Do you have a QT tank?

[Bucrob]

I'm curious where everyone stands on quarantine tanks these days.

How many of you actually run a dedicated QT for every fish?

It seems like quarantine is one of the most debated topics in the hobby. Some hobbyists won't let a fish anywhere near their display without a full QT and prophylactic treatment, while others have had great success simply observing healthy fish, buying from trusted vendors, or accepting that diseases are part of maintaining a marine aquarium.

For those who quarantine:

• Do you medicate every fish prophylactically, or only treat if symptoms appear?
• What diseases are you treating for (ich, velvet, flukes, etc.)?
• Has QT saved your display from an outbreak?

For those who don't quarantine:

• Why not?
• Have you had good luck over the years, or have you dealt with major losses?
• Do you rely on observation, trusted sources, or another approach?

I've experienced both sides of the debate, and after dealing with disease in my own system it's made me rethink my process. I'm interested in hearing everyone's experiences—whether you're firmly pro-QT, against it, or somewhere in the middle.

Let's keep it respectful. There are a lot of successful reefers on both sides of this discussion, and I'm hoping to hear the reasoning behind different approaches rather than turn it into another "QT vs. no QT" argument.

I'll be honest, I haven't personally run a quarantine tank in the past.

I recently dealt with an ich outbreak that started with a dogface puffer. He had been at the shop for close to a month and looked perfectly healthy the entire time. However, on the day I brought him home, he first had to be moved to another system so the original system could be deep cleaned. Later that same day, I took him home and introduced him to my display.

My theory is that the combination of being moved twice in one day, along with some initial aggression from my tangs during the first hour or so after introduction, stressed him enough for ich to become apparent. My understanding is that ich is not something you can really quarantine for as it seems to be a stress related issue where it can develop if a fish is extremely stressed. To my understanding, there is no such thing as an ich free tank unless everything in the system has been through a full copper treatment including any rock, sand, corals, and invertebrates as all of them can carry it but unfortunately this isn't exactly possible.

My mom isn't convinced that's what happened and thinks the outbreak was caused by something else, so I'm curious what everyone else thinks.

Have any of you experienced a fish that appeared completely healthy for weeks, only to show signs of ich immediately after a particularly stressful move? Or do you think I'm connecting dots that aren't necessarily related?

I'm interested in hearing different perspectives because this experience has definitely gotten me into the QT process and the more medical side of the reefing hobby that I have not dwelled in very much.

 

[cacas]

I apologize if this comes off as harsh, but this prompt has a very distinct AI-generated format.

There has been an uptick in 'AI-slop' posts lately. I understand that AI has its purpose, but using it to restart a debate that has already been covered in countless existing threads makes this feel like engagement bait. There is no really no need to beat a dead horse.

I'm happy to eat my words if it turns out that you wrote this all yourself. It's just that this post has all the cliche hallmarks of AI writing.

 

[vlangel]

I have been keeping reef tanks a long time, coming on 30 years without a lot of problem with disease. I have done the plop and drop, I tried TTM once but it didn't go well for me. The last 10 yrs I was doing well with an acclimation box until my new 75g last January. Maybe the tank was still too new (it was my prior 56g transferred into it last Sept). Or maybe I got over anxious to add too many fish too fast,,, At any rate I had a bad disease event that took out about 8 of my 17 fish. It was pretty heart breaking, so I have a dedicated 20g in the cabinet of the 75g display just for observation QT. It is cycled and runs 24/7. I will observe all fish for a time to make sure they are eating and not manifesting disease. I still only manage disease as my display is not a clean system but I have surely improved my chances of avoiding a serious disease event. I also now have an oversized UV on the display tank.

 

[Bucrob]

I apologize if this comes off as harsh, but this prompt has a very distinct AI-generated format.

There has been an uptick in 'AI-slop' posts lately. I understand that AI has its purpose, but using it to restart a debate that has already been covered in countless existing threads makes this feel like engagement bait. There is no need to beat a dead horse with AI text.

