QT Question

dochow · Dec 25, 2015

I've had my royal gramma and six line wrasse in 20 gallon long QT tank for past 12 days. They both look great, they are eating well, active and engaging. No medications used.

I understand the life cycle of ich is 6 weeks. I'm inclined to move them to DT tank due to significant amount of live rock and well-cycled and balanced tank.

Can I move them to DT? Has anyone quarantined for 2 weeks and then moved fish to DT if healthy?

rayn · Dec 25, 2015

You can. You just have to know the possible outcomes. Then it becomes harder.

bevo5 · Dec 25, 2015

Could also toss in copper and just make sure it's all good. Qt is a personal choice from the beginning. You can choose to qt or not. Then you can choose to go early or not. It's all up to you, the amount of risk you're willing to accept, and the ease of handling an issue in the dt. I tossed in a few fish straight into the dt the other day as they were my first few and there was no risk of spreading disease to any other fish. But new fish will now go into qt for a month. Only because treating the dt is way too hard. Good luck!

Breakthecycle2 · Dec 26, 2015

The ICH life cycle can last up to twelve weeks, not 6.

saltyhog · Dec 26, 2015

What's the rush? If they are doing well (and there's no reason they shouldn't) give it some more time. 12 days is nowhere near enough time to rule out Ich or other even more virulent diseases.

I understand the intense itch to see those beauties in your DT but it's not worth the heartache of watching them and then possibly every other fish in your tank die. Enjoy them in the QT, that' s where my fish get to "know" me and associate me with food. It will carry over to the DT and make them much quicker to fit in and to get their share of food at feeding time. I think QT is about 10 x as stressful for aquarium owners as it is for the inhabitants.

dochow · Dec 28, 2015

Thanks saltyhog, good advice, I'll ride it out

Congaken · Dec 28, 2015

dochow said:
I've had my royal gramma and six line wrasse in 20 gallon long QT tank for past 12 days. They both look great, they are eating well, active and engaging. No medications used.

I understand the life cycle of ich is 6 weeks. I'm inclined to move them to DT tank due to significant amount of live rock and well-cycled and balanced tank.

Can I move them to DT? Has anyone quarantined for 2 weeks and then moved fish to DT if healthy?

I got a yellow watchman goby for my 10 gal. reef 5 days ago...he was not happy and stessed in the QT...I used Paraguard on him while in QT...chose to move him earlier than I wanted to...it a chance that I took...he seemed clean so far, just unhappy...wish me luck...

Jeffrey Ong · Dec 28, 2015

I usually QT my fish one by one except is a small fish and i QT few of them.

And yes yellow watchman goby will be unhappy if there no place to hide in the QT, this happen to me once because my tank only have live sand and no live rock at all.
After that i throw in a abs t join and 1 elbow, he look happy because there place for it to hide.

Congaken · Dec 28, 2015

Jeffrey Ong said:
I usually QT my fish one by one except is a small fish and i QT few of them.

And yes yellow watchman goby will be unhappy if there no place to hide in the QT, this happen to me once because my tank only have live sand and no live rock at all.
After that i throw in a abs t join and 1 elbow, he look happy because there place for it to hide.

I had a pvc tube and a piece of coral...but still not good...he's in the DT for good or ill now...sort of staying on the glass near the top...but its only been 1/2 hr...we'll see...

Joon · Dec 29, 2015

I have a bicolor Blenny in my QT I can't get him to eat it's been three days sense I got him what should I do to try to get him to eat

dochow · Dec 29, 2015

Joon said:
I have a bicolor Blenny in my QT I can't get him to eat it's been three days sense I got him what should I do to try to get him to eat

I would try mysis shrimp or brine. I used garlic guard for my Kole Tang who didn't really want to eat. I used it just once, and now he is pig and eats everything.

