QT question

[CarterJ]

I have a new clownfish hopefully arriving tomorrow. I am planning to set QT tank up tonight and QT the fish following basic protocol, basically what Humblefish has outlined in his write up. They seller informed me that the fish is coming from a clownfish farm and is free of any disease/pests. Should I still QT this fish?

 

[Brew12]

I have a new clownfish hopefully arriving tomorrow. I am planning to set QT tank up tonight and QT the fish following basic protocol, basically what Humblefish has outlined in his write up. They seller informed me that the fish is coming from a clownfish farm and is free of any disease/pests. Should I still QT this fish?

Yes. You should take personal responsibility for doing QT on all your fish.
I don't know which seller you are referring too, but do you really expect the "typical" retailer to tell customers that their fish come with ich, but buy them anyway?

If you really do trust this operation, you should still QT them for at least a few weeks. You may decide not to treat them prophylacticly but you should still put them in QT. If nothing else, a QT system gives your fish a safe place to recover from shipping where you can easily monitor them and get them eating.

 

[CarterJ]

Very good points brew12. I've never bought from this company, so I'm not sure if I trust them or not. I'm going to QT him. After I posted this I thought about several points you just made. And with a QT I can make water the same salinity the fish ships in and hopefully ease the acclimation.
I've only been in the hobby a few months. So I wasn't sure if companies that specialized in the captive breeding of a particular species typically shipped healthier fish than wild caught or other retailers. I would be inclined to think those fish have been exposed to less, but then again you can't trust what you don't know and less exposure likely equals more naive immune system.
Thanks for the help!

 

[Brew12]

And with a QT I can make water the same salinity the fish ships in and hopefully ease the acclimation.

This is an excellent point and something I do myself. I match my QT to the shipping water (always seems to be around 1.019). I then drop the bag in my QT to temp acclimate without opening it for 30 minutes. I open the bag, verify salinity, and if it matches I dump the shipping water out through a strainer to catch the fish and put them in my QT. I find this much better and less stressful on fish than some long drawn out drip acclimation process. I can then raise the salinity of my QT gradually over a few weeks to match my DT at 1.025

I would be inclined to think those fish have been exposed to less, but then again you can't trust what you don't know and less exposure likely equals more naive immune system.

I would agree that they are exposed to less. What we typically don't know is if they put them in a system that shares water with other fish when they are ready for sale.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Should I still QT this fish?

yes

 

[Joey waid]

I'm in the camp of drip or pour in acclimation. Every tank is different. All my qt tanks have different levels of chemicals and one with nothing. Most store tanks have copper. My belief is why not take a little time and bring them to you and not to them and then to you.

 

[Brew12]

yes

You need to learn how to give less complicated advice.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

sorry.

You need to learn how to give less complicated advice.

 

[Brew12]

I'm in the camp of drip or pour in acclimation. Every tank is different. All my qt tanks have different levels of chemicals and one with nothing. Most store tanks have copper. My belief is why not take a little time and bring them to you and not to them and then to you.

Many people recommend this. Some online suppliers even require drip acclimation as part of their warranty.

It just isn't my preferred method.