I'm happy to eat my words if it turns out that you wrote this all yourself. It's just that this post has all the cliche hallmarks of AI writing.

I will admit it was AI written however it is not "engagement bait" as you would call it. If you look at any of my other messages you will see I have been asking people, their opinions as the personal story at the end of it is legitimate. I simply used AI as it was a quick and easy way for me to get my point across without sitting here and having to write a large thread starter when I unfortunately have other stuff to tend to.

If you believe it's just "engagement bait" then you can believe that however it is a genuine question that I would like serious answers to as I am currently struggling with this topic and all other threads seem to spiral out of control.

 

[cacas]

That is totally fair, my apologies for jumping to conclusions and calling it engagement bait . I definitely got a bit trigger happy.

To answer your original question, for me it is a risk tolerance thing. What is your personal risk tolerance?
If you are someone with a high-end reef with expensive or rare fish, prophylactic QT really does help you sleep better at night. If you are more laid back and are willing to accept that an outbreak is always possible, observation based/no QT methods can work out for you. It all comes down to how much risk can you tolerate compared to the amount of effort you want to put in.

Best of luck on your tank!

 

[christinna77]

• Do you medicate every fish prophylactically, or only treat if symptoms appear? - I treat all fish prophylactically, with some exceptions (e.g., I only observed a CB pipefish)
• What diseases are you treating for (ich, velvet, flukes, etc.)? - I follow R2R's quarantine protocol which mainly targets ich/velvet/flukes, but have other medications on hand just in case
• Has QT saved your display from an outbreak? - Yes, several times, I've had both ich and flukes in my quarantine tank

 

[LeftyReefer]

I've got a couple fish in my QT tank now.
One more week in copper and one last round of prazi and they should be good to go soon.

 

[Bucrob]

• Do you medicate every fish prophylactically, or only treat if symptoms appear? - I treat all fish prophylactically, with some exceptions (e.g., I only observed a CB pipefish)
• What diseases are you treating for (ich, velvet, flukes, etc.)? - I follow R2R's quarantine protocol which mainly targets ich/velvet/flukes, but have other medications on hand just in case
• Has QT saved your display from an outbreak? - Yes, several times, I've had both ich and flukes in my quarantine tank

Do you happen to have a link to the r2r qt protocol? I would like to read through it and see what they say

 

[christinna77]

Do you happen to have a link to the r2r qt protocol? I would like to read through it and see what they say

Here you go: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/.

 

[fish_collector]

Do you happen to have a link to the r2r qt protocol? I would like to read through it and see what they say

Your search function doesn’t work?

Why would you use AI to write a thread intro? There’s no practical reason to do that.

 

[Subsea]

I'm curious where everyone stands on quarantine tanks these days.

How many of you actually run a dedicated QT for every fish?

It seems like quarantine is one of the most debated topics in the hobby. Some hobbyists won't let a fish anywhere near their display without a full QT and prophylactic treatment, while others have had great success simply observing healthy fish, buying from trusted vendors, or accepting that diseases are part of maintaining a marine aquarium.

For those who quarantine:

• Do you medicate every fish prophylactically, or only treat if symptoms appear?
• What diseases are you treating for (ich, velvet, flukes, etc.)?
• Has QT saved your display from an outbreak?

For those who don't quarantine:

• Why not?
• Have you had good luck over the years, or have you dealt with major losses?
• Do you rely on observation, trusted sources, or another approach?

I've experienced both sides of the debate, and after dealing with disease in my own system it's made me rethink my process. I'm interested in hearing everyone's experiences—whether you're firmly pro-QT, against it, or somewhere in the middle.

Let's keep it respectful. There are a lot of successful reefers on both sides of this discussion, and I'm hoping to hear the reasoning behind different approaches rather than turn it into another "QT vs. no QT" argument.

I'll be honest, I haven't personally run a quarantine tank in the past.

