How critical is quarantining fish (tangs) with medications

[kingkapoor]

I am currently doing a 50 g long tank. Its a simple setup, with a HOB skimmer.

This is in prep for a 120-180 gallon which will be setup once (you know what disease) calms down and I can buy more equipment (3-4 months).

I went to an open LFS (reputable one) and they mentioned if I want to keep a baby blue tang or yellow tang copper has a higher chance of killing the fish than ich can.
They also said if the fish gets ich, keeping it healthy, feeding it a good amount, and keeping the water clean should fix all issues.

What are your thoughts on this? Should I still quarantine the blue tang or go straight in?

 

[lapin]

I look at it this way:
The fish you get has Ich and Velvet or not but.......Use the newest TTM method to rid the fish of this. You can also get rid of internal parasites with Prazi Pro or some other med while doing the TTM.
This way you dont contaminate your main tank right off the bat.

Tank Transfer Method

The lifecycle of Marine Ich can vary based on a number of factors - temperature, salinity, fish species, etc. For that reason (and likely others), the TTM process was designed to be pessimistic about the timelines. Trophonts may have a timeline of 3-7 days in 80F water, but at 75F (perhaps even...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[35ppt]

I am currently doing a 50 g long tank. Its a simple setup, with a HOB skimmer.

This is in prep for a 120-180 gallon which will be setup once (you know what disease) calms down and I can buy more equipment (3-4 months).

I went to an open LFS (reputable one) and they mentioned if I want to keep a baby blue tang or yellow tang copper has a higher chance of killing the fish than ich can.
They also said if the fish gets ich, keeping it healthy, feeding it a good amount, and keeping the water clean should fix all issues.

What are your thoughts on this? Should I still quarantine the blue tang or go straight in?

They don't sound very reputable to me spreading misinformation like that. If that tang has velvet it has a good chance of killing all the fish in your tank. Copper QT is not hard and perfectly safe if done correctly but if you're not liking the idea of copper as a med or dealing with maintaining the copper level I would do that new TTM with H2o2.

Hybrid TTM to treat all parasites!

10/9/2022: Jay Hemdal and the current Fish Medic staff are suggesting that people find other treatments rather than TTM. It has some substantial drawbacks: “Tank chasing” method (Tank Transfer Method - TTM) A mostly theoretical method for treating Cryptocaryon infections takes advantage of...

www.reef2reef.com

Ich/disease management is totally a thing as I'm sure some old heads will come and tell you but if your dog had fleas or heart worms you would treat it yes? I see no difference.

 

[PatW]

Tangs are notoriously susceptible to ICH. And velvet can annihilate a fish population very quickly.

So if you plan on tangs or any fish really, a strong quarantine protocol is vital. You can either observe in quarantine but with tangs and all fish going into the tang tank I would recommend prophylactically treating with copper. Now this opinion is not a completely accepted one. But people who do not medicate generally recommend an extended quarantine with close observation. And if you do not medicate, using the tank transfer protocol is a very good option and you can use 5 gallon buckets with an air stone.

 

[Big G]

Here's a thread that explains, kinda, what your LFS told you. And it gives the other perspective of treating for Ich. Hope this helps a bit. It's no fun to have velvet or Ich in your tank.

Ich eradication vs. Ich management

Ich eradication vs. Ich management The purpose of this article is to discuss the pros & cons of ich eradication and ich management, and present the best methods for implementing each. Ich eradication - Simply put, this method means doing everything possible to keep ich out of your tank. That...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[kingkapoor]

Tangs are notoriously susceptible to ICH. And velvet can annihilate a fish population very quickly.

So if you plan on tangs or any fish really, a strong quarantine protocol is vital. You can either observe in quarantine but with tangs and all fish going into the tang tank I would recommend prophylactically treating with copper. Now this opinion is not a completely accepted one. But people who do not medicate generally recommend an extended quarantine with close observation. And if you do not medicate, using the tank transfer protocol is a very good option and you can use 5 gallon buckets with an air stone.

Thank you!
Regarding medicating them prophylacticly, is copper the only main thing I should be worried about?

 

[WVNed]

Have you ever kept fish before? If you haven't, I would go through the learning process with some hardier smaller fish in the 50 gallon tank and get a few tangs when you get the bigger tank set up and get the hang of keeping fish.

I have 5 tangs in a 240 gallon tank now. I also have some chromis, clowns and a blenny that started in a 54 gallon I had a few years ago in there.

 

[miyags]

I believe Ammonia kills more fish in QT.Ive used cupramine and seachem test kit with99% success. I lost one powder blue tang,the one that brought in velvet to my tank.He was half past dead before I started treatment.Every other fish infected lived. since then I treat every new fish no matter what. With no losses.

 

[Erick Armanii]

 

[Erick Armanii]

Great write up

 

[Squidward]

Your LFS gave you bad advice. All fish should be quarantined and treated no matter how "healthy" a fish looks to the eye.

 

[ca1ore]

Lots of different ways, and opinions, on how to do quarantine. I quarantine almost all new fish in an isolated tank, but I only treat as symptoms present. Kernels of truth In most bad advice. Misapplied, copper absolutely can hasten the demise of a new fish. Perhaps I have just been fortunate, but most of the fish I acquire do not have ich or velvet. Treating them would add unnecessary stress ... I see no logic to doing it. Keep them in isolation for 60 days, feed the &$*# out of them = best chance for success.