Congaken · Dec 29, 2015

Joon said:
I have a bicolor Blenny in my QT I can't get him to eat it's been three days sense I got him what should I do to try to get him to eat

Bicolor blennies are herbivores...no wonder he isn't eating...I have a tailspot and he's fat and sassy and picks on algae in the tank all day...a QT is a hard thing for vegies if that's all they eat...put in some live rock with algae on it from the DT and maybe he'll pick...mine doesn't even care much for algae flakes...just straight- up algae...

dochow · Dec 29, 2015

Both my Kole Tang and Starry Blenny are herbivores and will still eat meaty foods. They also go crazy for all types of seaweed, nori etc. They also eat Formula 2 flakes.

dochow · Dec 29, 2015

I also did not QT the Kole Tang and Starry Blenny because I knew they would be stressed without having live rock to graze from. I crossed my fingers and hoped low-stress would keep them healthy....

Congaken · Dec 29, 2015

dochow said:
Both my Kole Tang and Starry Blenny are herbivores and will still eat meaty foods. They also go crazy for all types of seaweed, nori etc. They also eat Formula 2 flakes.

Maybe they'll eat these things eventually...but in a unreeflike QT I would give them as close to a diet that they're used to a possible...for me, that means growing algae...my source, by the way, is ScottW. Michael's Nano Reef Species...

Humblefish · Dec 29, 2015

IMO; 1 month is the absolute minimum when it comes to QT time. Longer is always better. And if you choose not to prophylactically treat, make time to sit down in front of the QT to observe each & every day. Three diseases - ich, velvet & flukes - may never show visible physical symptoms. But you should still notice the following behavioral symptoms: scratching, flashing, head twitching, heavy breathing. In addition to those, marine velvet disease makes a fish sensitive to light and sometimes swim into the flow of a powerhead to relieve their gills.

mochaclownlover · Dec 29, 2015

@Humblefish, if you use copper in the QT do you still half to wait one month till adding the fish to the DT?

Humblefish · Dec 29, 2015

mochaclownlover said:
@Humblefish, if you use copper in the QT do you still half to wait one month till adding the fish to the DT?

At current time, yes. I am conducting experiments trying to shorten exposure time to just 10 days, but testing (with sick fish) is still ongoing. If you opt to use copper, I highly recommend doing it at the backend of your QT protocol (after all other treatments are done i.e. Prazipro). This way the fish can be transferred right into the DT without first having to drop the copper below therapeutic levels.

Among The Reef · Dec 29, 2015

saltyhog said:
What's the rush? If they are doing well (and there's no reason they shouldn't) give it some more time. 12 days is nowhere near enough time to rule out Ich or other even more virulent diseases.

I understand the intense itch to see those beauties in your DT but it's not worth the heartache of watching them and then possibly every other fish in your tank die. Enjoy them in the QT, that' s where my fish get to "know" me and associate me with food. It will carry over to the DT and make them much quicker to fit in and to get their share of food at feeding time. I think QT is about 10 x as stressful for aquarium owners as it is for the inhabitants.

Couldn't agree more! Quarantining fish has actually become enjoyable for me over time. You get to isolate them and observe things you wouldn't necessarily see in a tank. That way if something happens down the road, you will know something isn't right immediately when their behaviors change.

Also, I will observe for a minimum of 4-6 weeks. I've had fish that look perfectly fine, and then all of the sudden right before I'm about to add them to my DT I'll notice something that requires treatment. Doing it right the first time will make things much more enjoyable for you down the road.

Good Luck

-Jordan

dochow · Dec 29, 2015

So my royal gramma and my six line wrasse have some changes to their tail fins in QT over past 2.5 weeks. It is NOT ragged, just some patchy color density changes mid-tail-fin. I have not treated them with any meds. It doesn't look like ich or velvet. There is nothing in their bodies, no white spots.

The fish are acting normal, hungry, no flashing, eagerly looking for food, they zoom to the front of tank when I walk in. Anyways, I believe the fin irregularity is actually their tail fin starting to "re-color." They are eating live foods, frozen foods, refrigerated foods and flakes. I believe it's a sign of health, but the change in the tail fin looks odd and is new. Has anyone ever noticed this? I'll attach pictures tomorrow