Do you quarantine?

[Brian W]

I only QT my fish. I have most of the chemicals I need to treat them but have been lucky enough so far to not need to use any of them. I like to QT all fish for at least 4 months before introducing them into my main tank. I just cant fathom adding g a fish to any of my main systems without QTing them first.

I only buy corals from trusted sources so I feel safer not QTing them. Although I realize no vendor or coral is 100% pest free. A big part of not QTing corals is I do not want to manage another system parameters.

 

[living_tribunal]

I feel like people are very passionate about quarantine vs no quarantine... so i made a poll! (Probably tons of other quarantine polls out there)

You know what you were starting lol. Got my popcorn, my whataburger, and my copper.

 

[robbyg]

No I always get fish that have already been treated and then I inspect them carefully before putting them in. This is not the recommended method and it's also not a good idea to do it unless you know what to look for. Even then it's a bit of a risk but I have been lucky so far. LOL my biggest fear is when I go diving and find a nice piece of live rock with hidden visitors. I have accidentally bought in Mantis shrimps and two small octopuses this way.

 

[living_tribunal]

No I always get fish that have already been treated and then I inspect them carefully before putting them in. This is not the recommended method and it's also not a good idea to do it unless you know what to look for. Even then it's a bit of a risk but I have been lucky so far. LOL my biggest fear is when I go diving and find a nice piece of live rock. I have accidentally bought in Mantis shrimps and two small octopuses this way.

That’s crazy. What did you do with the octopuses?

 

[Aussiemarine]

I am prophylactically treating and quarantining at the moment following a fallow period but if ich somehow makes it into my tank I’m just going to manage it. I’ve never QT’d corals or inverts but I will be unless I’m managing a parasite infestation

 

[Rogueaquariums]

I feel like people are very passionate about quarantine vs no quarantine... so i made a poll! (Probably tons of other quarantine polls out there)

I only QT my fish. I have most of the chemicals I need to treat them but have been lucky enough so far to not need to use any of them. I like to QT all fish for at least 4 months before introducing them into my main tank. I just cant fathom adding g a fish to any of my main systems without QTing them first.

I only buy corals from trusted sources so I feel safer not QTing them. Although I realize no vendor or coral is 100% pest free. A big part of not QTing corals is I do not want to manage another system parameters.

I agree with you about purchasing corals from trusted vendors. Managing another tank is not fun especially when you don’t have a lot of time but I want to make sure I don’t have any pests before I put them into my large main display. It would be much more time consuming to try to manage an infestation in a very large system so spending a little time making sure the corals I do bring in are clean.

 

[Jpimienta91]

It all depends on your setup aswell. If you have a 100+ gallon reef tank it’s almost impossible to catch certain fish without destroying your tank to get to it (just did this after loosing thousands in fish). If you have a simple small tank that’s easy to grab a fish once showing signs then I probably wouldn’t QT. Everyone’s going to have a different opinion go with the one that fits your pockets the best!!

 

[living_tribunal]

I agree with you about purchasing corals from trusted vendors. Managing another tank is not fun especially when you don’t have a lot of time but I want to make sure I don’t have any pests before I put them into my large main display. It would be much more time consuming to try to manage an infestation in a very large system so spending a little time making sure the corals I do bring in are clean.

I really enjoy my little rink-a-dink 10g qt frag tank.

It’s been running longer than my display. Managing 30+ frags in a 10g tank with no sump/skimmer teaches you a lot about water chemistry, how to provide for coral growth, and most importantly how to listen to your corals exhaustive demands.

They are worse than ex-wives sometimes.

Quarantining fish sucks.

 

[robbyg]

That’s crazy. What did you do with the octopuses?

In both cases I only realized the buggers were in there after about three fish had disappeared during the nights over a two week period and each time I found the half eaten fish a few days later.

One night I could make out a star fish like shape on the glass and was shocked to see him sticking to the front glass and literally waving at me. The next night I patiently fed him some shrimp to keep him full and build some level of trust over the coming days. He soon came out on command and would quickly pick up the shrimp and then dart into the rocks. With some trust built up I then tried some shrimp in a net and he went in but shot out the moment I tried to pull up the net. After that he would never come out if I was close by the glass. They are as smart as people say they are.

I then started building a trap with a one foot long clear cylinder with a closed side and a hinged door I made on the other side. I tied a shrimp to the far end using tiny holes I had drilled and some string. The door was on a long 10ft string that I held at a distance

I waited up for several hour with the red lights on for the little bugger to come out. I was able to pull shut the opening and lift the cylinder out the moment he grabbed the shrimp as he was in too far to get out in time. Next I made a bowl of rice and enjoyed some fresh Calamari . Nah same fate but they both got the one finger solute as they swirled down the bowl. It may sound cruel but my brother had a commercial tank that was wiped out to the tune of several thousand dollars by one of these buggers. They eat non stop and will take down fish much larger than them.

If you have never seen this video it is an eye opener to how deadly they are in an aquarium.

Octopus in Aquarium

The ones in my tank could spread out in the palm of my hand and not reach the edges. The head about 3/4" across but they easily take out 4" Tangs like they were nothing.

