Quarantine fish direct from Biota?

[PotatoPig]

I’m curious about thoughts on this from folks with more experience than myself.

I see on their site they have a recommendation to always quarantine, but my impression is this is a “CYA”.

For fish direct from Biota would you quarantine or take chances?

/any Biota folks, I realize if I do this it’s at my own risk

 

[vetteguy53081]

I agree- always assume fish has something which will be easier to both notice and treat in a quarantine setting

 

[Eienna]

If they are trying to breed these fish, they would be careful of bringing in diseases (which would greatly reduce fry survival and thus profit.) I'd be reasonably sure of it being OK, as long as they were straight from the facility. The fry never see wild fish that were just brought in the way a wholesaler's do. It is always a gamble to not quarantine, but in this case I'd say your odds are pretty good.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I’m curious about thoughts on this from folks with more experience than myself.

I see on their site they have a recommendation to always quarantine, but my impression is this is a “CYA”.

For fish direct from Biota would you quarantine or take chances?

/any Biota folks, I realize if I do this it’s at my own risk

I quarantine everything - even fish from other public aquariums. Remember that this time is not just to help limit fish disease transmission, but also gives the new fish some time to settle in, get accustomed to your foods, etc.

Jay

 

[Biota_Marine]

I’m curious about thoughts on this from folks with more experience than myself.

I see on their site they have a recommendation to always quarantine, but my impression is this is a “CYA”.

For fish direct from Biota would you quarantine or take chances?

/any Biota folks, I realize if I do this it’s at my own risk

We work very hard to keep our distribution facility biosecure. We do however suggest monitoring period without treatment when they arrive mostly so they can settle in without additional stress or aggression.

We also do regular skin scrapes and gill clippings, if we find anything on any population prior to shipping we let customers know, it is incredibly rare though.

 

[nuxx Verified Sponsor]

I'm sure it's SUPER SUPER rare or has never happen on fish from Biota, but just pretend everything has something before putting it into your tank...

 

[Biota_Marine]

I'm sure it's SUPER SUPER rare or has never happen on fish from Biota, but just pretend everything has something before putting it into your tank...

Agreed, this is how all vendors should be treated especially with packed display tanks.

 

[Joe's Coral Reef]

I think its not always about QT'ing for a potential sickness, its more about conditioning them, fatting them up, giving them some grow time. Some me time. Think of how much the little fish has to go through to get to you, then to be tossed into gen pop with an established pecking order.

 

[PotatoPig]

We work very hard to keep our distribution facility biosecure. We do however suggest monitoring period without treatment when they arrive mostly so they can settle in without additional stress or aggression.

We also do regular skin scrapes and gill clippings, if we find anything on any population prior to shipping we let customers know, it is incredibly rare though.

Hi - Thank you for your reply - will definitely host the little fish in a separate tank to start to give them a little time to recover from their journey.

I have a follow up question:

I note on the Biota site it seems the sexed Mandarins aren’t currently available but the indexed ones do seem to be on offer. What drives this? Do the sexed ones just come available on a slightly later schedule once they’ve been determined?

 

[Tamberav]

I’m curious about thoughts on this from folks with more experience than myself.

I see on their site they have a recommendation to always quarantine, but my impression is this is a “CYA”.

For fish direct from Biota would you quarantine or take chances?

/any Biota folks, I realize if I do this it’s at my own risk

I did not QT my fish from biota and had no issues. The risk is very small imo

 

[Biota_Marine]

Hi - Thank you for your reply - will definitely host the little fish in a separate tank to start to give them a little time to recover from their journey.

I have a follow up question:

I note on the Biota site it seems the sexed Mandarins aren’t currently available but the indexed ones do seem to be on offer. What drives this? Do the sexed ones just come available on a slightly later schedule once they’ve been determined?

Currently we just have a small number available for the mandarins so we can't pair them up like we normally do. It sounds like we'll be back to regular production in around a month and the pairs should return to normal stock

 

[MinnieMouse2]

Trusted sellers like Biota or Ora I never worry about. Never have gotten anything from them except healthy animals.

 

[adittam]

I have bought directly from Biota several times and have only received perfectly healthy fish. I put them directly in my display tank and have never had any issues. In my opinion, buying directly from them makes the risk VERY low (not zero). This is a risk I've been willing to take. FWIW, Biota recommends observational QT for their fish only, not prophylactic treatment, because the fish they sell are so young, and thus extra susceptible to neurological damage from chemical medication treatments.

 

[Spare time]

It wouldn't hurt to do observations. If it were me, I'd do prazi but probably not copper.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

While I also would do just an observational quarantine to get Biota or ORA fish stabilized, adapted to my tanks and feeding well, remember that "all bets are off" if these fish are first tanked with other fish in a wholesale or retail store. Only do this observational Q with fish you get directly from the breeder. ORA or Biota fish that get mixed in with the "general population" at a store need to be fully quarantined as who knows what they've been exposed to.

Jay

 

[adittam]

While I also would do just an observational quarantine to get Biota or ORA fish stabilized, adapted to my tanks and feeding well, remember that "all bets are off" if these fish are first tanked with other fish in a wholesale or retail store. Only do this observational Q with fish you get directly from the breeder. ORA or Biota fish that get mixed in with the "general population" at a store need to be fully quarantined as who knows what they've been exposed to.

Jay

100%.
This is why I buy directly from Biota only. Why introduce more variables into the equation??

 

[737flyer]

Most of my fish are from Biota & I did not quarantine them— just got a Molly Miller blenny today. I have never had a problem with a fish shipped directly from Biota.