Poll: Do You QT? See where you stack up!

[ReeferMaddness843]

I always went for a dip then straight to the tank. Until I got AEFW. Totally devastated my acropora. Currently working to rid those. As for moving forward, everything will be QTd. I set up a “temporary” flatworm treatment tank, which I went waaaaay overkill on and is now my Coral QT. A large number of what is seen in pic haven’t made it. Boooooo.

 

[Mark Derail]

Nothing like splashing what one thinks is a liquid idea, to have more knowledgeable people blow it out of the water.
(QT tank side-by-side)

All Puns Intended

Right now with a healthy reef, I think I'll forego new fish for a VERY LONG time.

 

[Jennie]

I am less than a year not reefing and had some sort of brake out and lost ALL fish except a transparent gobies to who knows what. I am so scared to put anything my DT that I have gone for over three months fishless. I also have a frag tank and that is ok but all I have in that are my transparent goby and two Pygmy Angels.

 

[Jennie]

Just curious - for those that quarantine fish but not corals/inverts (and assuming rock) - Cant ich/velvet bet brought into a tank with these as well?

Yes

 

[Maritimer]

Interesting to compare the poll (50% don't QT at all) with the comments, almost all of which are written by folks who QT at least some livestock.

~Bruce

 

[Greg79]

8 weeks for fish
7-8 weeks for corals here

 

[FFKiwi]

Fish yes- minimum of 30 days observation. Will treat if I see anything that needs treating. For corals, I do dips and about a week's QT. Inverts, no. I drip acclimate and they go right in the DT.

 

[Dancingmad]

I don't plan on QTing in the future. I tried it this year with some coral and fish. 75% of the fish died in QT for reasons beyond my observation or understanding, and I did discover some red FWs on some coral I purchased, so it was super sweet those jokers didn't get my in DT. I might QT some coral in the future just for pest observation but probably not fish. Who knows? My oldest fish is approaching 10yrs and as it stands I lost almost as much fish this year in QT as I did nearly 10 yrs of temp/drip acclimating and cuttin' 'er loose.

 

[reeftigergal]

Most Assured, made that mistake before, wound up destroying my entire reef system.

 

[DJD46]

I realize the topic of QT is often discussed and quite frankly debated. I'm curious though to how many people actually do use some type of QT method. Feel free to discuss your methods but the poll simply asks whether you use a QT or not, and if so, what "items" are QT'd prior to going in your display.

New to reef tank; what is QT?

 

[alyee5]

gI QT'd all fish...4-6 weeks with 2 rounds of Prazipro. My last fish I treated with Cupramine for 30 days since it has a white spot develop after 3 days in QT.

I QT corals for 4 weeks after an initial dip with Coral Rx. I have Bayer on hand but haven't tried that yet. Currently QT'ing some new Euphyllias

I tried QT'ing inverts once but the bioload was too much for my QT and I ended up just scrubbing their shells and putting them in the DT. Got lucky there.

 

[ca1ore]

Im surprised because (unless you have a fish only tank) if you dont QT invertebrates/coral etc, youre basically not quarantining - so 89% of users here are not quarantining. Though - if you get your corals from a frag tank with no fish for >76 days - its essentially getting 'quarantined' stuff - but my guess is that this is not common.

Keep in mind that there are invert/coral diseases to QT for as well ... not just fish, though those are probably more common. I understand your point, just don't really agree with it. If we're limiting the argument to fish related diseases, hitchhiking in on corals or other shelled inverts is really quite unlikely based on my own experience - so it's about risk. I'd never not QT fish, because the risk is too high to me, but with inverts the risk is much lower .... and acceptable to me.

 

[Crashjack]

Im surprised because (unless you have a fish only tank) if you dont QT invertebrates/coral etc, youre basically not quarantining - so 89% of users here are not quarantining. Though - if you get your corals from a frag tank with no fish for >76 days - its essentially getting 'quarantined' stuff - but my guess is that this is not common.

