How to Quarantine

[Humblefish]

I'm setting up my first tank and want to QT everything that needs to be. I just saw that you should also QT shrimp. My question is, does everything need to be QT or just fish and shrimp? Do snails and cleanup crew need it?

Yes, ALL corals/inverts should be isolated in a fishless (very important) environment. I place all new corals/inverts in this 29 gal frag tank for 76 days. Just cheap T5 lighting, Koralia powerhead, HOB powerfilter, heater, rock/sand and a frag rack gets the job done.

 

[drstratton]

It works the same as copper but is much gentler on most fish. And you can use Amquel with CP. However, it is not without its downsides. Mainly, it is an FDA controlled substance making it difficult to obtain. Read here for more info: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chloroquine-phosphate.192309/

Thank you! I'm learning so much today, I really appreciate all of the knowledge that you and others are so willing to share.

 

[ClowinRound]

Humblefish- im restarting my 155g and have been a very care free reefer up until this point, but will be setting up a QT this time around. Do I need to treat for anything in my 155 DT while or after cycling before i start putting anything in? Or will the cycle proses pretty much give me a clean slate to work with. The rock and sand are from when my tank was last up about 8 months ago. Water is from my LFS.

 

[Humblefish]

Humblefish- im restarting my 155g and have been a very care free reefer up until this point, but will be setting up a QT this time around. Do I need to treat for anything in my 155 DT while or after cycling before i start putting anything in? Or will the cycle proses pretty much give me a clean slate to work with. The rock and sand are from when my tank was last up about 8 months ago. Water is from my LFS.

I'm assuming everything was broken down but now you are setting it all back up from scratch? If so, you are good to go. Even if it had just been sitting "fishless" for the past 8 months, you'd still be good disease wise.

 

[thelastfrag]

I just use cupramine 0.5 ppm then keep my fish alive for 2 months. that's when they ready

 

[Paranoiattack91]

@Humblefish does prazipro need to be added slowly over time or can I dose it all at once. Cupramine needs to be added over a few days right?

 

[Humblefish]

@Humblefish does prazipro need to be added slowly over time or can I dose it all at once. Cupramine needs to be added over a few days right?

Prazipro is usually dosed all at once, but I see no reason why you couldn't split the dosage in half and space it out 6-12 hrs when dealing with sensitive wrasses & whatnot. Prazi only needs 24 hrs to work it's magic and it remains active in the water column for up to 72 hrs, so a 6-12 hr delay in getting it up to full therapeutic shouldn't cause a problem in treatment.

Cupramine is a different story, however. You should take at least 4-5 days to get it up to full therapeutic, with a week being better for those who are patient. Once you get it up to therapeutic levels (0.35 - 0.5 ppm) you need to hold it there for 30 consecutive days to eradicate ich. However, when dealing with velvet you have to get it up to full therapeutic almost immediately due to the severity of that disease. Basically, the fish has a better chance of surviving immediate exposure to copper than repeated bombardments from velvet dinospores.

 

[Paranoiattack91]

@Humblefish thanks so much!

 

[FireEMT]

@Humblefish Thanks for all the great info, I just watched your two videos that are on R2R and they were great. I have some questions. I am setting up my first ever tank and want to QT all the fish but my head is spinning with all the options. I have read your QT and treatment forums. I am sold on the Prazipro but I'm worried about the copper, it seems very harsh and copper is hard to get rid of. What do you think about Ich-X by Hikari? Your other option, I believe its the CP that you have to have a scrip for, I might be able to get but would have to ask my vet.

I have also been looking into SafetyStop by Blue Life, have you had experience with that. People seem to swear by it, is it the same as a fresh water dip? What do you think?

My final question is about matching salinity, you state to match salinity in the QT tank so that its not harsh on the fish. My question is, when do you start to bring the salinity up to match you DT? Thanks again for all the great advice.

 

[Humblefish]

I am sold on the Prazipro but I'm worried about the copper, it seems very harsh and copper is hard to get rid of. What do you think about Ich-X by Hikari? Your other option, I believe its the CP that you have to have a scrip for, I might be able to get but would have to ask my vet.

Ich-X contains formaldehyde, a known carcinogen that would be even more harmful to your fish than copper. IMO; Formalin/formaldehyde is only suitable for bath treatments when dealing with fast killing external parasites like velvet or brook. Under these circumstances, it is the lesser of two evils because it gives the fish the best chance to live. But I would never dose it directly into a QT.

CP is an awesome medication to use for treating external parasites, but difficult to obtain as you will need a vet to write you a script which can then be filled by a local pharmacy. If you're looking for a chemical free QT protocol (save Prazipro), check out TTM: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

I have also been looking into SafetyStop by Blue Life, have you had experience with that. People seem to swear by it, is it the same as a fresh water dip? What do you think?

I have no experience using that product. A chemical bath may be useful for removing "surface parasites", but it cannot eradicate ones like ich which embed under the epithelium (outer skin layer) and inside the gills.

My final question is about matching salinity, you state to match salinity in the QT tank so that its not harsh on the fish. My question is, when do you start to bring the salinity up to match you DT? Thanks again for all the great advice.

Typically, most fish you buy online/LFS will be in lower salinity than your DT. So what I do is topoff my QT with SW until SG matches the DT, so when the time comes I can transfer the fish without any acclimation procedure. If SG is lower in your DT than QT, siphon out a little bit of water and replace with FW everyday until SG matches. If you get really lucky and SG matches in both QT & DT, have yourself a coke.

