dip will irritate most pests and the iradic movement may give them away. I don't always use dip for redbugs because it is expensive and previous dip will likely kill them and if not in tank treatment is no big deal unless you have crabs to remove because interceptor will kill them.

Iodine dips seem to be really hard on corals and only moderately effective against pests. I quit using it after seeing how effective revive and coral rx is.

Next is acclimation to quarantine tank with a 30-45 day observation period.

Sometimes prior to moving from QT to display tank I dip again just to be sure there are no pests.

[Wall_Tank]

How do you keep you QT tank stable enough for SPS?

[lazylivin]

I run a Solona for QT which is about 30 gallons of water and it has a 150 light with small stock protein skimmer. I add soda ash for PH and Microbacter7 for a week or two after draining it and refilling it with water from other tank to reduce having a cycle. That seems to work okay with the minimal bio load. Used to run a little pico tank which worked great for observation due to small size but could only run for a week or two due to low light and no good for fish