Are quarantine tanks worth the effort?

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I guess I'm in the minority as far as my definition of "quarantine". Depending on how I acquire it, I will keep a new fish in a fully cycled tank - not my display - for a 2-4 week observation period. I do this to make sure it's eating well, isn't injured, doesn't develop any signs of disease, etc. If nothing seems "off" during that period, I feel comfortable adding the fish to my display.

If during that time the fish appears to need treatment - for internal parasites, ich, etc, then the quarantine tank becomes a hospital tank (or I move the fish into another tank for medication) and treat as needed.

I know my display is one of the many that has ich, but my fish are healthy and on the rare occasion that I see a speck or two, they don't get sick and the disease doesn't progress. So even if I unknowingly add a fish that's infected - but hasn't shown signs during the quarantine period - it will just join the rest of my fish and hopefully continue eating well and remain healthy.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Yes, definitely quarantine. I have lost too many fish to keep up with even in QT- velvet, brooklynella, ich, flukes etc. It has been so bad, it's tempting to throw in the towel.

 

[Slocke]

I guess I'm in the minority as far as my definition of "quarantine". Depending on how I acquire it, I will keep a new fish in a fully cycled tank - not my display - for a 2-4 week observation period. I do this to make sure it's eating well, isn't injured, doesn't develop any signs of disease, etc. If nothing seems "off" during that period, I feel comfortable adding the fish to my display.

If during that time the fish appears to need treatment - for internal parasites, ich, etc, then the quarantine tank becomes a hospital tank (or I move the fish into another tank for medication) and treat as needed.

I know my display is one of the many that has ich, but my fish are healthy and on the rare occasion that I see a speck or two, they don't get sick and the disease doesn't progress. So even if I unknowingly add a fish that's infected - but hasn't shown signs during the quarantine period - it will just join the rest of my fish and hopefully continue eating well and remain healthy.

This is my proffered method. Don't always follow it but it has worked well when I do.



The only fish I ever lost to infectiuos disease was a pair of Bellus. Had the first in the isolation tank for a couple months and ready for the display but was waiting to find another. I finally found a second which was "quarantined" added both fish together and it turns out the second one was just tossed in some copper for a couple days. Haven't trusted that LFS since.

 

[killer2001]

I think instead of a QT tank, I'm going to set up a "luxury relaxation stress-free lounge" tank.

Idea...

Figure out which fish you want, build the perfect scape for just that fish, in the appropriate size tank. Drop the fish in that tank, observe fish for X amount of days feeding a proper wide variety diet. Once you can determine the fish is nice and plump, super happy with life, that is when you take them from the luxury lounge tank and place them in the DT and say good luck little buddy.

 

[MarsReefer]

I tried QT myself with very little success. I went with a vendor that does QT for me now with great success.

I do QT my corals and inverts for 45 days at elevated temp. So far so good.

 

[Steph72]

I guess I'm in the minority as far as my definition of "quarantine". Depending on how I acquire it, I will keep a new fish in a fully cycled tank - not my display - for a 2-4 week observation period. I do this to make sure it's eating well, isn't injured, doesn't develop any signs of disease, etc. If nothing seems "off" during that period, I feel comfortable adding the fish to my display.

If during that time the fish appears to need treatment - for internal parasites, ich, etc, then the quarantine tank becomes a hospital tank (or I move the fish into another tank for medication) and treat as needed.

I know my display is one of the many that has ich, but my fish are healthy and on the rare occasion that I see a speck or two, they don't get sick and the disease doesn't progress. So even if I unknowingly add a fish that's infected - but hasn't shown signs during the quarantine period - it will just join the rest of my fish and hopefully continue eating well and remain healthy.

My definition is the same as yours. I have a cycled tank that I use for observation for a month. I used to do prazi and copper with every new fish and it was very stressful for them. If they are eating and active I don’t medicate.

 

[Steph72]

I think instead of a QT tank, I'm going to set up a "luxury relaxation stress-free lounge" tank.

Idea...

Figure out which fish you want, build the perfect scape for just that fish, in the appropriate size tank. Drop the fish in that tank, observe fish for X amount of days feeding a proper wide variety diet. Once you can determine the fish is nice and plump, super happy with life, that is when you take them from the luxury lounge tank and place them in the DT and say good luck little buddy.

