Need Reassurance Please

[Vicki Marcue]

Hi all,
Back in January I lost all my fish to marine velvet.... A terrible thing to go through, Lost all my fish but a yellow goby which was taken out of DT to let the tank go fallow. The tank has been fallow since 1/29/18.

OK i have been doing a lot of reading on qt and the best way to prevent this from happening again.
I have since set up a 40 gallon long for qt. Cycled it.. made sure all reading are in check and Just yesterday added a blue tang, flame angel and 2 chromis to Qt. Ok the confusion and questions come after talking to pet store owner about the Qt... He said not to treat fish in qt unless they show signs of illness. ok... But but but... when my fish came down with velvet. honestly they did not show signs until it was to late.... my fear this will happen again. I will not add these new fish to display tank for 4-6 weeks from now . I am conflicted . I was planning on treating these fish for 1 month with a level of copper between 1.5 -2... weather they show signs of illness or not.. Am I wrong.. any input will help. thank you.

 

[HotRocks]

I personally choose to treat prophylactically. I know it's a contreversial topic. The last 4 fish orders I have received contained a form of flukes/ich/velvet. Velvet is the problem, you are correct, in some cases the fish are to far gone by the time they show visible symptoms. Typically though, you would notice behaviors prior to them being to far far gone.

Check this out, as recently I have been testing alot of copper forms, and methods, due to my past personal struggles with QT, and the use of copper.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/c...instruments-high-range-copper-checker.368943/

I know some people choose not to treat unless they see something. Personally I like the fact that there is a 99.9% chance my DT stays disease free. I have too many hard to keep fish to take a chance.

That's my .02

 

[Big G]

An analogy: Some people get preventative shots for their cute little puppies to prevent diseases that can kill them like rabies, distemper, etc. They do that because they love them.
So good on you for caring for your saltwater "puppies." Best of luck starting up your new tank.

 

[Vicki Marcue]

Thank you for the response. I havent read link you posted yet, but I will.. I also like the 99.9 % chance my Dt stays disease free as well.... Velvet really has me scared of losing my fish again... 15 years in the hobby and never lost my whole tank..

 

[Humblefish]

Whether or not to prophylactically treat has more to do with YOU than the FISH.

Are you an overly observant person? Will you notice little things like elevated breathing, head twitching, yawning, etc. which necessitates further investigation/treatment? Do you have 15-20 minutes every single day to sit in front of your QT to watch for scratching, flashing, swimming into the flow of a powerhead, etc. etc.? If so, passive observation might just work for you.

However, if you are always on the go, busy/hectic schedule or just don't notice the little things; then it would be wise to implement some form of prophylaxis when it comes to diseases.

 

[Vicki Marcue]

Thank you.. I think when I lost my fish. I got use to the tank doing so well. hardly losing any fish, and didnt pay attention like I should have. I have had fish that showed ich.. kicked it and lived... I have never dealt with velvet.. ever... So this time around I was thinking to treat all fish right away... not let any disease progress. I do work out of the home and get busy.. Makes sense now, that it would depend on my schedule etc... The fish store owner has more time to observe.

 

[HotRocks]

Thank you.. I think when I lost my fish. I got use to the tank doing so well. hardly losing any fish, and didnt pay attention like I should have. I have had fish that showed ich.. kicked it and lived... I have never dealt with velvet.. ever... So this time around I was thinking to treat all fish right away... not let any disease progress. I do work out of the home and get busy.. Makes sense now, that it would depend on my schedule etc... The fish store owner has more time to observe.

Also keep in mind, once you have a clean tank and clean fish, you also have to follow the protocol for invert and coral QT in order to maintian a "clean" DT.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

 

[Del’s Reef]

In a previous life, I used to manage a LFS near Columbus Ohio. The thought that the store owner has more time to observe.....not really. There is some truth to “survivability equals profitability,” but at the same time there are hundreds or thousands of fish and corals that are being turned over.
I’ve adopted something along the same lines as (controversial topic incoming) gun ownership. Treat every gun (fish/coral/etc) as if it’s loaded (sick) until you ensure it isn’t. Everything you add to the tank is a bomb waiting to go off. The question is, did you defuse it?
There are countless stories of those who are lucky enough to never have had an outbreak that wiped their entire hobby, and others who weren’t so lucky. Personally, there is no substitute for a hospital/quarantine tank. Even if you don’t treat each addition with medication, at least observe for a bit. You can glean a lot from their behavior by themselves which helps immensely once they’re in the DT. It’s like adding yet another layer of security. Not only do you ensure that they’re healthy, you also get a baseline to judge them by for the future.