Do you Quarantine Your Fish?

[Ferrell]

Back in the 80s never quarantined fish. Amazing luck I would say. Tangs to angels and everything in between. Fast forward 2017, bit me in the tank. Velvet wipe out changed my whole outlook. QT every fish for ever how long it takes.

 

[Triquatics]

IMO always QT and treat!

 

[GlassMunky]

I voted NO, but am interested in starting because up until now, i have never QTd anything. But moving forward on my new build of a much larger tank than ive ever kept before, we will be QT EVERYTHING that goes into the tank. fish, corals, inverts, rock, everything. so any updates you have im all ears!!

 

[mikenestle]

Sometimes. It depends on the type of fish and where I bought it.

 

[SkiCatTX]

Over 25 years or so of keeping saltwater fish and corals I have never quarantined, and never had a problem. I consider that extremely lucky and after a couple months of reading all the threads online of people loosing $1000s on fish and coral due to one fish or infected coral plug, I'm going to start.

I haven't bought a new fish, or lost one, in four years, but I plan to get some new fish next month. I already bought two QT tanks, I'm stocking up on test kits and medications, and reading all the threads on QT practices...So this first round will be a learning experience...

 

[ReefHog]

Over 25 years or so of keeping saltwater fish and corals I have never quarantined, and never had a problem. I consider that extremely lucky and after a couple months of reading all the threads online of people loosing $1000s on fish and coral due to one fish or infected coral plug, I'm going to start.

I haven't bought a new fish, or lost one, in four years, but I plan to get some new fish next month. I already bought two QT tanks, I'm stocking up on test kits and medications, and reading all the threads on QT practices...So this first round will be a learning experience...

Quite possibly the best decision you will ever make and never know.

 

[mandi29221]

QT fish, no meds/observe only. Meds only if issues arise. Currently no QT for corals/inverts.

How long do you keep them in the qt if they look healthy

 

[dugthefish]

How long do you keep them in the qt if they look healthy

2-3 weeks

 

[Jon Fishman]

nope

 

[HB AL]

I don’t quarantine but if I did I would keep them in longer than 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[Taxus812]

Good read for this new reefer . I setup a quarantine tank this week. However when I went to my LFS and discussed it he said they already treat their fish (copper and something else) and QT would cause stress that could actually make the fish sick. I thought that was interesting interesting. If buying from them since they actively treat in store qt may be a cross the point if dimming returns.

 

[DeniseAndy]

When LFS say they run copper, it does not mean a therapeutic levels, nor does copper treat everything. Personally, I have never used copper. Just not a fan. Since they say not to QT, does that mean they guarantee that your fish will survive and not kill other fish in your system? For how long? Just a thought. Granted, nothing is a guarantee with wild specimens.

 

[goodtimes]

Over 25 years or so of keeping saltwater fish and corals I have never quarantined, and never had a problem. I consider that extremely lucky and after a couple months of reading all the threads online of people loosing $1000s on fish and coral due to one fish or infected coral plug, I'm going to start.

I haven't bought a new fish, or lost one, in four years, but I plan to get some new fish next month. I already bought two QT tanks, I'm stocking up on test kits and medications, and reading all the threads on QT practices...So this first round will be a learning experience...

You’ve got fish already that have not been through qt. So you can prevent further disease from coming in by putting new fish through qt but isn’t there a good possibility that your current fish already have something and just haven’t showed symptoms?

 

[SkiCatTX]

You’ve got fish already that have not been through qt. So you can prevent further disease from coming in by putting new fish through qt but isn’t there a good possibility that your current fish already have something and just haven’t showed symptoms?

Yes it is certainly a possibility, though the only fish in that tank is a lawnmower blenny, which would require a complete teardown and removal of all rock, then chiseling the rock apart that he would be hiding in...likely to do more damage overall. I'm going to move forward with the assumption that he is not infected. Here's hoping I don't regret that decision...

 

[ngoodermuth]

You’ve got fish already that have not been through qt. So you can prevent further disease from coming in by putting new fish through qt but isn’t there a good possibility that your current fish already have something and just haven’t showed symptoms?

