Do you still quarantine pre quarantined fish

[mfinn]

For those of you who feel comfortable putting them straight into DT, would the type of fish warrant an observation period and change your behavior? I have 2 tangs coming from Dr. Reef and wondering if I should observe those since the are more susceptible to ich and velvet or would you feel just as confident?

I added my 3 yellow tangs and the purple tang straight into the display from the shipping bag.



EDIT:

These were from Dr Reef and were fully quarantined.

 

[Spartyon]

After losing a pair of clowns to velvet I purchased from a LFS along with the other existing fish I will always QT. I follow the Ryan and Eliot Serious Reef method. Why just observe them for a month when you can get through the whole process in the same amount of time. Fish are just too expensive to just dump and pray. I did kill a beautiful flame angel with copper due to my ignorance. I’ve had clowns, filefish, blennies, royal grammas and gobies all make it through with flying colors. I also run a UV sterilizer

 

[baylisascaris97]

All but 3 of my fish in my main display were bought from Marine Collectors. The three others I quarantined myself and after losses and headaches of doing it myself I chose to let others do it for me. Never had any issues with disease direct from his place to my tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My question is I’ve been looking at getting some fish from doctor reef do I still need to quarantine them or just throw them in the main tank. Also are there pros and con of buying pre quarantine fish

I always suggest to do your own quarantine and assume they have something. Disease is on us, not the fish

 

[NyteRyder1]

My quarantine plan (still in the research/planning phase. I haven’t started my build yet, so take this as a work in progress that I expect to refine):

Fish QT (~55 days, every fish, no exceptions):

1. Freshwater dip on arrival (3 min, turkey baster to dislodge flukes)
2. 30 days copper (Copper Power, ramped to 2.25–2.5 ppm therapeutic level, tested daily)
3. 14 days PraziPro + Metronidazole + Fenbendazole (re-dosed every 3-5 days to catch different parasite life-cycle stages. A single dose only kills what’s active at that moment)
4. 14 days clean-water observation, no meds
5. Slow drip-style acclimation into the display

Even fish that arrive pre-quarantined by the seller go through this whole thing again. My reasoning: the seller’s QT protects their other stock and reduces my risk, but I have no way to verify it was done correctly or for how long, and once a fish is in my display, my QT options disappear. Anything serious means tearing down or fallow-period-starving the whole tank (76+ days fishless) rather than treating one fish in a separate tank. The inconvenience of redoing QT is nothing compared to that.

Coral QT (minimum 30 days, gold standard 76 days):

1. Inspect under magnification before buying if possible
2. Remove or seal the frag plug
3. Dip 1: Bayer Advanced insecticide dip (10ml/4oz, 10-15 min); kills external pests
4. Saltwater rinse
5. Dip 2: Polyp Lab Reef Primer (broad-spectrum, gentler); covers what Bayer misses (flatworms, nudibranchs, bristleworms)
6. Into a lit, filtered coral-only QT tank
7. Repeat the Reef Primer dip every 4-5 days throughout QT
8. Final dip before moving to the display

Invertebrates (snails, shrimp, crabs): Just a short freshwater dip (30-60 sec) and drip acclimation. No chemical dips, no copper, since most chemical treatments that kill pests also kill the invertebrates I want to keep.

General philosophy I’m building toward: anything wet that’s going in my tank (fish, coral, inverts, even rock or sand in some cases) gets some form of cleaning/dipping/quarantine appropriate to what it is. Nothing skips the line just because someone upstream says it’s already clean.

I’ll caveat all of this with: I’m a total newbie, I haven’t built anything yet, and this is subject to change as I learn more, but this is where my research has landed me so far.

I welcome any and all criticism/feedback/advice/suggestions regarding my planned QT protocol.

 

[ScottF]

I can only speak to my own experiences. I have bought a ton of fish from Dr Reefs, Marine Collectors, and Fish Hotel. All of these have gone straight into the display tanks. I do medicated QT for any fish that I buy from a LFS.

I have an Achilles and a Powder Blue/Gold-rimmed hybrid in my 250gal reef and I have never seen any sign of ich in my tanks. Knock on wood.

That doesn't mean something won't eventually slip through, but I personally am not going to QT something that I paid someone else to QT for me. That's just a risk that I am willing to take.

 

[Chocka]

For those of you who feel comfortable putting them straight into DT, would the type of fish warrant an observation period and change your behavior? I have 2 tangs coming from Dr. Reef and wondering if I should observe those since the are more susceptible to ich and velvet or would you feel just as confident?

I have a purple tang, yellow tang, and a foxface from my 2nd order from Dr Reef straight in doing fantastic for about 5 months now

 

[mfinn]

Fish are just too expensive to just dump and pray.

Nobody here has said just "dump and pray.
This is about pre-quarantined fish.

You can do your own like I did before Dr. Reef came along.
Now I trust his methods.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

My question is I’ve been looking at getting some fish from doctor reef do I still need to quarantine them or just throw them in the main tank. Also are there pros and con of buying pre quarantine fish

I would trust pre-quarantined fish if the process used was comprehensive enough. Dr. Reef's seems to be good. Not all vendors selling "quarantined fish" are using a proper process though.