 

[FireEMT]

Ich-X contains formaldehyde, a known carcinogen that would be even more harmful to your fish than copper. IMO; Formalin/formaldehyde is only suitable for bath treatments when dealing with fast killing external parasites like velvet or brook. Under these circumstances, it is the lesser of two evils because it gives the fish the best chance to live. But I would never dose it directly into a QT.

CP is an awesome medication to use for treating external parasites, but difficult to obtain as you will need a vet to write you a script which can then be filled by a local pharmacy. If you're looking for a chemical free QT protocol (save Prazipro), check out TTM: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/



I have no experience using that product. A chemical bath may be useful for removing "surface parasites", but it cannot eradicate ones like ich which embed under the epithelium (outer skin layer) and inside the gills.



Typically, most fish you buy online/LFS will be in lower salinity than your DT. So what I do is topoff my QT with SW until SG matches the DT, so when the time comes I can transfer the fish without any acclimation procedure. If SG is lower in your DT than QT, siphon out a little bit of water and replace with FW everyday until SG matches. If you get really lucky and SG matches in both QT & DT, have yourself a coke.

Thanks you so much for the info, you are awesome. So just confirming if you had the option you would use CP over copper for all diseases they treat?

 

[Humblefish]

So just confirming if you had the option you would use CP over copper for all diseases they treat?

Most definitely. CP treats a wider range of external parasites without all the nasty side effects of copper. And the only two fish I've run across (in the 6-7 years I've been using CP) which cannot seem to handle CP are Six Line and Melanurus wrasses. Both of those seem to do better in copper IME. Jury is still out on Hippo tangs.

 

[huskerreefatl]

I have a regal tang in qt now. I bought him and put him in a 10 gallon qt then he started showing signs of velvet. So i started cupramine last Tuesday. He ate fine until the qt got to 0.5 and then he stopped so now it is Monday and he really hasn't eaten since Thursday. I reduced the cu today when i did the water change but my next step may be too move him to a new qt without cu until he eats again and then look at different qt options. What are your thoughts of my next steps?

Thanks

 

[Humblefish]

I have a regal tang in qt now. I bought him and put him in a 10 gallon qt then he started showing signs of velvet. So i started cupramine last Tuesday. He ate fine until the qt got to 0.5 and then he stopped so now it is Monday and he really hasn't eaten since Thursday. I reduced the cu today when i did the water change but my next step may be too move him to a new qt without cu until he eats again and then look at different qt options. What are your thoughts of my next steps?

Sounds like a good plan, so long as QT #2 is at least 10 feet away from QT #1. In theory, you should be able to move a fish with velvet to a non-medicated HT after he has been treated with full therapeutic copper for 10 consecutive days. After 10 days, any parasites will have dropped off the fish and the presence of full therapeutic copper will shield your fish from reinfection. Velvet is still present in the original treatment tank, but since your fish has been moved he's no longer in any danger of being exposed to it.

Of course, according to my calculations you haven't managed to make it 10 days. But it may still be enough, as velvet's life cycle on the fish is relatively brief (4 days max). Transfer the fish and then watch to see if any symptoms return. If he still has velvet, you'll know soon enough...

 

[huskerreefatl]

Sounds like a plan. If he does, then back in cu after he's eaten a bit? Either way, i would like to put him back in cu fit the full regimen.

 

[Humblefish]

If he does, then back in cu after he's eaten a bit?

Put him back in Cu ASAP at the first sign of symptoms.

 

[huskerreefatl]

Will do. Thanks

 

[805reef]

Thanks for this thread! A lot of great and easy to understand information.

I have had my 180 running for about 7 years and have never QT'd. I want to break that cycle and your write up makes it sounds very doable. I am planning to get a 20 or 29 gallon tank from the petco dollar per gallon sale (which ends on the 7th btw) and then I need to get the other items. I like the idea of TTM but with 2 young kids I don't know if I would be able to stick to the strict time limit every 3 days to do the transfer/cleanup/etc. The observation method of option 1 seems more feasible for me since I could have the kids "help" me watch the fish.

I was going to ask which medications you recommend to keep on hand but I just found your thread on that. I haven't visited this site often for a number of years but have recently been checking it out and loving it. I will continue to read through your threads and will probably have more questions soon.

For now, would you recommend an aquaclear 30 for a 20/29 gallon qt tank?

 

[Humblefish]

For now, would you recommend an aquaclear 30 for a 20/29 gallon qt tank?

I recommend getting the 29 gal, as it's the same footprint as a 20L but just taller. I would use an Aquaclear 70 on a 29 gal QT (the sponge is bigger, so more room to house nitrifying bacteria = better filtration.) You can always turn it down if you find it's too much flow for certain species.

If you end up going with the 20 gal, then an AC 50 plus a small powerhead might be a better option.

 

[VJV]

Hi humblefish, I currently have all my fish in quarantine and will leave the main tank fallow for 72 days. This is my second time, and I do quarantine every fish since the first, but I'm afraid I did not QT inverts and probably re infected the tank that way.

Anyway, my question is,assuming I don't feed during this time will the biological filter of the main tank all but die? Does that mean I will have to re introduce the fish slowly, say one or two per month?

Always had this doubt...