I dig the luxury lounge!!! That’s awesome!

 

[52728299]

I was paying extra top dollar for QT fish from a well known vendor here. Even went and picked the fish up but strangely they would not let me look inside the shop to look at their tanks. Bring the fish home and 24 to 72 hours later dead. Tried this vendor 4 times. 80% of the alleged QT fish died. Went to my local LFS who runs copper in his tanks and will isolate with prazi too. Started buying the exact same fish from him with 100% survival rate now over a year later. Paying high dollar to these specialty shops for alleged proper QT doesn't always yield positive results. I'm pretty sure it's a scam operation as others have voiced failures too. I'll stick with my LFS light QT in house for normal fish prices and 100% quality so far.

What amount of copper does your lfs run at? I have one I know runs cp at 1.50, salinity about 1.019. The fish always looks great never see a dying fish in their system. Idk tho if it's suppressing disease symptoms tho or outright wiping it out. My last fish I got from them was a flame hawkfish I took him home, kept him in copper for a couple weeks then in he went. So far he's a picture of perfect health tho

 

[eqbal9947]

I've been in the hobby less than a year and have already got a fish with flukes.
I've talked to guys who have been lucky but I wont risk living animals that I've willingly out into my care.

 

[Paul B]

I'm in the same boat. I am a new reefer and trying to do everything by the book. I bought a 13 gallon fluval tank just for QT but I am really fumbling with my attempt.

A new reefer neds a completely different set of rules and quarantine/observation would be the best for you.

I personally pay extra for non quarantined fish and try to get them right out of the shipping box if I can. But my tank is very old as am I So I learned a few things.

Natural fish living in natural conditions who are never stressed or medicated live out their life to their normal life span, never being infected with anything because their immunity protects them.

 

[reef_1]

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[reef_1]

Evening all. I am sure I will get shot down here, but,… Are quarantine tanks worth the effort. In 20 years I have not bought a sick fish from my LFS. Just lucky? Yet others have sick fish in quarantine. Just makes me wonder. Any opinions on this?

Around a decade ago I was quite lucky and never got any sick fish - though I bought everything from hobbyists.

Now that I regularly buy at LFS in basically your area I see A LOT of sick fish, some moribound at every shop I decided I am gonna QT and treat everything I can. As I only have nano tank and fish, its easy to do.

 

[reef_1]

The Other Way to Run a Reef Tank (no Quarantine)

The other way to run a reef tank (No Quarantine) I was asked by my friend Humblefish to start a thread on my practices of running a tank with no quarantine, hospital tanks, medications, dipping or almost anything else. It is "not" just to take a fish from a store and drop it in your reef...

www.reef2reef.com

My controversial opinion on this is that you should be as careful as possible but that quarantining everything leads to a more susceptible population. But then my education comes from ecology not medicine and we have always had big difference in opinion when it comes to disease.

With all respect to the author, I just want to add this artice next to your linked thread from the same author only from 7 years ago:

Reefkeeping Magazine - Paul Baldassano’s Reef - 40 Years in the Making

Reefkeeping ...an online magazine for the marine aquarist.

www.reefkeeping.com

"is extremely easy to cure, and I do not know why so much ink is wasted on teaching us how to cure it. We now have liquid copper that will cure it in a few days"

"We would always keep copper in the tank. I had hippo tangs live ten years, and, for many of those years, the fish was swimming in copper-treated water. Aquarists now like to use hyposalinity treatments. Yes, that works, but ich can kill a fish in just a couple of days - hyposalinity techniques takes weeks. In the end, the ich usually wins. This is just my opinion."

I am not drawing conclusions, only added this here for the full picture.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I'm in the same boat. I am a new reefer and trying to do everything by the book. I bought a 13 gallon fluval tank just for QT but I am really fumbling with my attempt. A few times I let the ammonia climb dangerously high almost killing my fish. I've increased my water change frequency since then but then now my copper levels are all over the place, once I let it climb to almost 3.5 before I quickly did another water change late at night. I feel like I am putting my fish through an incredible amount of stress when they are about as healthy looking as they could be with a voracious appetite. I'm on the verge of just giving up and transferring them to my main tank.

