If you could only quarantine for 7 days in a single tank, what would you dose?

[rennjidk]

I know it's not best practice and there is no substitute for an actual quarantine, but given that the majority of people in this hobby do not qt at all, what would be the best method for a 1 week qt before adding a fish to the display tank? I feel like a 1 week, 1 tank qt with no water changes or transfers is a good middle ground between the no qt/1 hour qt products and the multi tank transfer 60 day qt. What mix of medications would you dose and why?

Edit: I'm not advocating that 7 days is sufficient or that anyone should skip an actual quarantine. This was simply a hypothetical question. If your options were 7 days vs NOTHING, what would you do and how would you medicate?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I know it's not best practice and there is no substitute for an actual quarantine, but given that the majority of people in this hobby do not qt at all, what would be the best method for a 1 week qt before adding a fish to the display tank? I feel like a 1 week, 1 tank qt with no water changes or transfers is a good middle ground between the no qt/1 hour qt products and the multi tank transfer 60 day qt. What mix of medications would you dose and why?

The trouble is, the shorter time lets too many disease issues through. If your DT has a healthy fish population, the risk is just too great. If you can do one week, you can do six.
The trouble is that ich tomonts and Neobenedenia eggs are not killed by fish medications at a level that won’t kill the fish. You need the time factor so they die out. You would also have to run concurrent treatments, and that increases stress on the fish.
If you absolutely have to do this, then run a full dose of Cupramine and two prazi treatments on day 1 and day 7.
Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

I know it's not best practice and there is no substitute for an actual quarantine, but given that the majority of people in this hobby do not qt at all, what would be the best method for a 1 week qt before adding a fish to the display tank? I feel like a 1 week, 1 tank qt with no water changes or transfers is a good middle ground between the no qt/1 hour qt products and the multi tank transfer 60 day qt. What mix of medications would you dose and why?

As stated by Jay- best to do a proper quarantine period. In this hobby , there are no short cuts and quick = disaster.
Ich, velvet, flukes all have life cycles and best is to follow those cycles with proper quarantine. 30 days goes by quickly and you will soon reap the rewards from that short wait.

 

[MnFish1]

I know it's not best practice and there is no substitute for an actual quarantine, but given that the majority of people in this hobby do not qt at all, what would be the best method for a 1 week qt before adding a fish to the display tank? I feel like a 1 week, 1 tank qt with no water changes or transfers is a good middle ground between the no qt/1 hour qt products and the multi tank transfer 60 day qt. What mix of medications would you dose and why?

You answered your own question in the first sentence. Second - the majority of people in this hobby do not quarantine 'at all' - is not true - mainly because some people do observation QT for weeks, etc etc.

Second - I'm not sure what methods you're talking about. As far as I know - there is no 60 day multi-tank transfer QT protocol. I do not think there are any 1 hour QT products.

SO - to finally get to your question - I wouldn't do it. The medications will not be effective alone, If you want to take the risk of not QT'ing - that's your choice. But - doing it half-way - is more likely to cause resistant organisms - and more long-term problems.

 

[MnFish1]

PS - welcome to the site!!!! I think you'll find a lot of information on QT - in the stickies at the top of the forum. I'm kind of curious - why are you limited to 1 week anyway?

 

[The0wn4g3]

If the fish can take it, copper.
If you want more natural, methylene blue.
If the fish is eating, metro + prazi.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I know it's not best practice and there is no substitute for an actual quarantine, but given that the majority of people in this hobby do not qt at all, what would be the best method for a 1 week qt before adding a fish to the display tank? I feel like a 1 week, 1 tank qt with no water changes or transfers is a good middle ground between the no qt/1 hour qt products and the multi tank transfer 60 day qt. What mix of medications would you dose and why?

I guess firstly, I don't agree with your assertion that the majority in this hobby don't quarantine. There have been numerous polls conducted here and "I don't quarantine at all", Never hits 50% or even close to it.

I would ask why you're so adamant on not following what are generally considered Best practice quarantine lengths? Is 45 days too long to wait?

 

[rennjidk]

You answered your own question in the first sentence. Second - the majority of people in this hobby do not quarantine 'at all' - is not true - mainly because some people do observation QT for weeks, etc etc.

Second - I'm not sure what methods you're talking about. As far as I know - there is no 60 day multi-tank transfer QT protocol. I do not think there are any 1 hour QT products.

SO - to finally get to your question - I wouldn't do it. The medications will not be effective alone, If you want to take the risk of not QT'ing - that's your choice. But - doing it half-way - is more likely to cause resistant organisms - and more long-term problems.

It was a hypothetical. First, the vast majority of people absolutely DO NOT quarantine their fish. We're on a disease treatment section of a saltwater forum. We are the minority. Don't believe me? Go to your local fb saltwater page or Petco and ask some people what their QT setup looks like. Second, if you would have simply searched on google you would have found both a 60 day quarantine schedule as well as products like "safety stop" that state "rapid quarantine in a one hour bath." You are missing the entire point of the what I proposed. Its not a 7 day qt vs 6 weeks. Its 7 days vs throwing a fish directly into your display.

 

[rennjidk]

I guess firstly, I don't agree with your assertion that the majority in this hobby don't quarantine. There have been numerous polls conducted here and "I don't quarantine at all", Never hits 50% or even close to it.

I would ask why you're so adamant on not following what are generally considered Best practice quarantine lengths? Is 45 days too long to wait?

I'm not adamant about anything, I simply posed a question. I buy all my fish pre quarantined and medicated. Also, there is an entire world of people with saltwater tanks who have never even bothered to google proper salinity, let alone created a reef2reef account and participated in a poll.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

We're on a disease treatment section of a saltwater forum. We are the minority. Don't believe me? Go to your local fb saltwater page or

Your asking the minority for help so you’ll get the same minority answers and guidelines. Ask the majority and you’ll get the answers you seek. A lot more snake oils to get through, going that route IMO.

