is quarantining necessary?

[Ro Bow]

I know there are tons of opinions on quarantining and not quarantining saltwater fish, but i wonder if it is really necessary to quarantine. I would rather not, because im on a tight budget, but if its absolutely necessary, i'll go for it. Thanks for your help

 

[Paranoiattack91]

I know there are tons of opinions on quarantining and not quarantining saltwater fish, but i wonder if it is really necessary to quarantine. I would rather not, because im on a tight budget, but if its absolutely necessary, i'll go for it. Thanks for your help

In my opinion, absolutely yes. Go look at my posts a few years back where I lost multiple expensive fish that were completely fine for months after one new addition. however, if I was running a small tank with only a few fish I am not sure I would do it.

 

[kartrsu]

I know there are tons of opinions on quarantining and not quarantining saltwater fish, but i wonder if it is really necessary to quarantine. I would rather not, because im on a tight budget, but if its absolutely necessary, i'll go for it. Thanks for your help

Well how good is your luck? All it takes is one sick fish or one velvet or ich trophont to kick start a tank wide infection. Alternatively, you can buy quarantined fish, but that solves half the problem if you don’t quarantine your corals. Or you can cross your fingers and hope for the best.

 

[Ro Bow]

i will probably do it. Is quarantinng 1.5 - 2 weeks ok? If a fish is actually sick, how do i treat it?

 

[Paranoiattack91]

i will probably do it. Is quarantinng 1.5 - 2 weeks ok? If a fish is actually sick, how do i treat it?

How to Quarantine

How to Setup a Quarantine Tank The following are the bare essentials: Aquarium (10-30 gallons seems to work for most people. Bigger QT lets you house more fish and gives you more wiggle room when it comes to ammonia. Smaller QT is cheaper, easier to maintain and can be setup/broke down...

www.reef2reef.com

that’s one of the best qt threads in my opinion

 

[Hot2na]

This is a loaded question..Some are fanatical when it comes to qt'ing...others are minimal or NO qt (see Paul B's thoughts on the subject) .. I do minimal - 10 days of low salinity 1.009...during the last 3 days I'll feed food soaked in fenbenazole... that's it. and I never had external parasites of any kind in my DT after doing that...HTH

 

[brandon429]

what those against quarantine cannot do:


change the tide of the fish disease forum by posting pics of their no quarantine reef

meaning for eighty pages, what’s working in the fish disease forum

notice it’s Jay helping the posters with direct action, time frames and a specific plan

until a single example exists in the FDF exists of standard tanks being worked without quarantine, you should qt.

read this whole thread

Fish immune to disease?

Explain then, how the life expectancy (for humans) in 1500 was 35-40 years and now its double that? Likewise, the extinction of the dinosaurs, etc was 'Mother Nature'. MN we went through this many times. And you know I feel people's immunity was much better in the 1500s then it is now. Today...

www.reef2reef.com

clearly there are some awesome no qt tanks but what’s the ratio in the actual forum, say 5 or 6 no qt masters and then ten years of help threads for pages where qt and fallow does the work

 

[Hot2na]

what those against quarantine cannot do:


change the tide of the fish disease forum by posting pics of their no quarantine reef

meaning for eighty pages, what’s working in the fish disease forum

notice it’s Jay helping the posters with direct action, time frames and a specific plan

until a single example exists in the FDF exists of standard tanks being worked without quarantine, you should qt.

read this whole thread

Fish immune to disease?

Explain then, how the life expectancy (for humans) in 1500 was 35-40 years and now its double that? Likewise, the extinction of the dinosaurs, etc was 'Mother Nature'. MN we went through this many times. And you know I feel people's immunity was much better in the 1500s then it is now. Today...

www.reef2reef.com

see how only pics of their tanks exist, it’s just selfie pics over and over while every single post it’s never a pic of another tank pre and post disease


clearly there are some awesome no qt tanks but what’s the ratio in the actual forum, say 5 or 6 no qt masters and then ten years of help threads for pages where qt and fallow does the work

All the mfr's of fish meds and treatments...will love u for this post...lol

 

[Thaxxx]

Just go to the disease forum and read up.
Only YOU can decide to QT or not.
Case closed.

 

[brandon429]

Lol agreed I went back to edit in ‘display’ meaning the various tonics we use in place of qt and fallow, since none are stickies in the FDF and for the first twenty pages of the forum they cured zero disease issues

the actual bottled meds to be used in quarantine should not be in that lump

I think garlic feeding tonics are in the snake oil group though unless I’m reading incorrectly in the disease forum, it’s never recommended ever as a legit cure I can see.


for example no sticky is at the top for garlic feeding yet peers swear by it for twenty years or better

every sticky, every worked thread there is a mode from qt and fallow just like the zoos use. Garlic for example doesn’t keep Jays zoo exhibit alive, it’s qt that does. It’s neat to have that forum ran in the way zoos run their exhibits

 

[boeingn747]

I know there are tons of opinions on quarantining and not quarantining saltwater fish, but i wonder if it is really necessary to quarantine. I would rather not, because im on a tight budget, but if its absolutely necessary, i'll go for it. Thanks for your help

In a perfect world, yes. We live in a far from perfect world. If you are fortunate enough to have a dedicated quarantine tanks then you should qt all your stuff. Most people don't have that option. In that case dip everything you can and buy from a reputable seller or retailer.

 

[brandon429]

Consider qt as necessary as the display tank parts, if can’t be bought then don’t buy fish they’ll just die in eight months. No qt = no fish, coral only.

 

[bronzewhaler22]

I am looking at large fish and wondering what kind of quarantine system will i need

 

[brandon429]

Are they available from pre quarantined sites those are becoming popular options maybe

 

[Paul B]

Good Morning Brandon.

I am staying far away from this one but good luck whatever you do.

 

[brandon429]

If you have a list of actions to take that would help, something specific to the posters new tank options


they’re missing the rock maturity angle and the feed quality angle that’s for sure.

 

[Paul B]

Today is Mothers Day so I have to be a Rogue and Peasant slave today.

 

[Squidward]

Absolutely! Qurantine is a must!! It's as important as cycling your tank! You can avoid qurantine and get lucky. But your luck will run out eventually. The majority of us long time reefers have gone thru the mistakes of not qurantining. It was a expensive lesson learned.

 

[Hot2na]

I just read Jay's recommendation on Qt...in the disease forum...I'm not going through a 62 day process like that EVER.. What I do works well for me..

 

[brandon429]

The key is how many tanks for others can you fix by skipping it


theres a big divide between what non qt folks post/ always perfection vs what new tankers post in updates, an 80% loss rate for skipping it

we need to bridge that divide bigtime, somehow


i think that sometimes the non qt crew loses a fish and simply omits that from the report, they then just buy another. But we get the report to indicate no losses. Not sure how else we can score the division between posts