 

[overhead]

My quarantine plan (still in the research/planning phase. I haven’t started my build yet, so take this as a work in progress that I expect to refine):

Fish QT (~55 days, every fish, no exceptions):

1. Freshwater dip on arrival (3 min, turkey baster to dislodge flukes)
2. 30 days copper (Copper Power, ramped to 2.25–2.5 ppm therapeutic level, tested daily)
3. 14 days PraziPro + Metronidazole + Fenbendazole (re-dosed every 3-5 days to catch different parasite life-cycle stages. A single dose only kills what’s active at that moment)
4. 14 days clean-water observation, no meds
5. Slow drip-style acclimation into the display

Even fish that arrive pre-quarantined by the seller go through this whole thing again. My reasoning: the seller’s QT protects their other stock and reduces my risk, but I have no way to verify it was done correctly or for how long, and once a fish is in my display, my QT options disappear. Anything serious means tearing down or fallow-period-starving the whole tank (76+ days fishless) rather than treating one fish in a separate tank. The inconvenience of redoing QT is nothing compared to that.

Coral QT (minimum 30 days, gold standard 76 days):

1. Inspect under magnification before buying if possible
2. Remove or seal the frag plug
3. Dip 1: Bayer Advanced insecticide dip (10ml/4oz, 10-15 min); kills external pests
4. Saltwater rinse
5. Dip 2: Polyp Lab Reef Primer (broad-spectrum, gentler); covers what Bayer misses (flatworms, nudibranchs, bristleworms)
6. Into a lit, filtered coral-only QT tank
7. Repeat the Reef Primer dip every 4-5 days throughout QT
8. Final dip before moving to the display

Invertebrates (snails, shrimp, crabs): Just a short freshwater dip (30-60 sec) and drip acclimation. No chemical dips, no copper, since most chemical treatments that kill pests also kill the invertebrates I want to keep.

General philosophy I’m building toward: anything wet that’s going in my tank (fish, coral, inverts, even rock or sand in some cases) gets some form of cleaning/dipping/quarantine appropriate to what it is. Nothing skips the line just because someone upstream says it’s already clean.

I’ll caveat all of this with: I’m a total newbie, I haven’t built anything yet, and this is subject to change as I learn more, but this is where my research has landed me so far.

I welcome any and all criticism/feedback/advice/suggestions regarding my planned QT protocol.

Why would you freshwater dip the fish on arrival if you are going to treat for flukes either way?

 

[DEE’S reef]

I would trust pre-quarantined fish if the process used was comprehensive enough. Dr. Reef's seems to be good. Not all vendors selling "quarantined fish" are using a proper process though.

My thought is if a business like dr reef have built a business on quarantining fish so shouldn’t have to worry about a lot from them. While a lfs have thousands of fish in and out all the time.
I’ve also quarantined some fish

 

[FirstSalt24]

I buy from Fishotel and have no problem adding it directly to my DT. Humblefish has taken Dr Reef of his approved quarantine vendor list. They have some really mixed reviews lately. I ordered from Dr Reef two years ago and the fish is still doing great. Not sure what changed.

 

[Bucrob]

I personally have never quarantined my fish. I work at my LFS, and we go to the wholesaler every Monday, so my coworkers and I hand select and catch the fish we bring in. We do not quarantine the fish brought in but occasionally we will run a medication of sorts in the system if we bring in a type of fish that are prone to carrying diseases like green chromis and uronema.

I do however wait a few days before taking the fish home to ensure that it is eating well and does not develop anything for example we just managed to bring in a fathead sunburst anthia today and I am waiting until maybe tomorrow or Friday to bring him home in case he does happen to develop anything but I don't think he will since he ended up eating only about 2 hours after he got in one of our tanks and had been swimming around, whilst a bit skittish, since then.

 

[NyteRyder1]

Why would you freshwater dip the fish on arrival if you are going to treat for flukes either way?

Looked into this more, and you’re right that there’s overlap, but it’s not pure redundancy. The dip’s main job is diagnostic: it tells me right away whether I’m dealing with a fluke problem, since visible flukes will often slough off in freshwater, and this happens before any medication has had a chance to act. Copper and PraziPro are usually run as separate phases, with copper going first for about 30 days, so there’s a long window early on where the freshwater dip is the only fluke intervention happening at all. BRS’s fish health series (Fish Health Ep. 6) describes it the same way: the dip is used to identify possible flukes and determine whether direct fluke treatment is needed later in the process, not just as a redundant first treatment. It’s also the primary defense for certain fish since PraziPro isn’t recommended for wrasses at all, so for that group the dip is doing work that PraziPro can’t. I’ll keep it in the protocol, but I appreciate your question as it made me actually look into why instead of just including it because most protocols do.

 

[Chocka]

My thought is if a business like dr reef have built a business on quarantining fish so shouldn’t have to worry about a lot from them. While a lfs have thousands of fish in and out all the time.
I’ve also quarantined some fish

Yes and he does a great job there examining them for signs of weakness and will not ship a fish he believes will not survive the journey. When you add it all up it really is a good value to have someone who is doing the process correctly do it for you especially if like me you might be a little intimidated with the thought of all that extra equipment and dosing, water changes, etc and still could die if not done properly. I use them exclusively for my fish but you also have to be careful on the coral side of things too so same thing knowing that a provider keeps there corals free from fish and inverts matters too as if you ever lose your whole tank it is brutal.

 

[Paul B]

I personally would not put a quarantined fish in my tank or dip or medicate a fish. But if I were to do that, I would just buy a pre-quarantined fish and throw it in.