is quarantined fish worth it?

[jaganshi066]

Lucky you! Adam Sklar at Ocean Devotion in LA.

Saltwater Fish for Sale in Los Angeles, CA | Ocean Devotion

Ocean Devotion provides high-quality, healthy saltwater fish for your aquarium needs. When it comes to our fish, what you see is what you get!

oceandevotionla.com

Limited selection though

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

Here's my opinion. It is 100% worth the extra cost. Why? Not because you're guaranteed a "disease free" tank, but because these fish are free of the major killers in a tank. If you can get a tank that doesn't have ich or velvet, the rest are neglible. Ich and velvet are the destroyers of a tank when they get out of hand. Bacterial infections? It's normal for a fish (just like a person) to get infections.

Feed your fish a whole, balanced diet and they'll weather through any storm. I have a tank that has ich in it. I haven't had a loss in that tank for over a year, and that was after I put in a fish that came from a disease ridden tank at my LFS. None of my other fish caught it's funk. I've watched the fish in that tank get ich and bacterial infections several times over the last few years. It continues to be less frequently. I've had the same 5 fish in the 50 gallon for 3 years (minus the 1 loss).

This all being said, I'd never put any of these fish in one of my other tanks without putting them through copper treatments, even though all of my fish have incredible immune systems now. I believe that even if I did introduce ich into one of my "disease free" tanks, not one would perish.

Look at BRS's most recent interview with aquabiomics. They've tested Ryan's 360 gallon tank and it still has signs of uronema
This is after he purchased them through Marine Collectors.

It's time this hobby starts looking at fish disease a little differently. There's no reason you should accept a half dead fish, but @Paul B has an awesome take on fish disease and it has completely changed my opinion on the topic.

 

[tehmadreefer]

is buying fish pre quarantined worth it?
I do have money and space for a quarantine but tank space is really valuable and I feel confused about everything to do with medicating fish(I don't know what I'm confused about I just am)

Nope

 

[zalick]

Limited selection though

Adam can source almost any fish you want. Much wider selection than anyone else given that he will do this. Others wont. Super knowledgeable and honest guy who truly cares about the health of the fish. EXTREMELY responsive too.

 

[Polyp Punk]

is buying fish pre quarantined worth it?
I do have money and space for a quarantine but tank space is really valuable and I feel confused about everything to do with medicating fish(I don't know what I'm confused about I just am)

No matter where you buy the fish i would absolutely quarantine the fish on your own before putting in the display!!!

 

[Shooter6]

Yeah, it’s worth it. If you quarantine your corals and CUC, etc. I’ve reached the conclusion that a big UV is a safety net. Personally for fish, I’ve done a safety stop and an observation period, in a separate tank. Good so far. Who the hell quarantines CUC?

I now qt clean up crew and coral for 90 days. I got majano in my system which are way worse then aptasia, from clean up crew. Als got ick from a frag. New system will never see anything introduced that has not been in qt for 90days minimum.

 

[Sarcazian]

It's worth it.
Hit up @tsmaquatics

I second this. I purchased all my fish from here and super happy. IMHO, well worth the cost; however, some of the fish I purchased really were not even that much more.

I also needed to consider the work that I would have put into the QT process.... if it is even an hour of time it's cheaper to buy QT'ed already.

Also, in my view, that fish has been at their location for that period of time and likely eating foods that we would be giving them.

 

[Uroplatus]

I’ve bought multiple fish from Marine Collectors and all have been great. They are treated and are eating prepared foods before they ship. In retrospect, FAR better fish than other online vendors that I won’t name but rhymes with Five Favaria...

E

I’ve bought multiple fish from Marine Collectors and all have been great. They are treated and are eating prepared foods before they ship. In retrospect, FAR better fish than other online vendors that I won’t name but rhymes with Five Faw

I’ve bought multiple fish from Marine Collectors and all have been great. They are treated and are eating prepared foods before they ship. In retrospect, FAR better fish than other online vendors that I won’t name but rhymes with Five Favaria...

whats you’re problem with them? Just curious I’ve never bought anything online

 

[Sarcazian]

I now qt clean up crew and coral for 90 days. I got majano in my system which are way worse then aptasia, from clean up crew. Als got ick from a frag. New system will never see anything introduced that has not been in qt for 90days minimum.

