How many folks actually quarantine?

[Vimby210]

I am back into Salt water after a 14ish year break. I lost my first tank and all its inhabitants due to not quarantineing, I watched in frustration as my whole tank died in a week with nothing I could do. I lost thousands of dollars over a 20 dollar fish. So this time around, I will quarantine every fish i add. Dip all corals, and im undecided on inverts. It is russian rulette to not quarantine fish, I was warned on several occasions, and I had to learn the hard way. Ive missed out of years of reefing because of it, but im back and excited for the challenge.

 

[Spare time]

Once you have worked in the fish store/coral story business, and how many fish get killed by disease from people who don't quarantine but then also killed in tanks at stores from disease, you will never skip qt again. I also have ethical issues with not doing qt as we rip these fish from the ocean where tons die in the process just to be stuck in a tiny box in Kansas with an owner who (in most cases of fish keeping) will do something ignorant or foolish either from being lazy or mal informed and kill the fish. And even if they live with some parasite, they're subjected to constantly getting sick or living with a nasty parasite until the tank crashes or the owner gets rid of them

 

[reddogf5]

After rebooting the tank, I am QTing everything. Just got some fish, doing the tank transfer method. Also got some snails, they are in a pico tank with a rock flower anemone, they can stay there for 45 days.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

After rebooting the tank, I am QTing everything. Just got some fish, doing the tank transfer method. Also got some snails, they are in a pico tank with a rock flower anemone, they can stay there for 45 days.

You need to be aware that while TTM is effective against marine ich, it does not cover all diseases, especially those with a direct life cycle. There are modifications to TTM that can help extend its range, but it still falls short of a full quarantine method. Sometimes, fish have disease issues that are simply not covered by any treatment. For those, it is always best to find out they have those issues before you put them in your DT.

Jay

 

[Dave1993]

QT is for wimps jk but i don't QT my fish have ich they don't care never get it

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I think the more important question is, if you don't quarantine, is there really anything anyone can say that will convince you to do so? There's a fish disease forum here full of stories of what happens if you don't QT. It's the same story playing out over and over and over. In almost every case, a simple 20 gallon tank with a HOB filter and heater would have been enough to solve the problem, or at least prevent it from spreading to the display. But still, hardly anybody does it.

 

[Reefing102]

I quarantine fish for observation first. If nothing blatantly obvious shows up, after a couple weeks to the display. If something shows up, off to the medicated tank. I also quarantine all of my corals I buy from LFS’s as they are rampant with flatworms and Aiptasia. I usually don’t bother with other inverts except if it’s particularly expensive (I’m looking at you anemones)

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I quarantine fish for observation first. If nothing blatantly obvious shows up, after a couple weeks to the display. If something shows up, off to the medicated tank. I also quarantine all of my corals I buy from LFS’s as they are rampant with flatworms and Aiptasia. I usually don’t bother with other inverts except if it’s particularly expensive (I’m looking at you anemones)

Observational quarantine can let a lot of things slip through, exposing the fish in your DT to them. I would go at least 45 days observation, but it is still not something I do except for certain very delicate fish such as flashlight fish and sometimes dragonets.

Jay

 

[mike550]

I think the more important question is, if you don't quarantine, is there really anything anyone can say that will convince you to do so? There's a fish disease forum here full of stories of what happens if you don't QT. It's the same story playing out over and over and over. In almost every case, a simple 20 gallon tank with a HOB filter and heater would have been enough to solve the problem, or at least prevent it from spreading to the display. But still, hardly anybody does it.

@chipmunkofdoom2 I’m in the middle. Im lucky enough to have room for a 20G which I use to QT fish and coral for observation. But here are a couple of points where I’d appreciate your input or anyone else for that matter.

I put fish in my QT for 14-21 days for isolation and observation. For me it’s the right balance between being cautious and impatient. That said, I‘m now focusing on buying fish from LFS and am happy to pay a premium for fish that someone else has put through a quarantine process. Frankly, I’m not sure I could manage a rigorous quarantine schedule.

I also isolate my corals for six weeks after having picked up aiptasia, hydroids, and who knows what else over time. So now I dip and isolate then dip again before going into the DT on a rack before getting secured to any rockwork.

I also don’t isolate fish and coral at the same time or at least haven’t has the need to yet. So rather than running two separate QT I’ll just rotate as needed

 

[brandon429]

I'm always finding new threads I want as the first read in hundred page cycling threads

this thread is one


we want to read about fish disease prevention before we ever talk about ammonia control, because that's coming in four days regardless.

