Poll: Do You Quarantine?

[The Flying Turkey]

I am in the middle of cycling my first tank. I want to do everything I can to be successful and was researching quarantine tanks. Unfortunately this means I have to spend even more money. So I am considering it, but not sure yet.

I need to introduce one or two fish in my tank after the cycle ends to keep feeding the beneficial bacteria. Even if I quarantine now, the cycle will probably end before quarantine is complete. So should I have purchased fish and quarantined them even before I was ready to cycle my tank?

Should I put the first two fish in the DT and just observe them for a month then quarantine all future inhabitants?

Do you even bother with quarantine?

One of my LFS quarantines all fish when they arrive at their store. Would you trust these fish to put directly into your DT? Here's an excerpt from their website:

Quarantine / New Arrival System - This is an 800 gallon system where all new fish arrivals first go. Upon arrival, newly acquired fish get a medicated bath to mitigate external infections before entering into this system. This quarentine system features a 335 Watt UV Sterolizer, K1 Media, and a Skimz protein skimmer. This system has high flow, bare bottom, NO liverock, and NO sand to help mitigate any disease/pests. The tanks gets scrubbed and the pvc used for shelter gets sterolized on a regular basis.

In this quarantine system, we run Prazi-Pro in the water column to mitigate the potential for worms and flukes. The fish are also fed medicated food (Metro & Focus) in this system as well as our other systems.

 

[WhoKnew]

I quarantine anything I can't dip. I don't want anyone else's headaches.

 

[Eienna]

I quarantine anything I can't dip. I don't want anyone else's headaches.

Unfortunately, dipping does not kill eggs, so they should be quarantined and redipped.

 

[WhoKnew]

Unfortunately, dipping does not kill eggs, so they should be quarantined and redipped.

Thank you for the info. I haven't gotten anything new. But in the future I'll be doing both.

 

[bsagea]

QT

Every coral regardless of who it came from gets dipped and QT'd for a month or two.

 

[mtnrunner]

It would also be interesting to know what meds/chemicals everyone is using for their processes. Any meds directly in the QT or only the dip?

 

[DragKnee]

One of my LFS quarantines all fish when they arrive at their store. Would you trust these fish to put directly into your DT? Here's an excerpt from their website:

Quarantine / New Arrival System - This is an 800 gallon system where all new fish arrivals first go. Upon arrival, newly acquired fish get a medicated bath to mitigate external infections before entering into this system. This quarentine system features a 335 Watt UV Sterolizer, K1 Media, and a Skimz protein skimmer. This system has high flow, bare bottom, NO liverock, and NO sand to help mitigate any disease/pests. The tanks gets scrubbed and the pvc used for shelter gets sterolized on a regular basis.

In this quarantine system, we run Prazi-Pro in the water column to mitigate the potential for worms and flukes. The fish are also fed medicated food (Metro & Focus) in this system as well as our other systems.

NO. I have found that nearly all LFS say the same things, and boy, doesn't it sound good?! Sounds like I'm getting a fish that I can just acclimate and introduce into my system. Not true. A local LFS of mine Fresh Water Dips, and does a lot of de-worming, antibacterial ...etc treatments to the fish while they are in their system ... I know multiple people who still had ich from those fish, and other issues.

Their quarantine procedure, I guarantee, is not for the length of time required to ensure the fish is healthy - also, it isn't treated for diseases like ich which probably won't show till weeks after the fish has already been bought from their store.

Take it from a guy who never used to QT, and have had multiple rounds of tanks being wiped out by ich - QT your fish! I'm actually going today to Petco to pick up a 20 Long as their $1/per gallon sale has started today. I know you said you don't want to spend money, but go get a tank for $20. Then just get an extra heater and a HOB filter and you're good to go.

From now on, I'll be QTing all new fish for at least 6 weeks, and will be taking a proactive approach on treating them. It's the safest way to go, so you don't end up regretting losing a whole bunch of fish in your DT, or have to catch them and then set up an emergency QT.



I don't QT corals or inverts though. I just dip corals.

