Not Quarantining Fish

[Viking_Reefing]

Yeah, this tread is going to get out of hand real fast [emoji1]

Well, I don’t QT and that seems to be prevailing philosophy here in Sweden.
I used to do it a long time ago but I just don’t like the methodology behind prophylactic treatment. If I would set up a new system it would be observation only.
The most common thing people seem to QT for is ich, mostly using poisons like copper where you’re hoping that it will kill the ich before the fish, not knowing what the long term effects of copper exposure really is.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m utterly terrified about velvet but I’ve been lucky so far, never seen it in my tanks in over 15 years.
Ich however is a different matter.
It’s my opinion that if your fish are croaking to ich something is wrong (overstocking, stress, lack of decent nutrition etc) which is making them susceptible to it.
I’ve only lost fish to ich on two occasions:

1. I moved a tank to a new house and the heater broke in the first couple of days (middle of winter) and I didn’t catch it for about three days since I was traveling. The move in conjunction with the heating issue caused enough stress for some of them to get susceptible enough so it became a real problem. Lost some Acanthurus tangs that had been with me for years :/

2. I added way to many fishes at the same time in a newly set up tank. The combination of a lot of stressed fishes and an unstable tank really made the ich flourish and multiply out of control causing me to lose about 1/3. Really stupid mistake and I should have known better.

I have ich present in my system and new additions generally get some spots but it always goes away in four-five days. It’s never a problem unless I do something horribly wrong.

Just my two cents, there are many ways to skin a cat!

 

[Paul B]

Why do people choose not to quarantine their new fish?

So your fish will always be immune and only die of old age.

 

[RJinPV]

Why do people choose not to quarantine their new fish?

They choose not to because either they don't have a good QT tank, or a place to put it, or the patience it requires, or the chance that putting the fish through a stressful, cramped QT regime with harsh chemicals is counterproductive

I have never QT'd my fish for the last 4 years. I am lucky to have 3 good LFS nearby and I never have seen sick fish in any of their tanks. I only buy fish that are healthy and no other tanks mates are sick. And by tank mates I mean the whole bank of tanks that are on a common water system. Many will say, me included, that I have been fortunate. If I had a huge 100+ gallon tank I would re-think this and at least have a QT tank where I could isolate and observe before adding to my display tank.

 

[RJinPV]

Oh this is a can of worms that can get messy. Here are a few excellent threads with some separate views. People get sensitive on this topic. It isn't as black and white as it sounds. I just like the idea of doing as much research as you can and then choose the method that works best for your lifestyle. All these threads will provide tons of information with excellent varying perspectives and the people who wrote them are fantastic reefers.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/beginners-guide-to-acclimation-and-quarantine.304980/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-other-way-to-run-a-reef-tank-no-quarantine.534274/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...-quarantine-fish-inverts.602917/#post-6087522
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a-hypocrites-view-on-not-using-quarantine.593925/#post-6013052

Thanks for posting this. I have bookmarked it for some spare time reading later on!

 

[Kal93]

I quarantined my first 5 fish and all of them died within 1-2 weeks (seemed like from stress), so I decided to throw them into my DT. They did great, until I introduced ich and/or a bacterial infection into my system that killed all my fish Now I'm going to try to find a vendor who sells pre-QT fish or buy everything with a 14-day guarentee

 

[BadFish619]

I'm knocking on wood as I type this. I don't qt, never have, never had a problem either. I live in San Diego and I have a (not to make anyone jealous) ton of lfs to choose from. But I've been very partial to one for almost 20 years. Thing is, he is very prepared when selling his fish. He's probably the most knowledgeable guy I know when it comes to fish, he freshwater dips each fish and keeps them under observation for a few weeks before selling. Doesn't mean I don't buy elsewhere because I do. I won't make the excuse that I don't have room or money for a qt because I do, fact is, I've just never had an issue. Even buying from a few other places. When I first started in this hobby I don't remember this even being a topic. When I recently got back into the topic is everywhere and i still don't see why!! Anyway, its probably a safe bet and a safe way to do it, maybe I'll learn my lesson one day, but I haven't yet.

 

[KrisReef]

So your fish will always be immune and only die of old age.

Why do people choose not to quarantine their new fish?

A recent fish store anecdote and QT.
Two or three weeks ago I was lurking at the LFS on Thursday-new-fish Day! There was another old guy in the store with his adult child and they were picking out stuff for their troubled aquarium. I normally would have either shut-up (default action) or told them not to buy anything until they figure out the issues with their 5 month old project tank. But the adult child was happy and talkative and engaged me in a long semi-nonsensical discussion about kids, cousins, wife, etc. It was actually kind of pleasant in a challenging way, and since they were looking at fish and coral and getting ready to "buy something" I got myself involved in their transaction and suggested that they purchase one of the two blue tangs that were swimming in one of the tanks.

I know that blue tangs are "susceptible to ich" or ich magnets, but I had been admiring the smaller of the two tangs because it was a very healthy, clean looking specimen and I had one much smaller fish like it years ago that had proven to be bulletproof and it grew like a champion.

The father asked me; "Will it die?" and I told him:
"No, it's a healthy fish."

He agreed to purchase it and I proceeded to hand catch it out of it's cube with a bag and they took the fish home to their plague tank.

Time passed.
I was at the store again recently when they dropped by and they affirmed that the blue tang was healthy and swimming out front.

I don't recommend that people not quarantine, but when I know someone isn't going to quarantine I hope they know how to look carefully at a fish and decide how the fish is doing in the system they are getting it out of before they take it home.

I do believe that @Paul B is correct in his estimation of the value of preserving, or enhancing the wild immunity of our reef animals whenever we can. Picking healthy fish, keeping the tank functional for life, providing good food, and telling the fish to live and be happy can actually work better than quarantine ime.

 

[Salty Lemon]

I'm knocking on wood as I type this. I don't qt, never have, never had a problem either. I live in San Diego and I have a (not to make anyone jealous) ton of lfs to choose from. But I've been very partial to one for almost 20 years. Thing is, he is very prepared when selling his fish. He's probably the most knowledgeable guy I know when it comes to fish, he freshwater dips each fish and keeps them under observation for a few weeks before selling. Doesn't mean I don't buy elsewhere because I do. I won't make the excuse that I don't have room or money for a qt because I do, fact is, I've just never had an issue. Even buying from a few other places. When I first started in this hobby I don't remember this even being a topic. When I recently got back into the topic is everywhere and i still don't see why!! Anyway, its probably a safe bet and a safe way to do it, maybe I'll learn my lesson one day, but I haven't yet.

I might need to take a trip to San Diego. I'd love an LFS like this. You are very lucky.