Quarantine or Not - Starter Fish

[JoshO]

Would people recommend quarantining the first 2 fish that are going into the reef, or would the display tank be acceptable as a first quarantine? There will be no corals or inverts, just the fish. Will any copper based meds harm my bacteria in the sump? Or will the meds be rendered useless by the live Sand and filtration?
It's my first venture into the SW world after many years of freshwater.
I've always quarantined new additions in recent years but didn't do so at the beginning, purely through lack of knowledge.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi,

if you do QT you want to Qt from the start. If you put anything into Dt from day 1 it opens up the chances of something getting in making subsequent qt fish irrelevant.

its always a good practice to start right from the beginning so you have full control

hope that helps.

 

[Ippyroy]

Do not putte any type of copper in your DT. It will leach into the rocks, sand, silicone and everything else. You will never be able to keep any types of inverts in the tank.

 

[Oropher]

Welcome to R2R

Congrats on your new SW tank. And since you're from FW world, actually FW black molly can be a starter fish, just acclimate the fish into SW.

Mollies: What You Need to Know to Keep Them Healthy

In nature mollies are nearly exclusively plant and algae eaters. Learn about their origins, diet, care, feeding, breeding and more.

www.thesprucepets.com

 

[JoshO]

Hi,

if you do QT you want to Qt from the start. If you put anything into Dt from day 1 it opens up the chances of something getting in making subsequent qt fish irrelevant.

its always a good practice to start right from the beginning so you have full control

hope that helps.

Thanks for the advice, will be QTing! I've currently got a spare 7 gallon tank lying around, would this be adequate for 2 small clowns (1¼")?

 

[Oropher]

Yap enough

 

[billandwende]

Would people recommend quarantining the first 2 fish that are going into the reef, or would the display tank be acceptable as a first quarantine? There will be no corals or inverts, just the fish. Will any copper based meds harm my bacteria in the sump? Or will the meds be rendered useless by the live Sand and filtration?
It's my first venture into the SW world after many years of freshwater.
I've always quarantined new additions in recent years but didn't do so at the beginning, purely through lack of knowledge.

Yes QT EVERYTHING from the start. This is the only way to ensure that nothing you don't want enters your tank. Ask anyone who has lost fish to ick, velvet, brook, or any other preventable nastiness that's knocked out their tank. Quarantining also helps to keep out bubble algae, astrenia starfish, flat worms, aiptasia and many other undesired pests.

I quarantine would never think of skipping this important step in reefing.

Read up on different methods and find out what works for you.

here is a great starting point on TTM (tank transfer method) https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hybrid-ttm-to-treat-all-parasites.640247/

Hope this helps, Bill

 

[JoshO]

Yes QT EVERYTHING from the start. This is the only way to ensure that nothing you don't want enters your tank. Ask anyone who has lost fish to ick, velvet, brook, or any other preventable nastiness that's knocked out their tank. Quarantining also helps to keep out bubble algae, astrenia starfish, flat worms, aiptasia and many other undesired pests.

I quarantine would never think of skipping this important step in reefing.

Read up on different methods and find out what works for you.

here is a great starting point on TTM (tank transfer method) https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hybrid-ttm-to-treat-all-parasites.640247/

Hope this helps, Bill

Thanks for the article Bill, will have a good read!