How many folks actually quarantine?

[Coach v]

I am in a reboot after a time away. I have never used a QT system before, I have been at this since the early 90s. I have decided to give QT a try.

I purchased 3 fish two weeks ago and have them coming out of HTTM and going into an observation tank tonight. My thing is, every single reefer I speak to IRL does not quarantine. My mentor does not, his mentor does not. I was in the LFS last week and they asked if I was ready for more fish. I said when I get done with QT for my current batch. The owner mentioned my patience and in talking, he said that to his knowledge, almost none uses QT that purchases fish there. He said his employees and he do not for their personal tanks.

It just go me thinking, who uses quarantine? Do you use it just for fish or everything wet? What method do you use?

 

[nuxx Verified Sponsor]

I quarantine EVERYTHING wet, including coral and inverts.

The downside to this is a lost of a lot of frags and some CUC doing this.

The positives, was I never lost a fish to disease in the display.

I did have lots of extra tanks running though.

 

[mike550]

I try to quarantine everything. But more of an observation tank than anything else. Fish for at least a couple of weeks, and I let coral frags grow out until I’m comfortable that there aren’t any critters (dipped before going into QT) and they’ve started to grow. Not sure what to do about inverts yet.

 

[hoffmeyerz]

I QT new fish now but for observation first. I keep them in QT for at least a week with no medication to watch, make sure it's eating, acclimate to DT parameters, and make sure it's not sowing obvious signs of illness. If I see something in behavior or appearance that suggests illness I treat it then.
I know it's not a strict QT process but it's been working for me so far.

 

[KQuillan]

I'm guilty, I don't Quarantine.

 

[kados]

I think the poll needs an important clarification:
"Quarantine and proactively medicate vs. Quarantine for Observation"
Unless you really mean any QT practice

 

[ReefHunter006]

Everything wet. I hate it

 

[ckuhny3]

My mentor is a freshwater guy but has been at it for 50 years breeding discus and angel fish. He told me he QTs for observation. Doesn’t like treating fish that aren’t sick. So now I set up a 10 gallon in the laundry room for the next time I add a fish. The stress of possibly killing everything in my tank worries me sick every time I add something so I am going to do my best to not put myself through that. Maybe start on a cheaper fish for my first QT so it won’t be as heartbreaking if I mess up

 

[Jason boles]

I dose KZ products and feed the good food with antibiotics and probiotics.

Had 20+ small fish in my 180 at one time.

Picked up 3 fish and they got the white stuff on their side and were swimming into the sand like kamakazi fish.

I figured RIP fish. But they just did it for like two weeks in my tank and slowly but surely got more and more healthy.

im also guilty of many other “lazy” things. I do not test my Walter, excet to check the salinity for water changes. I do not freak out or try to get rid of any pest in my tank, and they seem to take care of themselves.

i will occasionally clear out some nuisance algae or get after it with a toothbrush if i hate it. But generally just goes away on its own.

 

[Mr Cypher]

After velvet everything goes QT now forget about the financial loss with the fish watching something like that destroy your tank in short order is not worth the couple hundred I spent on my QT

 

[legalizedreefer]

I don’t at all. Reason #1 being I’m in Canada and medications are hard to get

I’m not a fan of “sterile” environments to begin with. I’m a believer in keeping fish healthy on good diet and letting them build up immunity. You can debate that method to no end but it’s what’s available to me and it’s always worked for me

 

[vtecintegra]

HTTM on all fish with my own twist. Transfer every 24 hrs with multiple H2O2 baths and Prazi during the 14 days. Formalin bath prior to starting, and at the conclusion. Not quarantining is irresponsible in my opinion.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I am in a reboot after a time away. I have never used a QT system before, I have been at this since the early 90s. I have decided to give QT a try.

I purchased 3 fish two weeks ago and have them coming out of HTTM and going into an observation tank tonight. My thing is, every single reefer I speak to IRL does not quarantine. My mentor does not, his mentor does not. I was in the LFS last week and they asked if I was ready for more fish. I said when I get done with QT for my current batch. The owner mentioned my patience and in talking, he said that to his knowledge, almost none uses QT that purchases fish there. He said his employees and he do not for their personal tanks.

It just go me thinking, who uses quarantine? Do you use it just for fish or everything wet? What method do you use?

FWIW, the fish medics store their current fish quaratine protocol here:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[JetsIrish]

I lost multiple fish to velvet or brooklynella a couple months after setting up my tank. Since then I’ve been QTing or buying fully QTed fish.

My QT is very simple, a 20 gallon setup from PetCo, some coppersafe, some sand in a Tupperware for the wrasse, and some PVC. Not pretty, but getting the job done.

But for those of you that are QTing corals… doesn’t this require another expensive setup? Power heads, lighting appropriate for corals (including SPS), etc.? What’s a “minimal” coral QT look like?

 

[t5Nitro]

I never want to have another (QT) tank set up for this so I'm trying fish from Dr. Reef. Love the idea of someone else doing the quarantine process without the need to have more tanks setup at home.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Option "E": using other peoples' quarantines. I buy fish only from vendors who quarantine and treat incoming fish, or they go into a hospital tank where I can dose copper or go hypo.

I've also bought groups of fish from people who are breaking down their tanks (and not because of a disease outbreak).

I buy my coral from people who are breaking down their tanks. While I have had aiptasia ride in on the occasional frag (and, once, grape caulerpa), I haven't had a disease outbreak from doing this. I find that almost all reefers will tell you about any disease outbreak they've suffered if you ask them.

 

[Lps_lover12]

After I had a velvet outbreak that wiped my tank (it was only a 32g but still hard to watch) I now qt everything before it goes into my 100g. I’m in Canada and like another reefer on here said it’s hard to get meds so I just do a 30 day observation period. Where I get fish from I trust a lot so I don’t worry too much but still watch closely. It’s annoying but better to be patient then wipe your tank out! I also don’t beleive in medicating fish without showing symptoms of disease

 

[Manny’s Reef]

I do one of two things. I purchase quarantined fish from Dr. Reef Quarantined Fish. Or if I buy from LFS, I will quarantine at home. I have a QT setup in a spare room. I follow the Jay Hemdal write-up from this forum.

 

[flashsmith]

I don't quarantine but I consider myself fortunate to have a SW only store that does it for their customers. Already acclimated to 1.025. All I do is float and dump. Never lost a fish in 3 years. Never any disease.

 

[HSR]

I started to QT fish for the first time with my new aquarium as a promise to myself to follow as many "best practice" things as I could for success... and I must say, the feeling of knowing a fish has gone though a fill treatment leads to great peace of mind as you introduce them to their new aquarium friends.

I don't have a coral setup for QT but am interested to read about other peoples experience with this.