I recently dealt with an ich outbreak that started with a dogface puffer. He had been at the shop for close to a month and looked perfectly healthy the entire time. However, on the day I brought him home, he first had to be moved to another system so the original system could be deep cleaned. Later that same day, I took him home and introduced him to my display.

My theory is that the combination of being moved twice in one day, along with some initial aggression from my tangs during the first hour or so after introduction, stressed him enough for ich to become apparent. My understanding is that ich is not something you can really quarantine for as it seems to be a stress related issue where it can develop if a fish is extremely stressed. To my understanding, there is no such thing as an ich free tank unless everything in the system has been through a full copper treatment including any rock, sand, corals, and invertebrates as all of them can carry it but unfortunately this isn't exactly possible.

My mom isn't convinced that's what happened and thinks the outbreak was caused by something else, so I'm curious what everyone else thinks.

Have any of you experienced a fish that appeared completely healthy for weeks, only to show signs of ich immediately after a particularly stressful move? Or do you think I'm connecting dots that aren't necessarily related?

I'm interested in hearing different perspectives because this experience has definitely gotten me into the QT process and the more medical side of the reefing hobby that I have not dwelled in very much.

For those who don't quarantine:

• Why not?
• Have you had good luck over the years, or have you dealt with major losses?
• Do you rely on observation, trusted sources, or another approach.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/w...ious-what-others-think.1109461/#post-13539826

When Jay says that if quarantine is done properly then you reduce the overall risk by 80%, I say “the juice ain’t worth the squeeze”.

After 55 years, I guess I must be lucky

I rely on observation and purchasing fish from reliable sources.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY; ELIMINATE STRESS

Not much about medicated quarantine that eliminates stress.

 

[fish_collector]

I can’t even participate in this topic, it becomes a stalemate and the only thing it accomplishes is soured attitudes towards one another.

 

[Subsea]

I have been keeping reef tanks a long time, coming on 30 years without a lot of problem with disease. I have done the plop and drop, I tried TTM once but it didn't go well for me. The last 10 yrs I was doing well with an acclimation box until my new 75g last January. Maybe the tank was still too new (it was my prior 56g transferred into it last Sept). Or maybe I got over anxious to add too many fish too fast,,, At any rate I had a bad disease event that took out about 8 of my 17 fish. It was pretty heart breaking, so I have a dedicated 20g in the cabinet of the 75g display just for observation QT. It is cycled and runs 24/7. I will observe all fish for a time to make sure they are eating and not manifesting disease. I still only manage disease as my display is not a clean system but I have surely improved my chances of avoiding a serious disease event. I also now have an oversized UV on the display tank.

@Bucrob,
Not sure why you started this thread. The two points of view have been dragged around plenty.

My position on medicated quarantine is similar to mandatory COVID shots. It’s a personal decision involving risk management.

@vlangel gave you a healthy overview of her position. I suggest you consider it.

 

[Bucrob]

What's with the hostility? We should all be mature here and its funny that you mention that "the only thing it accomplishes is soured attitudes towards one another" considering that you have been the only one to cause "soured attitudes". The others who have responded to the thread have simply told me their perspective on it, nowhere do I see a soured attitude except your hostile attack. I believe I recognize your name from a few other threads where you have done similar stuff of being hateful for some reason. I don't know if its just your attitude or what but I can personally say that nobody likes it.
As for your "questions" I have 0 obligation to answer them as I have already answered them in the third message, I was unfortunately busy last night and couldn't take the time to write a large, indepth thread starter so I gave ChatGPT about 100-200 words of points to hit and the structure I wished for the thread starter to be written in so the thread could go in depth as it needed to but still allowing me to accomplish the other things I needed to tend to last night. Not all of us can be keyboard warriors.

Your search function doesn’t work?

