Is a QT needed for new tank?

[albertski]

I will be cycling my first tank (Waterbox Marine X 60.2 / 40 - 50 gallons) as soon as I get it and when the tank is cycled and ready for fish, my plan was to add two clownfish. Should I be quarantining these fish for 76 days prior to putting them into the display tank? I was thinking the fish were needed to finish the cycle.

 

[ying yang]

@Jay Hemdal has a good qt protocol.i just tried searching but couldn't find it.
But qt or not qt your fish/corals/cuc is your choice.
Alot dont qt but if they get a diesese that kills all their fish then they wish they had.
But on other hand alot dont qt at all and say have no problems at all or problems are manageable.

Try look some jay Hemdal posts and he often replies to others how he recommends to qt and what meds to use.
This another thing,you need to decide what qt means for you.
Just observe.
Observe and treat with meds if see diesese.
Treat all fish with a few meds just incase

 

[Spieg]

You could also do tank transfer method. Takes less time and can be done with a few 5 gallon buckets, small heaters and air pumps.

 

[Miami Reef]

I will be cycling my first tank (Waterbox Marine X 60.2 / 40 - 50 gallons) as soon as I get it and when the tank is cycled and ready for fish, my plan was to add two clownfish. Should I be quarantining these fish for 76 days prior to putting them into the display tank? I was thinking the fish were needed to finish the cycle.

You don’t need to quarantine your fish for 76 days. The 76 day fallow period is used if you didn’t quarantine (or somehow accidentally added a parasite). You would remove all the fish from the tank with parasites so the parasites can starve to death.

Since your tank is brand new, you would quarantine the fish for 30 days and then place them in the tank.

You don’t need fish to cycle the tank. Just add a little food every week and it will cycle the same way.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I will be cycling my first tank (Waterbox Marine X 60.2 / 40 - 50 gallons) as soon as I get it and when the tank is cycled and ready for fish, my plan was to add two clownfish. Should I be quarantining these fish for 76 days prior to putting them into the display tank? I was thinking the fish were needed to finish the cycle.

Here is a link to my current fish quarantine protocol for home aquarists. It is of course, not 100% effective, but I feel it is a good balance between effort and results.

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

 

[albertski]

You don’t need to quarantine your fish for 76 days. The 76 day fallow period is used if you didn’t quarantine (or somehow accidentally added a parasite). You would remove all the fish from the tank with parasites so the parasites can starve to death.

Since your tank is brand new, you would quarantine the fish for 30 days and then place them in the tank.

You don’t need fish to cycle the tank. Just add a little food every week and it will cycle the same way.

Thanks. The tank I purchased is on backorder and I may not get it for 4 - 6 weeks. Should I just set up the quarantine tank and keep the two fish in there now? A lot of videos online show taking water out of their DT to get some good bacteria but I won't have that.

 

[albertski]

Here is a link to my current fish quarantine protocol for home aquarists. It is of course, not 100% effective, but I feel it is a good balance between effort and results.

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

Since the two clown fish will be the only fish in the new tank. Wouldn’t that essentially be the same as quarantining? I totally agree going forward QT is needed but just wondering on your thoughts on the very first two fish.

 

[cmoore806]

some will use DT water to seed a QT tank but IMO I did more frequent water changes in my QT and waiting for it to cycle was just helpful as a trial before my DT came. In other words, cycling the QT is good practice for new reefers. Also, when someone has a sump setup you could put a new filter media foam/floss etc in the sump and then that can collect the nitrifying bacteria but the water column won't necessarily carry the nitrifying bacteria since that will be primarily on the surfaces (ie rocks, filter media, etc)

 

[BostonReefer300]

Congrats on your new tank. Exciting times! If you're not going to put any corals or other invertebrates in your tank for a while, you can add fish to a brand new display tank and essentially treat it as your QT, even though that's not the greatest course of action. Keeping coral and inverts out of your new DT for a while means you can dose any medication and not worry about it being "reef safe". It's not ideal as you'll always have to worry about residual meds adsorbing to rocks/sand/etc. and then leaching out later, etc. I didn't have a problem with this in my earlier reefing days personally, but I'm sure others probably have had problems. Anyway, as most will agree, a QT is essential (sooner or later) so I'd recommend going that route regardless of what is "possible".
One suggestion to strongly consider: buying pre-quarantined fish from a good on-line vendor. Costs more, but is well worth the all the time and hassle you'll save yourself from.
Good luck and have fun!

 

[cmoore806]

dosing copper in a display tank with rock in there will permanently leave that rock with Copper which would be bad news for future inverts.

 

[BostonReefer300]

dosing copper in a display tank with rock in there will permanently leave that rock with Copper which would be bad news for future inverts.

I don't think saying copper will permanently be on the rock is the most accurate way to think about it. First, most chelated copper treatments can be easily removed from the water by carbon. I suppose some copper ions themselves could form salts that might precipitate and then reside on substrate for a while until they go back into solution---or that some copper ions may be sequestered for a time by some surface bound organisms or some copper (in whatever form) could be "trapped" in low water exchange areas of the sand bed or something. However, all these would be transient storage of copper that would be depleted via water changes/carbon. In any case, residual copper should be miniscule.
Could some poor nassarius snail added after the active QT medication period die from prolonged exposure to very low copper levels in the sand because there haven't been enough water changes or carbon filtration? Yes. That's one reason why I think it's best to NOT use your DT as a medicated QT. However, I think the implication that your DT will be forever stained with troublesome levels of copper is incorrect. Just my two cents.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Since the two clown fish will be the only fish in the new tank. Wouldn’t that essentially be the same as quarantining? I totally agree going forward QT is needed but just wondering on your thoughts on the very first two fish.

The quarantine process requires the use of chemicals that are not compatible with reef tanks. If you don’t plan on having inverts, then yes you can just quarantine them in that tank.
Jay