To quarantine always or just advanced fish/tanks?

[booth2010]

So I haven't ever quarantined my fish, then again I only have 2 in a fairly new 30gal. Would it be a good idea to do it even though I dont have a lot? Would keeping them in the tank for a week suffice just to make sure they dont have ich? If so here is my idea for a QT. I would be a small 5g tank, maybe 10 half full. For filtration I would use a simple DIY Sponge filter that has been in the sump of my main. I would use water from the main to put in the QT and maybe a few pieces of 2.5-3" pvc for them to hide. It would be BB with no rock, there would also be no light. I would have a heater though. Does that sound like a good setup for just basic small fish?

 

[bearjohnson]

If the fish are already in the display then what would be the benefit of QT them now?

I would certainly QT any new additions going forward before placing them in the display tank.

 

[booth2010]

That's what I meant any new additions. But would just a week be okay? And would the setup I mentioned work?

 

[Mike in CT]

I would do a full 10 gallons min. You have a lot off temp/salt swings in a small tank. I don't think a week is enough, but it's better then nothing. I try at least a month.

 

[Naiad]

I would qt and treat for internal type parasites as a standard on wild caught fish. Usually a small internal parasite load will not present with any clear symptoms until something else lowers the immune system and the parasites take over. Qt for at least a month and get the new fish eating well and parasite free. It will save you in the long run. I learned the hard way!

 

[Squishie89]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...arantine-tank-how-quarantine-fish;-guide.html

 

[PatW]

In a small tank, you have less at risk...... Monetarily. But, it is easy to get emotionally attached to vibrant reef fish. It is really easy for ICH or another disease to hit and wipe out your fish. When that happens to your little cherished reef, you will feel terrible ... Really terrible. Running a quarantine tank for 6 weeks is cheap insurance.

 

[gemini9]

I wanted to step in and add another question to the topic. It sounds like the OP doesn't really want to bother much with QT, and I don't either lol (I know it's bad). But I don't plan to spend allot on fish and have a small tank. Let's say, we get a fish and it has ich and it does actually wipe out the tank. Would the water in the tank be contaminated? Would the water need to be emptied out and everything started over? I will probably be in the same boat as the OP. I have a 10 gallon tank and I will only be QT for about a week or two.

 

[Squishie89]

I wanted to step in and add another question to the topic. It sounds like the OP doesn't really want to bother much with QT, and I don't either lol (I know it's bad). But I don't plan to spend allot on fish and have a small tank. Let's say, we get a fish and it has ich and it does actually wipe out the tank. Would the water in the tank be contaminated? Would the water need to be emptied out and everything started over? I will probably be in the same boat as the OP. I have a 10 gallon tank and I will only be QT for about a week or two.

A couple weeks does nothing to help you disease wise. The reason we say 30+ days is due to how long the parasites can live.
If a fish gets sick in your display, the parasites can be in the sand/rock. What people can do is remove the fish from the display and have it run fallow, so any parasites left in the tank will die without a fish host. It is much easier to run a proper quarantine tank beforehand then try and "fix" things later on.

 

[Mike in CT]

If your tank is wiped out , it needs to run fallow for I think at least 3 months to be sure the parasite is totally gone from the water.

 

[gemini9]

Qt shrimps snails and crabs too?

 

[Mike in CT]

The general rule is quarantine everything that is wet. Does everyone do it.... No. All depends how much risk your willing to take.

 

[scruggyj]

Qt shrimps snails and crabs too?

You QT them for the same reason you let a tank run fallow.

To let the parasite die off.

A parasite like ich may be attached to the shell or hard surface and once you put it in your tank it will hatch and feed on your fish..etc

You don't typically treat them with any meds because anything that kills ich will typicall kill your inverts too.
ex: Copper

 

[81Shaun]

yeah quarantine is the best thing to do really. I did pick up a couple fish my lfs had that he had in a tank by there self for a long time that didn't sale so I got them and put them in my dt and there doing good. my current tank is a nano cube. I did learn the hard way though a few years back when I got a royal gramma basslet and introduced directly into my dt and that costed me big time.

 

[booth2010]

So I made a QT. I made little PVC hiding spots and a DIY sponge filter. There is a koralia 425 powerhead and a heater rated for 20 gallons.

In it is a Firefish, Royal Gramma, and a Fancy Vivid Ocellaris

 

[PaulKreider]

I've neglected to get a quarantine tank basically because I cant (college apartment) so the only option I have is to observe the fish in store. I never buy a fish the first time I see it, If I like it then I'll watch it for 10 mins or so, come back 3-4 days later make sure its still healthy/ eating and then potentially purchase it. Only real option I have, and stay away from places like Petco or any LFS you don't feel has high enough standards. Back home I had a LFS that was run by great people, they quarantined every fish for over a month and their livestock was always healthy as could be. But not everyone is lucky enough to have a LFS like that nearby.

 

[booth2010]

Yea I now my lfs doesn't quarantine but they are good people and the business is always clean and everything they have always looks great I've never seen anything bad.

 

[PaulKreider]

Go in early right when they open, before they have a chance to clean out any dead fish, could give you a better picture also.

 

[booth2010]

That's true. Most of the fish I've seen there they have had for weeks or months, they seem to take real good care of their products. Not like some of the others I've been to

 

[81Shaun]

So I made a QT. I made little PVC hiding spots and a DIY sponge filter. There is a koralia 425 powerhead and a heater rated for 20 gallons.

In it is a Firefish, Royal Gramma, and a Fancy Vivid Ocellaris

any aggression between the firefish and the basslet? I heard they don't get along together