 

[MnFish1]

It was a hypothetical. First, the vast majority of people absolutely DO NOT quarantine their fish. We're on a disease treatment section of a saltwater forum. We are the minority. Don't believe me? Go to your local fb saltwater page or Petco and ask some people what their QT setup looks like. Second, if you would have simply searched on google you would have found both a 60 day quarantine schedule as well as products like "safety stop" that state "rapid quarantine in a one hour bath." You are missing the entire point of the what I proposed. Its not a 7 day qt vs 6 weeks. Its 7 days vs throwing a fish directly into your display.

1. I got the point of your question. IMHO - there is minimal or NO evidence that suggests that a 1 week treatment with copper will do anything. So - to answer your question - rather than risk the 'risk' - and there is a risk - of any medication - I would not use any. I would observe them for a week - and then treat if needed.
2. Protocols are written for a reason - if you don't want to follow them - that's fine. There are plenty of people here that 'just dump their fish in the display'. There are also plenty of products that simply do not work as advertised. I'm not commenting on the products you're talking about.
3. I have been on this site for years. Have read multiple polls and had multiple debates with various people at QT. I don't need to do a 'simple google search' - I've written 2 or 3 of the polls here. I have searched google multiple times and read multiple articles over that time period.

To answer your question again - IMHO - if you have only a week - do observation only - treat if needed. Otherwise - just dump the fish in the tank. PS - if you treat - you're going to need the full timeframe - which is why I asked you 'why are you limited to a week'.

IMHO - it's unfortunate that 2 other experts on this forum seemed to suggest that 'it's ok' - if absolutely necessary. IMHO - and I rarely disagree with @Jay Hemdal - this is incorrect.

 

[MnFish1]

I'm not adamant about anything, I simply posed a question. I buy all my fish pre quarantined and medicated. Also, there is an entire world of people with saltwater tanks who have never even bothered to google proper salinity, let alone created a reef2reef account and participated in a poll.

Frankly - You posed a question that didn't contain all of the (most important) information. Had you merely said this in your first post - the majority of this commentary would not have happened. I also buy my fish pre-medicated and QT'd. Since I trust my source, I dump them in the tank. That's your answer

 

[MnFish1]

PS - to @rennjidk - this may not be the proper forum for posting this question. This forum is for Fish disease diagnosis and treatment. If you (as @NowGlazeIT said) wanted a general opinion from the broader community - perhaps you should have gone to the https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion.16/

 

[Jwise]

Im not sure if anyone actually talks about this and i know its a lot more money on meds for qt but what if we apply the same logic from a dt into a qt. What if we get the biggest tank that we can afford and turn it into a qt because added volume means more water stability and also it reduces stress on the fish being in a more stable environment and there might also be the added bonus of more water volume so maybe the concentration of parasites to water ratio will result in once the parasites let go of the fish to continue thier life cycle they will be more likely to be exposed to more medication and die before they can find the host fish again.

 

[rennjidk]

1. I got the point of your question. IMHO - there is minimal or NO evidence that suggests that a 1 week treatment with copper will do anything. So - to answer your question - rather than risk the 'risk' - and there is a risk - of any medication - I would not use any. I would observe them for a week - and then treat if needed.
2. Protocols are written for a reason - if you don't want to follow them - that's fine. There are plenty of people here that 'just dump their fish in the display'. There are also plenty of products that simply do not work as advertised. I'm not commenting on the products you're talking about.
3. I have been on this site for years. Have read multiple polls and had multiple debates with various people at QT. I don't need to do a 'simple google search' - I've written 2 or 3 of the polls here. I have searched google multiple times and read multiple articles over that time period.

To answer your question again - IMHO - if you have only a week - do observation only - treat if needed. Otherwise - just dump the fish in the tank. PS - if you treat - you're going to need the full timeframe - which is why I asked you 'why are you limited to a week'.

IMHO - it's unfortunate that 2 other experts on this forum seemed to suggest that 'it's ok' - if absolutely necessary. IMHO - and I rarely disagree with @Jay Hemdal - this is incorrect.

Ok, I thank you for your input. I (Personally) am not doing this. I would NOT do this. People buy these products and use them every day. This was just supposed to be a thought experiment and now its snowballing out of hand. Sorry about that everyone.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Is 45 days too long to wait?

I remember QTing a few years back when the standard was 76 days…. Now I just drop n plop. Taking that “Flame to $100 bill” quote to all new heights

 

[Jwise]

Im not sure if anyone actually talks about this and i know its a lot more money on meds for qt but what if we apply the same logic from a dt into a qt. What if we get the biggest tank that we can afford and turn it into a qt because added volume means more water stability and also it reduces stress on the fish being in a more stable environment and there might also be the added bonus of more water volume so maybe the concentration of parasites to water ratio will result in once the parasites let go of the fish to continue thier life cycle they will be more likely to be exposed to more medication and die before they can find the host fish again.

And it might be harder for the said parasites and diseases to find another host fish and chances are they come into contact with the medications and die before they can get back to the fish

 

[MnFish1]

And it might be harder for the said parasites and diseases to find another host fish and chances are they come into contact with the medications and die before they can get back to the fish

I agree with this. Especially with cryptocaryon. But - with any disease - crowded conditions can make a difference.

 

[biggjoe8]

I wouldn't trust a fb saltwater group as far as i could pick up my pc and throw it and it's an $800 pc so that's not gonna happen.

 

[Dom]

given that the majority of people in this hobby do not qt at all,

What data do you have to back this up?