Is Quarantining A Waste of Time?

[reeftankdude]

LFS informed me that if a fish becomes stressed in the display tank it will still break out with a disease. Thanks all

 

[vetteguy53081]

LFS informed me that if a fish becomes stressed in the display tank it will still break out with a disease. Thanks all

Stress CAN lead to disease but rarely cause

 

[Cheesus]

If you are set against QT, you should really look into a UV.

 

[threebuoys]

Read the link to qt protocol . It explains why qt is important

 

[Gtinnel]

In the case of parasites if there are none present in the tank then the fish can’t possibly get them regardless of how stressed it is. If the parasites are already present in the tank then yes qt for them is kinda pointless.
Im not sure if the same is true of diseases or not though.

 

[LiamPM]

A fish cannot be infected by a parasite that is not present to begin with, so no, quarantine is not pointless - Quarantine can give you a parasite free fish and environment if done correctly.

If you are unwilling to ensure every drop of water and whats in it is parasite free by the means of quarantine then yes, to those people it is pointless.

It sounds like your LFS thinks that all fish carry the parasite from birth and that stress just enables it to come out and play, which is not true.

 

[Cell]

LFS just making excuses. Too expensive or not enough space would be acceptable answers as to why your LFS doesn't QT, but it doesn't work is a bad answer.

 

[Gareth elliott]

We buy dish and corals from all over the planet. While some of these fish may travel vast distances most will never leave the small little territory they call home. Just like with terrestrial animals, fish may acquire some immune defense against a local strain, the ocean is gigantic. There are diseases a fish would never contact in the wild in Sri Lanka from the Caribbean but in our aquariums it can.

Then take into consideration the shear volume of ocean water and its biofiltering ability. A single fish in the wild with monogenean infection may produce a larval parasite density of 1ppb in our home aquariums this may drop to 1ppt. Making contact that much more likely for other fish.

I am not discounting disease management in an aquarium. Just that disease management is a system not a single piece of equipment. QT or no QT should not be looked at from a labor required perspective as both are about equal in labor requirements to be done successfully.

 

[MnFish1]

LFS informed me that if a fish becomes stressed in the display tank it will still break out with a disease. Thanks all

First - the pathogen has to be present in the tank. If one uses a QT protocol a disease cannot occur - even with stress. Second - if a pathogen is present - stress is a factor that may allow it to multiply and cause disease

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

LFS informed me that if a fish becomes stressed in the display tank it will still break out with a disease. Thanks all

Your LFS wants you not to quarantine so that your fish will die so that you will buy more fish from him and he will make more money. I recommend you find a new LFS, one that doesn’t speak nonesense.

Stress impairs the immune system. But if a pathogen doesn’t exist one will not get it. For example let’s look at the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) in humans. Let’s say you’ve had a really rough week at work and you feel stressed and your immune system is not at full effect. Your not going to develop the Bubonic Plague just because you are stressed. You have to be exposed to the pathogen that causes the disease. Diseases don’t just pop out of the blue, even when one is in a stressed state.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

In my 20 years of Reefing I had only one outbreak of velvet and that was because I didn’t QT the responsible fish. Nvr again and back to sourcing QT and conditioned fish to help minimize the nasties.

 

[CrazyDuck959]

LFS informed me that if a fish becomes stressed in the display tank it will still break out with a disease. Thanks all

QT is important, especially for established tanks. 1 fish you get that is sick could easily spread to your others. I learned this the hard way in freshwater.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Properly done, QT is invaluable. The OP's LFS is providing bad information. Can you get away without it if you are going to keep a small number of inexpensive fish? Probably. Would I risk a big tank full of expensive fish? No.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

LFS informed me that if a fish becomes stressed in the display tank it will still break out with a disease. Thanks all

Take a look at the diagram at the top of my article on biosecurity - it shows the relationship (no quantified of course) between fish, disease and environment.

Biosecurity

A short introduction to aquarium biosecurity

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

In the case of parasites if there are none present in the tank then the fish can’t possibly get them regardless of how stressed it is. If the parasites are already present in the tank then yes qt for them is kinda pointless.
Im not sure if the same is true of diseases or not though.

Actually, chilled, power outages, improper diet., poor conditions in the tank can cause it. Especially in wild fish, they carry some but are quickly overtaken when the above conditions can’t be overcome by their immune systems

 

[reeftankdude]

Ooops

 

[vabben]

I think that is really poor advice. Even if you buy pre-QT'd fish I would recommend putting them in an observation tank before your display. You really don't understand the utmost importance of QT'ing until you go through a tank wipe-out because of a parasite.

 

[Tamberav]

LFS informed me that if a fish becomes stressed in the display tank it will still break out with a disease. Thanks all

You can't break out in disease if disease is not present (because everything was QT).

Also, ich doesn't bother some people but you may not want velvet wiping everything out. A new fish could bring in a new or more virulent disease.