I disagree. Inverts aren't hosts for parasites though I realize they can carry parasites in non-feeding stages. Dips don't likely kill parasites, but they might dislodge them. Also, a lot of retailers have invert only tanks, which would be less prone to carry fish parasites or at least carry lower concentrations of fish parasites. Furthermore, if there is a parasite attached to say a snail shell, what are the odds it finds a fish with no level of immunity to attach to?

It is definitely safer to quarantine inverts but to say that not doing so nullifies quarantining fish just doesn't make sense. I feel a lot safer not quarantining inverts (I do dip all corals) than not medicating (e.g. "watching") fish during quarantine. A fish could easily be a carrier, and the hobbyist might never see a thing. There are definitely best practices when it comes to quarantining, but one can still reduce the chances of infection even if all best practices aren't followed.

 

[iemsparticus]

New to reef tank; what is QT?

QT = Quarantine Tank.

 

[Forsaken77]

A LOT of people living dangerously. I guess everyone needs to find out the hard way before they start QT'ing fish.

20 years ago, with my first saltwater tank, I never QT'd any fish and they were all fine. Nowadays, fish come with a LOT more disease. I blame mostly the wholesalers for this. I believe they used to treat fish before selling them to a LFS. Now they don't.

After taking a break from the hobby for 2 decades, I started this time without QT'ing. It didn't take long before I was treating my display with copper for Ich.

Now everything is QT'd, but I keep it simple by using a small tank, 1-2 fish at a time (tops), and treat with copper first for a month, Prazi for a week, and then the triple threat of antibiotics. So fish get to my display 100% disease free. They also get a freshwater dip before going into QT. Haven't had 1 problem doing it this way. It's just the world we live in now.

And to top it off, once the fish goes into the display, I use an introduction box to keep the new fish isolated in the display for 3 days. It gives the other fish a chance to get up close & personal with the new fish without contact. I've even done this method with fish that shouldn't get along and after the intro box, there was little to no conflict.

IME, this method is rock solid from all angles. I rather QT properly first in a small tank than treat the display again.

 

[Denisk]

I must say I’m not surprised as to how many don’t quarantine. But I am surprised for those who are so determined in quarantining but don’t quarantine corals/inverts.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

IMO, the poll may be a little misleading.

I don't quarantine fish because I typically get them from a place that has already done it (e.g., Divers Den). If I were to get one from a place that didn't quarantine sufficiently, I would.

 

[ca1ore]

DD don't actually claim to quarantine .... I believe they call it 'conditioning' and do still recommend a period of quarantine. I had a trio of DD anthias come in with uronema (or maybe marine tuberculosis) on one occasion. Uronema is one parasite you REALLY don't want in your display. Ich is a walk in the park by comparison.

 

[ca1ore]

But I am surprised for those who are so determined in quarantining but don’t quarantine corals/inverts.

A few posts have repeated this, without any kind of rationale ..... I've pointed out why I don't QT corals/inverts. Make the argument!

 

[Denisk]

A few posts have repeated this, without any kind of rationale ..... I've pointed out why I don't QT corals/inverts. Make the argument!

Number 1. Relax bud. I can post my opinion whether repeated on here or not. So can everyone on here.

Number 2. The reason it’s shocking to me is if you're not going quarantine your corals and or inverts, you’re essentially not quarantining at all. The reason one would quarantine to begin with is to have a healthy fish and to not bring in any kind of disease into the display. Corals and inverts can equally bring in any of the diseases that can affect fish. They might not host the parasite but they do in fact carry them. Some of the most well known members on here have made it quite appearent that corals and inverts can carry over diseases. Which is where my post came from. If you’re going to quarantine half why do any to begin with. You’re just taking as much of a risk as not quarantining at all.

Number 3. This topic always gets people offended in all types of ways. I really don’t care what you do or how you do it. It was my opinion. If you disagree, sounds good as I will disagree with you and continuing you doing it my way