Why would you use AI to write a thread intro? There’s no practical reason to do that

 

[Bucrob]

For those who don't quarantine:

• Why not?
• Have you had good luck over the years, or have you dealt with major losses?
• Do you rely on observation, trusted sources, or another approach.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/w...ious-what-others-think.1109461/#post-13539826

When Jay says that if quarantine is done properly then you reduce the overall risk by 80%, I say “the juice ain’t worth the squeeze”.

After 55 years, I guess I must be lucky

I rely on observation and purchasing fish from reliable sources.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY; ELIMINATE STRESS

Not much about medicated quarantine that eliminates stress.

I feel like this is a standpoint I take, I don't usually buy the fish unless it has been in the shop for 2-3 weeks and I go to the shop very frequently allowing me to consistently check on the health of the fish. As for the dogface, he had been in the shop for a month however I think the stress from the double moved combined with some tang aggression just stressed him to the point where he developed ich.
The perspective that a medicated quarantine is just going to stress them more is the concept I have been trying to push to my mom (she assists with the tanks from time to time and has tanks of her own) however her good friend who is a college professor for marine biology and has been successful keeping numerous tanks told her that he always does a full treatment so now she wants to listen to him...

 

[exnisstech]

My reply is buried in the following thread somewhere.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/w...at-others-think.1109461/page-37#post-14469276

No disrespect but this discussion is like

From my perspective.

 

[Bucrob]

@Bucrob,
Not sure why you started this thread. The two points of view have been dragged around plenty.

My position on medicated quarantine is similar to mandatory COVID shots. It’s a personal decision involving risk management.

@vlangel gave you a healthy overview of her position. I suggest you consider it.

The point of starting this thread was to have a thread where it was peacefully discussed as all other threads seem to drop into chaos within the first page or so.
I am definetely considering vlangel's simple observation approach as it limits stress on the fish whilst also not taking much maintanance

 

[serval]

I don’t QT but I only purchase from sellers who do. My tank is small at 40 gal and I only have 6 not-too-expensive fish. I use a uv sterilizer and I use an acclimation box with new arrivals. My animals are not stressed and they eat 3-4x a day. When I first started the tank, I lost a couple of fish. One seemed to have lymphocystis on his head which kept him from eating. The other got popeye in both eyes and died. I suspect my tank wasn’t stable at that time. I’ve not seen ich nor velvet yet and no other diseases in many months.
I’m hoping the uv and general stress free environment will help. I don’t plan on any more fish at this time.

 

[commod0re]

The main reason I find it interesting that you started this thread is because there is literally another thread arguing about quarantine going the exact same time you posted yours. I understand that maybe you’re hoping to skip the arguing and learn something but this is one of the topics that people are so invested in their decision that some can’t seem to stay totally civil about it

I am a recent convert. After a major (to me) fish loss event that likely could have been prevented with quarantine, I am working on implementing a recommended protocol before I start acquiring more fish again because I don’t like to make the same mistake the same way twice, especially when life is potentially on the line. Medicated quarantine can be stressful and that does worry me, but, preventable death is so much worse, it just seems like it would be beyond irresponsible for me to have had this happen and not change what I’m doing to try to prevent it happening again. I am also considering the merits of hybrid TTM vs straight medication

 

[Bucrob]

The main reason I find it interesting that you started this thread is because there is literally another thread arguing about quarantine going the exact same time you posted yours. I understand that maybe you’re hoping to skip the arguing and learn something but this is one of the topics that people are so invested in their decision that some can’t seem to stay totally civil about it

I am a recent convert. After a major (to me) fish loss event that likely could have been prevented with quarantine, I am working on implementing a recommended protocol before I start acquiring more fish again because I don’t like to make the same mistake the same way twice, especially when life is potentially on the line. Medicated quarantine can be stressful and that does worry me, but, preventable death is so much worse, it just seems like it would be beyond irresponsible for me to have had this happen and not change what I’m doing to try to prevent it happening again. I am also considering the merits of hybrid TTM vs straight medication

Thank you for your view. I haven't actually noticed another active thread discussing QT so if possible could you send the link to it?