To quarantine or not to quarantine

[Cory]

Above all else make sure your quarantine is fully ready to handle ammonia. Make sure its cycled.

 

[3mm3]

The fear of introducing uronema is alone enough for me to quarantine.

 

[mcarroll]

fear

A dicey basis for action.

 

[3mm3]

A dicey basis for action.

lol indeed

 

[Raymark]

Ok I will take your advice and go ahead and plan on using a quarantine. I have a spare 10 gallon tank that i could use but it was used for reptiles would that hurt anything?
What would be the best plan of action as far as timeline for setting everything up and buying fish/cuc?
The tank hasnt started cycling yet so is there anyway I can have a quarantine set up and fish being quarantined before tank finishes cycling?
I dont want it to sit fishless for months after cycle is finished while I wait for fish to be out of quarantine
Can i quarantine fish and initial cuc together?

Sorry for all the questions, I know they've probably been answered time and time again and i will read through all the guidelines that have been posted tomorrow when im not at work

I’m glad you’re asking. I’m in your same position of setting up my first tank & making quarantine decisions too.

 

[derek yoonie]

i would have QTED, but dont have a qt tank i suggest. noticed healthy fish within 2 weeks developed something funky in there gills , took it out asap no qt tank around, had to put it down

 

[Dai89]

Definitely quarantine, the better question would be what different methods of quarantine there are and finding the best option for you!!

In all honesty it is worthwhile penny pinching with some equipment for your DT( e.g. second hand or not ecotech/royal exclusive) than not qting.

I speak from experience learning the hard way.

 

[Chef Tommy]

I too learned the hard way! Dealing with second round of ick after I set up a qt the first round. Giving kick ick a shot. This time. Keeping a qt running at all time now and after.

 

[EZreefin]

It's cheaper to treat a 20-30 gallon tank then a 150 gallon tank !! Take it from people who had and did these things. After the 2nd time treating a 220 gallon tank I was like F- this ! Im done spending about $100 treating this thing! Now my QT tank is like $15 bucks! That's $100 that could of been a new fish, pump, coral,..etc. A little bit of caution goes a long way!

 

[4FordFamily]

Heres my reply on quarantine, in an article.

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/lfs-fish-“treatment”-the-“sudden”-need-for-quarantine.308/

 

[mcarroll]

I'd like to point out this excellent thread:
A discussion on immunity

It's long, but very deserving of a read. The thread's author is one of the most experienced aquarists on this whole board.

Trying to disconnect stress and nutrition from disease is a large problem. It attempts to side-step the entire notion of stress, the fish's immune system and how it functions and even the ecology of pathogens. You can search for my past comments on these topics* so I won't add more here, other than to point out the Fish section on my blog where I've been saving journal articles and professional resources on these topics. I don't think many folks read them, but I still post them sometimes – they're packed with good info!!!

(* Try either of these R2R searches: qt or quarantine)

 

[Tristren]

Just chiming in to say at your stage (and mine a few months in) a QT setup is really a very important thing to have. I am very much aiming for a natural and balanced system as well. I started off without one (though was planning on incorporating one after the first few fish) but lost three fish to ich and had to go fallow for 76 days. Now all fish go through the QT.

I am following the observation model that @saltyfilmfolks talked about. Bare bottom tank with some live rock. I also have some PVC and a little aquarium castle because why not... I have a sponge filter that was in my main sump for a while, but I cycled the QT using the AF bacteria drops. Worked well and (with the live rock from a trusted LFS) it was reasonably quick.

Now when I do a water change I take water from my main system to the QT (not the other way round!).

Like I said, I do aspire to a system like @Paul B has that @mcarroll linked to here

I'd like to point out this excellent thread:
A discussion on immunity

It's long, but very deserving of a read. The thread's author is one of the most experienced aquarists on this whole board.

But his system is old. Like really old. Like ancient. Like almost as old as he is. And so it is full of a robust ecosystem of bacteria and everything else that our systems just can not have yet. So for a few years I'm starting slow and using observation in the meantime.


I think that you will find having this setup is not a bad thing! It let's you watch the new fish well, and let's you see all the other life developing in your main system!

Cheers, Tony

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Just chiming in to say at your stage (and mine a few months in) a QT setup is really a very important thing to have. I am very much aiming for a natural and balanced system as well. I started off without one (though was planning on incorporating one after the first few fish) but lost three fish to ich and had to go fallow for 76 days. Now all fish go through the QT.

I am following the observation model that @saltyfilmfolks talked about. Bare bottom tank with some live rock. I also have some PVC and a little aquarium castle because why not... I have a sponge filter that was in my main sump for a while, but I cycled the QT using the AF bacteria drops. Worked well and (with the live rock from a trusted LFS) it was reasonably quick.

Now when I do a water change I take water from my main system to the QT (not the other way round!).

Like I said, I do aspire to a system like @Paul B has that @mcarroll linked to here



But his system is old. Like really old. Like ancient. Like almost as old as he is. And so it is full of a robust ecosystem of bacteria and everything else that our systems just can not have yet. So for a few years I'm starting slow and using observation in the meantime.


I think that you will find having this setup is not a bad thing! It let's you watch the new fish well, and let's you see all the other life developing in your main system!

Cheers, Tony

Paul’s steps are taken from decades of research and books. All these books and knowledge and science are available to all of us. Most folks casting all of this aside in favor of “new “ methods , fads, are in essence, ignoring science in favor of methods that best thier represent belief than fact.
Similarities between my methods and Paul’s methods are slightly coincedatal on the out side and some would say I’m a fan boy.
I learned mine from scientists, biologists , public aquarium methods and the like.
So did he.
We only met years later.

 

[mcarroll]

Most folks casting all of this aside in favor of “new “ methods , fads, are in essence, ignoring science in favor of methods that best thier represent belief than fact.

That's edgy stuff, man! Edgy stuff!