Who doesn't quarantine???

No carbon if you are doing a treatment, carbon removes copper and other chems. If it is a simple observation QT then carbon is fine. Just remember to remove it if you ever do a treatment of any kind.
There should NOT be any inverts in the QT/hospital tank. If you need a place to do a treatment the copper will kill them all and things will go very badly.
My comment on crabs and sails being fine alone is in the instance that you need to remove your fish from a main tank to a QT and have no fish in the main display for a while.

Adding LR is up to you... I would NOT put LR in a QT tank because treating with copper will kill the bacteria and critters on it just like the inverts. Possible bad results such as ammonia spikes. Plus LR absorbs copper if you ever treat... a LR with copper absorbed into it can never be used for a tank with inverts.
I have a very shallow sand bed in mine only because I had some left and tossed it in... in some places it doesn't even fully cover the bottom... in the ends and corners it's maybe an inch deep. I keep pvc pipe pieces, elbows, tees as hiding places for the fish to be comfy.
Mine is on my kitchen counter tucked in a corner with cabinets over the top... it's not a show piece. It serves it's function. It's convenient to monitor any fish that might be in there.

As far as fish... I have a single yellowtail damsel that is relegated to my QT (because I don't like it) to keep the bio functional. A single, very small fish or two would be OK... but remember that it/they may not fare well if you eventually do repeated copper treatments on incoming fishes.
A QT/Hospital is a very utilitarian set up. Adding livestock complicates it's function quickly to the point that it wouldn't be very functional at all.

If you want a cute little nano tank on your counter with crabs, snails, shrimp, or a couple of little fishes, great. But it's not really a QT.
If you want to have that IMO you need to run two hob Bio filters and have a clean empty extra tank available to move one of the filters to to serve as a plain old QT whenever there is an incoming fish. Or that can be set up quickly in case of a problem with a current fish.
 
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I gave up on quarantine. I used to quarantine all my fish in copper and treat with prazi. Did everything by the book and I ended up with ich one day anyways. Lost a few fish but most made it. Now I only add the hardiest fish.
 
Qt or ht might not be necessary for ich and other diseases, but if you end up with velvet you won't have a choice.
I learned the hard way. Never qt'd for 10 yrs, then got velvet in Oct and lost all but 1 fish within a few days.
It is possible to have a disease free tank, but that means everything gets qt that is added. Whether it be fish, rock, corals, or Inverts.

Fish treated with meds in qt.

Any newly added Live Rock, Inverts and corals would have to be qt'd in a fish free environment for at least 8 weeks.

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Never quarantined before and the only parasite I've ever had was ich. The fish only got ich because I didn't have thermometer and the water got too cold. If I had the $ and space I would get a QT, but more for my corals cause a parasite could decimate my tank.
 
well read through the site and you will find the people who dont quarantine. The titles of their threads usually begin with "help" lol. If your capable of setting up a ten gallon qt it is worth the effort and really not that expensive, people are just lazy.
 
Never quarantined before and the only parasite I've ever had was ich. The fish only got ich because I didn't have thermometer and the water got too cold. If I had the $ and space I would get a QT, but more for my corals cause a parasite could decimate my tank.

Your fish didn't get ich cause the water was too cold...they had ich (or it was in the tank) already and the stress due to the cold water made them vulnerable. Ich may seem to just appear out of nowhere from certain conditions (stress, water quality, etc) but the fact remains that it was already there in the first place.
 
well read through the site and you will find the people who dont quarantine. The titles of their threads usually begin with "help" lol. If your capable of setting up a ten gallon qt it is worth the effort and really not that expensive, people are just lazy.

Agreed. I've been quarantining my fish but not for the weeks on end. I've been watching them closely, making sure they are eating great and look healthy overall.
 
As of today, I have not quarantined a fish. Until today, I've only bought from an LFS that runs either hypo or low-level copper (depending on the fish) before it is offered for purchase.
On my way home today I will pickup from a nearby Fedex "hold for pickup" location, a Flame Angel ordered online. It goes into quarantine for at least a month.
I want to make SURE it eagerly eats frozen and gets use to what I offer. I do not want it to get into the tank, see the coral and think "Um! Smorgasbord!".
My point? Quarantine ain't only for disease prevention...
 
As of today, I have not quarantined a fish. Until today, I've only bought from an LFS that runs either hypo or low-level copper (depending on the fish) before it is offered for purchase.
On my way home today I will pickup from a nearby Fedex "hold for pickup" location, a Flame Angel ordered online. It goes into quarantine for at least a month.
I want to make SURE it eagerly eats frozen and gets use to what I offer. I do not want it to get into the tank, see the coral and think "Um! Smorgasbord!".
My point? Quarantine ain't only for disease prevention...

Lfs that copper or hypo their fish will only work if nothing else is added for at least 2 weeks. Once another fish shipment is added to the tanks the clock starts over..

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I have only had my tank for a month and got ich from my last fish added. Lesson learned early. Right now I have a qt tank cycling so that I never have to deal with this
 
Lfs that copper or hypo their fish will only work if nothing else is added for at least 2 weeks. Once another fish shipment is added to the tanks the clock starts over..

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I didn't think about that...I will definitely ask about how new fish are added to the mix. Thanks!
 
I worry far more about my corals than my fish. Red bugs and flat worms do far more harm than crypto ever would. my friends oldest tang is around eight years old and he still has the occaisonal white spot. His theory is they have to live with it in the wild and their immune system takes care of it, take away their immunity by erradicating it and it will cause far more damage. Im the better safe than sorry type and I make sure I qt every single, rock, fish, invert, and coral but with fish I have seen it work both ways.
 
I haven't QT in 2 years and I've had good luck so far, Wish I could set up a qt though just don't have the means right now
 
Most fish can make it through ick, but something like velvet you will lose the fish by the time you see it.
Best thing you can do is keep a NEW small filter sponge in the sump or filter area, that way if you ever have to set-up a hospital tank, you have a seeded pad and the tank won't have to cycle. Never put a used or old sponge back into your dt.
This way you don't need to keep a qt tank set-up.

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