These testimonies about losing initial setups are going to save fish multiplied because new tankers will read this as the first thing to consider when cycling a reef tank, the ammonia control is given, you'll have it in four days using 99% of the ways reefers cycle reef tanks. I'm on page 34 of a new thread and still haven't found anyone without ammonia control by day 2, day four was for worst case scenarios. we focus on disease preps, not ammonia control in our cycle work threads.




I like this lookup below to try and gauge how long new tanks that skip disease preps run before issues show up

Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis

A forum for discussing treatment and diagnosing saltwater reef fish.

www.reef2reef.com

go to each new poster for disease help, select their name, select find all posts

look at the very first post, that's usually a reveal or mention about the age of their tank.

see how many are under 8 mos old posting for help if we scan ten posters?

that means after cycling, their fish ran months appearing totally normal

all their fish ran fine after the initial cycle, because ammonia control was the easy part.

the ways we cycle reef tanks already had that thought given and everyone's showing up having copied one another with the completed equation already, a done cycle, in all forums online not just here.


it's about disease control, that's all your thought and planning and reinforcements

reading this thread might can you consequences

 

[mfinn]

Since about 1993 I've quarantined all fish.
Back then I brought home a new fish to add to my 20 other fish and it must have had ick.
I ended up losing every fish. Wasn't alot of information available at the time.
I should qt corals too. Found out the hard way. Brought home velvet on a new coral.

 

[Brewski4u1]

I used to never QT till my new tank, and my local fish stores fish not being the best so now everything gets qt to make sure its eating and not sick

 

[Sargeeq]

I quarantine fish for a minimum of 28 days.
Corals go directly into the tank AFTER I dip in BioAdvanced Insect Killer, and then rinse them off in a Coral RX dip, and then in a fresh saltwater bath. Only then do they see the inside of the tank.

I have lost only a couple of corals, probably from overstress, but I haven't gotten any critters in my display tank that I didn't put there.

 

[Keko21]

Im the worst lol I do quarantine but lightly. I usually have my fish in the qt tank observe for 3 days, hit them with the prazipro and if all looks good after 2 weeks they go in the DT. If something looks off after the prazi I move onto the copper. I usually only do a full 30 day treatment if I get my fish from a big box store like petco. Other than that I do make an effort to ask any online vendors how long they have had the fish and what they are running in their tanks to determine how long I QT. All of the LFS I go to either run copper in their systems or do a full two week quarantine before putting them on the floor for sale.

 

[dstockwell]

I don't quarantine.

 

[brandon429]

all zoos quarantine, I'd bet. imagine losing that much $$ and delicate life by taking the risk

aquarists can afford the comparative replacement costs much better

there may come a point one day where hobby pricing forces it, because re buying stuff is just too costly

I can't say that would be bad. I don't even buy or own marine fish, just corals, so I guess I'll pay along just the same while not contributing to the issue of disease loss but hopefully some fish price pressure makes them not so expendable one day.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I'm quarantining macroalgae right now.

 

[Rewd]

I've been reefing since 2004 and have 2 distinct "periods" in this hobby. 2004-2011 then a 10 year break and then fell back in to this hobby HARD at the end of 2020 lol. My first period (04-11) I ran a 75g mixed reef and did not quarantine. I definitely had Ich in that tank and managed it quite well; I don't recall ever losing any livestock to it but it would absolutely flare up when the tank was stressed. Had tangs, angels, clowns, etc. All would experience an outbreak from time to time.

For my latest tanks, I have a standard 90g, 50g and a 120g and at first, I only purchased fish from TSM aquatics who QTs everything religiously. Then I set up my own QT and now do a strict 30+ day QT with therapeutic copper levels verified with a Hanna checker. In this new phase of my hobby, I have experienced zero fish disease. And just like before, I have tangs, angels, clowns, etc etc. The Tang in particularly I observe a lot, and have never seen a spot on him. But, on the downside, I've had difficulty keeping fairy wrasses after they go through copper.

Having done both methods, I find QT to be pretty remarkable and I am not a believer that Ich exists in all tanks just waiting for a suppressed immune system. It's a pathogen with a definitive life cycle that can be broken via strict QT and copper.

 

[EricR]

Poll didn't have an option for QT fish and inverts but NOT corals.
That's where I'm at.
So far so good but we'll see how that goes as I keep adding more corals (dip only).

 

[Graemesreef]

Guilty never have, but I do only deal with 3 trusted vendors for fish,coral, and inverts. My wife would have my nuts if I tried to bring another gallon in this house.