If you have a dedicated small 5-10 gallon tank just use live rock and leave it set up even when no fish are in it to maintain the bacteria population...when you plan on adding a fish, a week before buying it, put a drop or two of ammonia in the QT tank and add some Bio Spira...that should help greatly with the biological filtration and prevent ammonia from building up so rapidly...that's what I do, but then again i don't use any medications either since I feel they stress the fish so I just do an observational QT for a couple weeks

 

[reefiniteasy]

I think a QT is totally worth it. The bottom line is I know that fish that make it out of my QT are healthy and will not negatively impact my displays. The knowledge that I’ve gained from running a QT is quite valuable. Fish behavior, medicines, disease ID. I’ve dealt with flukes, Uronema, HLLE, refusal to eat, aggression, eye infections, etc. all my fish have been bought at TSA or LRO and their systems are super clean. So diseases come from anywhere.

Dealing with a clown now that I got from LRO in store 10 year anniversary sale. The fish won’t touch frozen and has the start of HLLE. Trying to reverse it. With the help of Humblefish and Mr. Hemdal, I’ve learned what medication to use and how to make a medicated frozen food. I enjoy the QT experience. Overall it’s a good feeling when the process is over.

Edit: I keep Maxspect nano tech spheres in the back of my displays so I can start QT at a moments notice. It’s easy.

 

[mfinn]

I'm in the same boat. I am a new reefer and trying to do everything by the book. I bought a 13 gallon fluval tank just for QT but I am really fumbling with my attempt. A few times I let the ammonia climb dangerously high almost killing my fish. I've increased my water change frequency since then but then now my copper levels are all over the place, once I let it climb to almost 3.5 before I quickly did another water change late at night. I feel like I am putting my fish through an incredible amount of stress when they are about as healthy looking as they could be with a voracious appetite. I'm on the verge of just giving up and transferring them to my main tank.

It's important to have a preseeded biological filter to use in a quarantine tank.
I keep a air powered sponge filter running in my sump of my main tank so I will have something when the need comes up.
Cycling a sponge filter in a new quarantine tank with bottled bacteria is another way.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

It just really doesn't take that much effort if you know how to do it right...(the way some members commented on this thread)...plus you can always use it as a hospital tank in an emergency

 

[LAReefer4Life]

I QT'd everything for the first 3 years but then I had a strange bacterial issue that killed several fish so I now source from reputable vendor that QT's at their store. Even with QT as mentioned, when dealing with parasites and disease, things can slip through the cracks.

I setup a larger aquarium and transferred everything over, my tank is 10 months old now so it has stabilized nicely. High quality conditions are must in this hobby for disease prevention IMO. I run 2 oversized UV's with proper flow rate, large 1 micron sentiment filter plumbed through my return, and I run ozone.

 

[Lavey29]

What amount of copper does your lfs run at? I have one I know runs cp at 1.50, salinity about 1.019. The fish always looks great never see a dying fish in their system. Idk tho if it's suppressing disease symptoms tho or outright wiping it out. My last fish I got from them was a flame hawkfish I took him home, kept him in copper for a couple weeks then in he went. So far he's a picture of perfect health tho

It's low level like that but his salinity is 1.025. I typically order or pay for a fish in stock and make sure he is isolated and observed for at least 15 days. Since they run copper in their systems they can't have fish sitting in tanks for extended time periods so I know I have seen them move fish around that have been in copper tanks to long. I have had not one issue in over a year from the fish here as far as health. I did have to bring a couple back to the shop because the other fish would not let them join the reef neighborhood.

What amount of copper does your lfs run at? I have one I know runs cp at 1.50, salinity about 1.019. The fish always looks great never see a dying fish in their system. Idk tho if it's suppressing disease symptoms tho or outright wiping it out. My last fish I got from them was a flame hawkfish I took him home, kept him in copper for a couple weeks then in he went. So far he's a picture of perfect health tho

 

[trevorhiller]

I think it is worth it. When I think of how much time, effort and money I have wrapped in my tank since setting it up I would certainly be ticked off I had to tear it down because my fish all got wiped out. Particularly my Tomini Tang that took 3 attempts to get a viable fish.

QT is a pain in the butt and a lot of work. I think that's why a lot of people aren't successful. I've only QT'ed two fish so far but both have survived. IMO if you can be prepared to dedicate 15 minutes twice a day on it for about 50 days you're golden, it gets old very fast, but you have to be dedicated and persistent. If that sounds like WOW! that's excessive...pay someone to do it for you.