How long to observe?

jasonrusso · Jan 15, 2020

If I'm not prophylacticly treating, how long do you observe for disease?

I got two fish from DD so they are supposedly pretreated. It's been 2 1/2 weeks and both are eating and swimming around. I don't see any spots on them, but they do hide a bit when I get close.

ca1ore · Jan 15, 2020

Depends on the fish and whether you are also trying to fatten it up a bit. I do 8 weeks minimum; 12 weeks if necessary. There have been occasional fish that I did much shorter, but only for those that are less suceptible to skin parasites.

Uncle99 · Jan 15, 2020

Eating acting and behaving for 14 days, they go to my DT.

jasonrusso · Jan 15, 2020

ca1ore said:
Depends on the fish and whether you are also trying to fatten it up a bit. I do 8 weeks minimum; 12 weeks if necessary. There have been occasional fish that I did much shorter, but only for those that are less suceptible to skin parasites.

8 - 12 weeks? I was thinking a month at most. Why so long? I hate leaving them in an unnatural QT.

ca1ore · Jan 15, 2020

Because I have a sizable, and expensive, fish ‘collection’ that I do not wish to imperil so I err on the side of caution. I do keep a proper small reef setup as one of my QT tanks, so not all fish get stuck in the PVC tank for the full period.

nereefpat · Jan 16, 2020

jasonrusso said:
8 - 12 weeks? I was thinking a month at most. Why so long? I hate leaving them in an unnatural QT.

Life cycle of ich can last that long, fyi.

Also, keep in mind DD doesn't really QT fish. It's more like what you're doing, conditioning. They keep the fish for a while, make sure it's eating, treat any ailments that the DD employees see.

jasonrusso · Jan 16, 2020

nereefpat said:
Life cycle of ich can last that long, fyi.

Also, keep in mind DD doesn't really QT fish. It's more like what you're doing, conditioning. They keep the fish for a while, make sure it's eating, treat any ailments that the DD employees see.

Not on the fish. On the fish is 14 days.

If I read the DD QT process, it says they are treated with copper, anti-biotic, prazi....

LiveAquaria® Diver's Den® WYSIWYG Store Quarantine Procedure for Marine Fish

m.liveaquaria.com

nereefpat · Jan 16, 2020

jasonrusso said:
Not on the fish. On the fish is 14 days.

If I read the DD QT process, it says they are treated with copper, anti-biotic, prazi....

LiveAquaria® Diver's Den® WYSIWYG Store Quarantine Procedure for Marine Fish

LiveAquaria® Diver's Den® WYSIWYG Store Quarantine Procedure for Marine Fish

m.liveaquaria.com

Right, but what if it drops off the fish, and 3 days later reinfects the fish because there is no medication in the water?

Folks on this forum have received fish from DD with ich, velvet, etc. I see they mention treatment with copper sulfate, but we don't know the specifics (concentration, duration, etc).

There are many different ways to look at QT. Some folks don't at all, some just observe, some prophylactically treat. I just wanted you to know that two weeks of observation of DD fish doesn't guarantee the fish won't have problems. And DD fish are quarantined, but not up to the standards of everyone.

jasonrusso · Jan 24, 2020

Any other input on this?

Qasimja · Jan 24, 2020

i only treat fish with metro and prazi and observe for 4 weeks i dont like to treat with copper if i dont have to may not be the best QT but it works for me

jasonrusso · Jan 24, 2020

At this point it's been 4 weeks. Everyone is eating and active (as long as I'm not in the room). I don't see any spots on fins.

nereefpat · Jan 24, 2020

Essentially, the thread is about observation only QT. It's really a QT philosophical question. I would treat DD fish the same way you would treat any incoming fish. What species of fish are we talking about?

Here are a couple threads: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/qt-observe-or-treat-or-automatically-treat-or.380506/

Observation Only QT Procedure

What is the proper way to run an observation only (and treat when needed) quarantine? If I have had the fish for at least 30 days in qt, and have not noticed any scratching or other signs of illness, are they good to go?

www.reef2reef.com