 

[Connie]

It depends on what fish it is. I do not QT wrasses. They tend to do better without it (stress).

 

[miyags]

Be safe!!! And QT everything.It's heart breaking losing things you've had,for sometimes years. because fish or coral looks OK. Trust Me and QT. I've been there and it hurts. Spend the money on a QT system now and save hundreds later.

 

[The Flying Turkey]

NO. I have found that nearly all LFS say the same things, and boy, doesn't it sound good?! Sounds like I'm getting a fish that I can just acclimate and introduce into my system. Not true. A local LFS of mine Fresh Water Dips, and does a lot of de-worming, antibacterial ...etc treatments to the fish while they are in their system ... I know multiple people who still had ich from those fish, and other issues.

Their quarantine procedure, I guarantee, is not for the length of time required to ensure the fish is healthy - also, it isn't treated for diseases like ich which probably won't show till weeks after the fish has already been bought from their store.

Take it from a guy who never used to QT, and have had multiple rounds of tanks being wiped out by ich - QT your fish! I'm actually going today to Petco to pick up a 20 Long as their $1/per gallon sale has started today. I know you said you don't want to spend money, but go get a tank for $20. Then just get an extra heater and a HOB filter and you're good to go.

From now on, I'll be QTing all new fish for at least 6 weeks, and will be taking a proactive approach on treating them. It's the safest way to go, so you don't end up regretting losing a whole bunch of fish in your DT, or have to catch them and then set up an emergency QT.



I don't QT corals or inverts though. I just dip corals.

Good advice, thank you.

 

[rayn]

QT! Get your tank running and have pretty fish in there. Add just that one more...ich. Wipe out your fish population and have to go fallow, just once. You will QT from that day forward.

Or QT from the beginning and save yourself the headache most know all to well.

 

[The Flying Turkey]

Take it from a guy who never used to QT, and have had multiple rounds of tanks being wiped out by ich - QT your fish! I'm actually going today to Petco to pick up a 20 Long as their $1/per gallon sale has started today. I know you said you don't want to spend money, but go get a tank for $20. Then just get an extra heater and a HOB filter and you're good to go.

I don't QT corals or inverts though. I just dip corals.

A few questions:

What kind of HOB filter would you get?
Should I put a powerhead in the tank for more flow?
And what do you dip your corals in?

Thanks!

 

[The Flying Turkey]

Oh and since my DT is full of ammonia right now, I'll be adding newly mixed saltwater to the QT. What should I add to the QT to prevent a cycle? A sponge with some bacteria additive?

 

[Squishie89]

Hopefully all of your questions can be answered by reading this; https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...arantine-tank-how-quarantine-fish;-guide.html

 

[mfief]

I never used to QT but now that I have a tank sitting dormant because I lost everything in it to marine velvet I will be wing from now on. It is an expensive lesson but it has been learned lol. Not all LFS are equal. They often plumb all of their tanks together if one is showing disease they all have it. The only way to be sure is QT and wait to see if anything shows up.

 

[scruggyj]

It depends on what fish it is. I do not QT wrasses. They tend to do better without it (stress).

This is untrue.

I have a wrasse that sleeps in sand. Melenarus.

Right now he is in a bare bottom tank with my other fish during a tank upgrade and does just fine without the sand.

 

[Connie]

It is true for me Scruggyj. During QT you can always put a container of sand in the tank, which I have done before, but I have better luck just putting them straight to the DT. Just because you've had different experiences, doesn't make mine untrue.

 

[scruggyj]

That may be your experience.

However, if you are not going to QT everything then why go through the trouble to QT anything?

My point was that a wrasse can be kept in a QT without sand.

 

[Connie]

True, some wrasses do not need sand. Some do. I personally would never keep a Melenarus wrasse in a tank without sand, even temporarily. You could at least put a little container in there for him. I could tell you my story of the Ich outbreak I had when I first started years ago. I could also tell you about my UV Sterilizer and the advantages I've experienced from that, but I'm not going to hijack this thread any further. I will just let you keep on thinking you are the superior one. You do your thing, I'll do mine. I'm done.