To QT or not?

[Medic3170]

So I have a 20 gallon QT set up and am "doing the right thing" by QT all my new fish. But I feel like I am having a lot of death. I lost three cardinals and a hippo tang last week. The blue streak goby and Chromis made the four weeks but idk if it's actual worth the stress of the QT. Thoughts?

 

[Ron Reefman]

I may take some serious heat here for saying this, but in 20+ years in the hobby, I've never quarantined a fish for more than a couple of days. Most new fish not at all. I even collect a lot of inverts from the Florida Keys and off local SW Florida beaches and estuaries. Again, those animals (various snails, urchins, anemones, starfish, soft corals, sea cucumbers, various crabs, various shrimp) get the QT for a day or two. I've lost a fish or two over all this time, but never anything serious.

 

[TheGrimReeferTx]

What QT protocol are you following?

 

[Dom]

Personally, I QT. There are a lot of people that do not.

In my view, no QT has its advantages; it allows your fish to build up a healthy and robust immune system and battle diseases.

 

[exnisstech]

I stopped doing medicated QT for the same reason, too many deaths. I started doing observation only QT but do not even do that on all fish. I've had ich and velvet in the past so I'm fully aware of the risks. In the past I've successfully ran fish through copper QT with prazi and general cure, depending on fish type with success. When I lost fish in QT I did nothing different than when I did not loose fish. To be honest I think I've lost more fish in QT than I did when I had velvet so I stopped QT.

I feel it's a personal decision and there is no right or wrong so I encourage people to do what they are comfortable with.

 

[TheGrimReeferTx]

I stopped doing medicated QT for the same reason, too many deaths. I started doing observation only QT but do not even do that on all fish. I've had ich and velvet in the past so I'm fully aware of the risks. In the past I've successfully ran fish through copper QT with prazi and general cure, depending on fish type with success. When I lost fish in QT I did nothing different than when I did not loose fish. To be honest I think I've lost more fish in QT than I did when I had velvet so I stopped QT.

I feel it's a personal decision and there is no right or wrong so I encourage people to do what they are comfortable with.

Do you know why the fish died in QT?

 

[Uncle99]

So I have a 20 gallon QT set up and am "doing the right thing" by QT all my new fish. But I feel like I am having a lot of death. I lost three cardinals and a hippo tang last week. The blue streak goby and Chromis made the four weeks but idk if it's actual worth the stress of the QT. Thoughts?

If you’re losing a lot of fish in QT, something wrong in the setup or deployment of the system.

A viewing period of 3-4 weeks using no general cures or meds of any type is a good practice IMM.

Treatments I employ only if necessary and only to target.

 

[tzabor10]

I was going to QT with copper but my wife said “ no new tanks!” So I used my smaller tank as an observation and fattening center. Now I can see its benefits. Fish are happy and healthy

 

[exnisstech]

Do you know why the fish died in QT?

I do not. I do nothing different when they die than when they don't. I use copper power, Hanna test kit and monitor ammonia. I ramp copper slowly if no signs of Illness are present. They do not appear to die from disease. I have yet to loose a fish in observation only QT. Like @Uncle99 I will medicate if needed but so far I have not had to. But I don't buy fish very often these days.

 

[jda]

I am not going to use the word or phrase QT - some people mean QT as only if you treat for diseases and some mean a system that is different from your main tanks. You do not need to treat fish with medication for them to come out fine. It is a good idea to keep them by themselves at first to observe for diseases, make sure that they are eating, they are not skittish and otherwise are ready to go into a larger display, even if you do not treat them. Both have benefits.

I do not treat all of my fish with medications, hypo or anything unless they need it. I have introduction tanks with a friendly fish that shows them how to eat prepared foods, that I am cool and not to hide from me and stuff. These tanks have live rock and sand and are otherwise complete ecosystems where there are fauna to eat/consume disease tomonts or theronts if there are any. These tanks have lots of live rock and places for the fish to hide and fully feel safe. Once I have observed the fish for a few months, they are eating anything (including pellets for most fish), then they can go into a display.

I do have copper and other meds on hand with a small tank if I NEED them, but that rarely happens.

I have found that I lose less fish this way than if I put freshly caught fish into a sterile display and treat all of them. Plus, I am never going to use copper on some fish, so I have no illusions that my tanks will ever be disease free. I have not seen a spot on a fish in my display in close to two decades.

 

[musaabi]

nearly all the fish I bought have been QT which might be pointless since I don’t QT corals anyways. But now that I have a basement and can dedicate space, I’m using the hybrid TTM and no meds except on day one, day 4, day 7, I use safety stop in between. The idea is you’re moving the fish every 72 hours so any eggs that fall off don’t have time to hatch and enter water column and reinfect the fish. The dips in between should get rid of any adult that’s on the skin or in the gills. Whole process lasts 14 days and minimizes the amount of of medication used. Also during this period, you can observe for how the poop looks to see if you need to medicate food for worms or parasites.

So far I’ve heard great things about this method so I decided to use it on a wrasse I bought from WWC and it’s doing great. No need for any medication that will put stress on the fish but it it’s a PITA to move a fish every few days. 2 10 gallon setups should be sufficient for most fish. No filtration or anything. Just air stone, heater, some pvc for hiding. Small wrasse barely raises ammonia in that time frame and I reduce my feeding or feed pods to keep the water quality. After I’m done, fish goes into holding for at least another week (with filter this time and ammonia reducers) to make sure the fish is completely healthy. Entire process takes about 3 weeks so you should be able to identify anything by then but you can hold longer if you want to be safe.

 

[jda]

It is not pointless to keep fish in a separate system even if you do not treat them for diseases. They are mostly capable of fighting off small infections, IMO, so if you can just get them out in the open and confident/comfortable enough not to hide all of the time, then that is a win. Also, getting them to eat is huge too. Both of these things can give a fish a fighting chance.

Plus, fish get immunity to ich and velvet so even if they got a bit and fought it off, they are better off for it.

This is why even the non treated fish at some of the online QT places can be good in some cases - they got them eating and dealt with the quick/nonexplained deaths.

 

[musaabi]

TTM link. Also, there’s info for the Hybrid method as well in that.

 

[Dom]

I was going to QT with copper but my wife said “ no new tanks!”

See what happens when you ask for permission?

 

[mandzhalas]

I took observational quarantine approach, no active treatment unless symptoms are seen. 30 days in quarantine and if no signs of disease in main tank they go.
Had a very happy pair of clown. After a month they were introduced to display, day 2 brooklynella breakout. Lost 50% of stock, now week 5 of fallow period.
Going forward strict 30 days copper, 10 days of metro and 10 days of Prazipro.
Not worth the stress of not quarantining

 

[sheel be right]

i’ve never Qtd, but i do have the luxury of working at a reputable aquarium store that stocks quarantined fish, from what i know pretty much every store in my state runs copper throughout their fish systems. also australia has a mandatory quarantine period regulation for importers.

 

[tzabor10]

See what happens when you ask for permission?

It’s so tough to disagree when she is right 90% of the time

 

[Spare time]

Work in an lfs and see how many fish die from disease then tell me not to QT lol