Even if he did have a parasite that he was managing (usually ich, most others aren’t managed effectively, for that long anyway) 4 years is a substantial time to go without adding to the genetic pool for that parasite. It has been said that ich can live for up to four years without the introduction of a new ich strain- meaning eventually if you aren’t adding new parasites, the existing ones will start to fizzle out... naturally.

There’s a good chance that even if you were managing ich at one point... with 4 years of no new additions, it would not be present now. If someone is managing ich actively, I’d still recommend QT so that they aren’t bringing in new strains to refresh the gene pool, or worse- velvet, brook, or uronema.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I used to observational qt only. And then got lazy. And my tank got hit. But special thanks to @HotRocks and @4FordFamily who have been coaching me through the entire process. With their help I was able to avoid losing any fish due to velvet with exception to the fish that brought the disease into the tank. But with their help I got all the meds I needed, got the qt tank setup and copper dosed. My fish are alive and well now. Thanks @HotRocks and @4FordFamily!!

 

[4FordFamily]

Even if he did have a parasite that he was managing (usually ich, most others aren’t managed effectively, for that long anyway) 4 years is a substantial time to go without adding to the genetic pool for that parasite. It has been said that ich can live for up to four years without the introduction of a new ich strain- meaning eventually if you aren’t adding new parasites, the existing ones will start to fizzle out... naturally.

There’s a good chance that even if you were managing ich at one point... with 4 years of no new additions, it would not be present now. If someone is managing ich actively, I’d still recommend QT so that they aren’t bringing in new strains to refresh the gene pool, or worse- velvet, brook, or uronema.

I agree and I've heard about this. I do question the soundness of the study/logic a bit, while it's possible I am sure and I am no biologist -- I know how nasty these parasites are and how they can survive some insane things so I have trouble mentally accepting that this theory would work.

However, if anything wet was added to the tank (rock, coral, etc) there is a GREAT chance that new strains were added to the tank. I struggle with believing any of us could go four years without any wet additions to the tank! LOL! I cannot go a month!

 

[HotRocks]

I used to observational qt only. And then got lazy. And my tank got hit. But special thanks to @HotRocks and @4FordFamily who have been coaching me through the entire process. With their help I was able to avoid losing any fish due to velvet with exception to the fish that brought the disease into the tank. But with their help I got all the meds I needed, got the qt tank setup and copper dosed. My fish are alive and well now. Thanks @HotRocks and @4FordFamily!!

You are doing a fine job sir, I didn't do anything!

 

[ngoodermuth]

I agree and I've heard about this. I do question the soundness of the study/logic a bit, while it's possible I am sure and I am no biologist -- I know how nasty these parasites are and how they can survive some insane things so I have trouble mentally accepting that this theory would work.

However, if anything wet was added to the tank (rock, coral, etc) there is a GREAT chance that new strains were added to the tank. I struggle with believing any of us could go four years without any wet additions to the tank! LOL! I cannot go a month!

This is true, I mean... I’ve gone a few months at a time without adding anything but at the very least I have to replenish the CUC at some point...

I guess my biggest point, wasn’t that you could “wait it out”; but that even if you’ve never QT’d before or you’ve come down with ich and for whatever reason decided to just manage it... it’s still a good idea to QT moving forward. Yes, new fish might get ich when you add them... and they might die, or might not. But, you definitely don’t want them to bring in more or worse, velvet can quickly turn a managed tank into a graveyard...

 

[4FordFamily]

This is true, I mean... I’ve gone a few months at a time without adding anything but at the very least I have to replenish the CUC at some point...

I guess my biggest point, wasn’t that you could “wait it out”; but that even if you’ve never QT’d before or you’ve come down with ich and for whatever reason decided to just manage it... it’s still a good idea to QT moving forward. Yes, new fish might get ich when you add them... and they might die, or might not. But, you definitely don’t want them to bring in more or worse, velvet can quickly turn a managed tank into a graveyard...

Agree 100%!