I am not that aggressive, but I can understand it. I picked up some frags the other day from a "clean" vendor that was full of algae / etc. So, I dipped the frags and plugs in a 35% H2O2 topped off with RO at approximately double the volume - so 17.5% or so. I then dipped the corals for 30 seconds and pulled out. Maybe that was not long enough.

Then it went through iodine. The next day, the QT tank had a bunch of pods in it and the tank was sanitized with citric acid overnight, and dry three weeks before, setting it up for filling up and dropping in. I was surprised anything survived that dip.

 

[zalick]

II also needed to consider the work that I would have put into the QT process.... if it is even an hour of time it's cheaper to buy QT'ed already.

For me this is huge. My time is valuable (work & family) and I don't particularly enjoy nor want to become a specialist at treating diseases. I want to be competent yes, but these vendors have become true specialists.

Also, in my view, that fish has been at their location for that period of time and likely eating foods that we would be giving them.

This is also a great and overlooked point. These fish have become well fed likely gained weight eating prepared foods. You know they will do well from the get go!

 

[Jonas Bergkvist]

My LFS don’t quarantine their fish. I didn’t know this and i bought a juvenile orange stripeed bristle tooth. He lived for two months and i’m pretty sure it’s not because of my aquarium. I dont have room for quarantine aquarium

 

[mdrobc13]

For sure if the process is done correctly. As you fish population grows the risks of introducing a sick fish to wipe out everything grows. I’m lucky enough to have an lfs who does this routinely.

Agree. lost a whole collection of my current stock to include some relatively nice and some hard to find species (Purple tang, Chevron Tang, Achilles tang, Emperor Angel, Blue Jaw trigger, Potters Angel and yellow tang (now hard to find cheaply) due to one fish bringing marine velvet into my tank. Fish supposedly was QT'd and eating well but died within days of getting in my tank and then started losses of others. QT whether you do it or the LFS is a necessity if you have been in this hobby long enough and also as you acquire more and more fish especially at certain price points.

 

[Reefer of Oz]

Yeah, it’s worth it. If you quarantine your corals and CUC, etc. I’ve reached the conclusion that a big UV is a safety net. Personally for fish, I’ve done a safety stop and an observation period, in a separate tank. Good so far. Who the hell quarantines CUC?

+1

 

[zalick]

Agree. lost a whole collection of my current stock to include some relatively nice and some hard to find species (Purple tang, Chevron Tang, Achilles tang, Emperor Angel, Blue Jaw trigger, Potters Angel and yellow tang (now hard to find cheaply) due to one fish bringing marine velvet into my tank. Fish supposedly was QT'd and eating well but died within days of getting in my tank and then started losses of others. QT whether you do it or the LFS is a necessity if you have been in this hobby long enough and also as you acquire more and more fish especially at certain price points.

Brutal. . Was it supposedly QT'd from a LFS or a speciality QT vendor?

 

[jaganshi066]

Adam can source almost any fish you want. Much wider selection than anyone else given that he will do this. Others wont. Super knowledgeable and honest guy who truly cares about the health of the fish. EXTREMELY responsive too.

I will reach out to him

 

[Buckster]

On January 25th i put in an order for two mandarins and 10 turbo snails. Still waiting but so far I don't have to manage them in the qt. Since they will be eating more than pods when I get them I feel this is truly a benefit!

 

[WayneF1]

I have a question concerning QT, what precautions do you take if a fish does die while in QT?

 

[FortyFour44]

When you break it down, it costs ~$1-2 per day to outsource quarantine.

Despite having everything on hand, I’ve gone the pre-quarantined fish route recently for 2 reasons. 1) I was having some bad breaks when doing QT myself and 2) more time in the fish room tending to thE QT process means less time with the family. I’ve used Dr. Reef’s Quarantined Fish.

I don’t think my system is 100% free of disease, however my fish have managed. This route also lessens the likelihood I’ll add something completely unmanageable.

 

[fishlover1478]

Nope

can you explain?

should I have something like a 20 long for 30 day observation?
it is the meds I'm confused about

 

[aggrofish]

I recently purchased a Kole tang that was quarantined. It was about $50 more than through other online vendors (Non quarantined) and the same price as the LFS. I work a lot. I really have no interest in the time required to research, test, and maintain a proper QT system.

I will most likely do it in the future, but to me there was just too much risk involved in a fish that may or may not make it through quarantine. Also a lot of these online vendors ship fish is super low salinity making it difficult to acclimate. The fact that you’re getting a disease free fish that eats makes it totally worth it.