 

[living_tribunal]

In both cases I only realized the buggers were in there after about three fish had disappeared during the nights over a two week period and each time I found the half eaten fish a few days later.

One night I could make out a star fish like shape on the glass and was shocked to see him sticking to the front glass and literally waving at me. The next night I patiently fed him some shrimp to keep him full and build some level of trust over the coming days. He soon came out on command and would quickly pick up the shrimp and then dart into the rocks. With some trust built up I then tried some shrimp in a net and he went in but shot out the moment I tried to pull up the net. After that he would never come out if I was close by the glass. They are as smart as people say they are.

I then started building a trap with a one foot long clear cylinder with a closed side and a hinged door I made on the other side. I tied a shrimp to the far end using tiny holes I had drilled and some string. The door was on a long 10ft string that I held at a distance

I waited up for several hour with the red lights on for the little bugger to come out. I was able to pull shut the opening and lift the cylinder out the moment he grabbed the shrimp as he was in too far to get out in time. Next I made a bowl of rice and enjoyed some fresh Calamari . Nah same fate but they both got the one finger solute as they swirled down the bowl. It may sound cruel but my brother had a commercial tank that was wiped out to the tune of several thousand dollars by one of these buggers. They eat non stop and will take down fish much larger than them.

If you have never seen this video it is an eye opener to how deadly they are in an aquarium.

Octopus in Aquarium

The ones in my tank could spread out in the palm of my hand and not reach the edges. The head about 3/4" across but they easily take out 4" Tangs like they were nothing.

That’s a crazy story! Were you able to get rid of both of them?

 

[MnFish1]

What makes it hard is most LFS medicate there fish to hide any diseases and are usually not in there long enough to kill whatever parasite they have. A week passes by and they throw in more fish into there system. At this point it’s safe to say all lfs fish have something and it’s up to the consumer to act accordingly. 15 years ago I did not QT or would ever think about it just feed.

I don't know about 'most LFS' - but surely some do. But - I never understood the rationale of using low dose medication - or too short of a dose of medication (Take CI - the illness/spots will still be there even with copper until they 'fall off')

In any case - My LFS has a separate QT system - and a protocol that every fish gets - and they are in medication free tanks when sold. Granted - they may be the exception

 

[mfollen]

Not QTing will work until you run into velvet or flukes. Then you put the animals you care for in a dangerous situation.

most fish can thrive in an ich management system. No fish can thrive in tanks with flukes and will likely not last long with velvet.

 

[ca1ore]

Observational QT; treat as necessary. IME, quarantine is equally important for getting a new fish to eat as it is for disease.

 

[robbyg]

That’s a crazy story! Were you able to get rid of both of them?

Yep with a lot of effort and patience using the trap. I can tell you that trying to get them out by removing the rocks is almost impossible! Another ominous thing is putting in live rock straight from the ocean and then hearing the pops of a mantis shrimp in the night.
The big benefit of rock bought in this way is that you can get some really nice sponges and other surprise SPS coral planula that do really well. Its really a treat to see something new growing that you did not realize was there.

 

[Dierks]

I am always interested in this! And always fun to read along to these!

 

[Tamberav]

You either fully commit to QT/treatment or you dont bother, there is no in between.

I think my conditioning tank is in between....

It's a FOWLR with in a low traffic zone free of competitors or aggression where a new fish can eat to its hearts desire and get fat while also being observed for disease.

I say it's an in between because fish are not prophylactically treated and the main purpose is to give new fish the best start before they hit the DT.

 

[Ian Baxter]

I never did, I would observe fish and make sure they eat. After a velvet outbreak I will qt moving foward and medicate

That just happened to me. Two more weeks until I start my first qt.

 

[Hermie]

I've been losing too many corals in QT so for the last batches I did not QT them. However I did have to deal with stuff on those frags after placing them in the Display; vermetid snails and aiptasia. When I started my tank I QT'd everything, but I slowly stopped being so careful because of the losses in QT. I haven't lost anything that's gone straight into my Display (after dips), but I lost probably 50% of corals that went into my QT tank.

Hermits and snails from my LFS? I definitely still QT!

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Yes I QT all my fish... matter of fact, I've spent half a year with fish in QT.

Initially I had an ich outbreak and went fallow for 11 weeks and then in early September I decided to add a lot of corals and didn't want to risk a disease/parasite problem so I pulled them out. Unfortunately, I don't have a coral/invert QT so they were placed in my observation tank for 76 days.

Normal QT Procedures:

1) FWD upon arrival after drip acclimation to QT
2) Copper treatment - 3-4 weeks
3) 2 rounds Prazipro - 7-10 days
4) Metro + Kanaplex + Furan2 - 10 days
5) Acclimiate to display

 

[Fishingandreefing]

I don’t and took my chances. Yes I had lost fish but might lost here and there if quarantine also. The thing is, the proper way to quarantine I would say it’s about 3 months and provide the right size for that particular fish. For example, a 100g to quarantine a tang or else people put them in a small tank for a month so that they though it’s quarantined. To be, it stresses the fish and might cause them sick. Just my opinion