Quarantine time without medication

[iceman70]

Everyone has their own method regarding quarantine new fish. Personally, I don't think you should medicate unless you see something. In my experience medicating a fish risks causing more problems that might not have ben there if the fish was just left alone. I'm not disagreeing with anyone who medicates with copper for all new arivals. I just have not had much success with it. I have killed my fair share of fish by following the directions exactly and by trying to ease the fish in by doing half of what the directions asked for.

Because of this I have taken the approach of just observing the fish in quarantine and if they start shoeing signs of anything, then I medicate and start the clock.

Having said that, what would you recommend is a safe amount of time to observe a fish that does not show any symptoms of anything before you can comfortably add them to the display tank?

 

[BestMomEver]

I am not an expert on diseases, etc. but I’m pretty sure that 30 days would be sufficient to catch anything. The only thing abt that is that if your QT is small and you put a fish in that requires more space, the stress may make it sick. It’s a fine line, IMO.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Tough question. Lack of visible symptoms does not mean lack of disease/parasites. If I was not medicating my QT then would be very cautious where I buy fish from. I would imagine 2-3 months observation would make me feel a little more secure about putting them in my DT.

 

[Gablami]

I watch the fish and fatten them up in a QT for 2-3 weeks, and then TTM (12 days) with prazi.

 

[HotRocks]

The timeframe would depend on the fish.

Then of course you have fish that are more resistant and sometimes never even show symptoms with something like velvet present. So it's a tough one for sure.

30 days is probably a good place to start.

 

[iceman70]

Thanks everyone for your input. The two fish I currently have in quarantine is an Atlantic Blue Tang and a Leutenant Tang. I ordered both from LiveAquaria and they arrived in great shape and have been active and eating everything since day one. I have only had them for 2 wweks now but they both look perfect, show no visiblr signs, and have not been doing anything like flashing or scratching. I was planning on waiting 6 full weeks before adding them to the display tank but wanted to see what anyone else thought

 

[ngoodermuth]

6 weeks should be a good amount of time, and tangs are one type of fish that are pretty good about “showing” illness and parasites. Wrasses and other fish with thick slime-coats can often “hide” parasites, until they reach the DT and wreck havoc on the existing fish population...

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Just food for thought, however every batch of fish I have purchased from Liveaquaria have come in with some type of parasite. Now it was not all of the fish but it varied from 1/4 to 3/4. Unless you order from DiversDen, the remaining fish come from a wholesaler from California direct shipped to you. Based on my own individual experience, I would never put a Liveaquaria fish without medicated QT in my DT. I do like Liveaquaria and have yet to have wiped out my tank with their fish, but that is because I use cholorquine phosphate and API general cure on all fish. If you adamantly want to avoid medicated QT then buying online may not be the best option. Buying fish from individuals who have been in the hobby and are breaking down systems might lead to a high level of success for you.