Do you still quarantine pre quarantined fish

[stevedola]

Unless you know the LFS actually runs copper, deworm and hypo and transitions to regular salinity, then I would if you have fish you don't want to lose. BC, the alternative is possibly nuclear, the fish population will die and then you wait out the pest/infection.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do you get the regular quarantine or do you pay extra for them to be in observation for a little while longer

I have not requested any extra observation time, but I do not know what protocols were followed for the specific fish I have gotten from him.

 

[Branzol]

I buy all of my fish from two local fish stores that pre-quarantine their livestock, but I still run them through a four-week observation quarantine of my own.

There's simply too much risk of introducing a disease or parasite that could have devastating consequences in the main display tank. The extra month of patience is worth the peace of mind.

 

[coralmonsters.judy Verified Sponsor]

Love this topic!!!!

If you trust the vendor and they tell you the fish have been properly quarantined, then sure, I would put them straight into the display.

That said, not all quarantine programs are created equal. A lot of places say fish are "quarantined" when they've only been observed for a few days or held in low salinity. For me, quarantine means a minimum of three weeks in copper, praziquantel, and nitrofurazone, while closely monitoring the fish's health, appetite, and behavior.

The biggest benefit isn't just disease prevention—it's knowing the fish is eating aggressively and has already adjusted to captivity. A healthy, feeding fish has a much better chance of long-term success.

So if I know and trust the vendor's process, straight into the tank. If I'm not completely confident in their quarantine protocol, I'd rather quarantine again than risk introducing a problem into my display.

 

[Kooma]

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 run my own course of QT protocol, regardless where the fish came from. I have a 80 gallon system set aside specifically for this.

 

[Chocka]

I have ordered 2 large orders from Dr Reef and all but one after nearly a year are doing great. The one that is gone simply disappeared one day never to be seen again. I lost my entire tank to marine velvet when an LFS who swore he always quarantines his fish obviously lied to me and I paid a heavy price. Had to go fishless for 72 days before even considering fish again. I did go approach this particular LFS about it and after about 20 minutes going back and forth he did agree to give me a store credit of 275 dollars for the more than 600 I had spent and lost more than that. Of course I did not buy any more fish from them but used that credit for food and such. Lesson learned I believe you can trust the process Dr Reef puts these through and go directly to the tank unless you are buying conditioned fish which is a little different and should probably be observed for a few weeks upon arrival. I am putting together one more 3rd and final large order I hope to place soon when one of their awesome sales comes up.

 

[Peace River]

Some issues may not show up until the stress of shipping so observation is still a reasonable risk management approach. Of course QT with medication is different than QT observation only.

 

[exnisstech]

I've have seen some reports of fish coming through from Dr Reef with flukes.

 

[gastone]

I have a local store that is very thorough and extensive with their qt procedures. Their QT fish are not housed with cuc or other inverts. I feel comfortable buying from them and introducing into my display. From anywhere else (including friends that qt their fish using the same procedures I use), the fish go into QT. Fwiw, I've only purchased one fish from said store. The other 12 or so fish in my display have gone through my QT.

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

I haven’t bought from Dr Reef yet, but I wouldn’t quarantine from them

 

[Largeangels]

Love this topic!!!!

If you trust the vendor and they tell you the fish have been properly quarantined, then sure, I would put them straight into the display.

That said, not all quarantine programs are created equal. A lot of places say fish are "quarantined" when they've only been observed for a few days or held in low salinity. For me, quarantine means a minimum of three weeks in copper, praziquantel, and nitrofurazone, while closely monitoring the fish's health, appetite, and behavior.

The biggest benefit isn't just disease prevention—it's knowing the fish is eating aggressively and has already adjusted to captivity. A healthy, feeding fish has a much better chance of long-term success.

So if I know and trust the vendor's process, straight into the tank. If I'm not completely confident in their quarantine protocol, I'd rather quarantine again than risk introducing a problem into my display.

This!!!!!!!!!: The biggest benefit isn't just disease prevention—it's knowing the fish is eating aggressively and has already adjusted to captivity. A healthy, feeding fish has a much better chance of long-term success.

Doesn't matter what I've been told I would still observe/quarantine and allow the fish to settle in and make sure they are eating well the food being fed to the tank it is going into. A healhty eating fish is also more likely to survive any aggression received from other tank mates.

 

[Opah]

I

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 hold and observe in a tank with black mollies.

 

[Cat57]

I do two weeks observation with pre-quarantined fish, I would never put them straight into my DT.

Agree

 

[BigDom75]

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?

 

[Evensong]

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

There are definitely pros to buying quarantined fish.
- You know that they are hardy enough to go through quarantine.
- Wild caught fish have had a few weeks to adjust to captivity instead of going straight from shipping crate to shipping crate.
- They're eating prepared food (with some exceptions).
- Even if you intend to give them another round of treatment, they've already got a head start.
- Assuming you're buying and quarantining more than one fish at a time, starting with pre-quarantined fish reduces the odds that one of them will be sick and infect the others.

And there are cons:
- More expensive (though not always by much, depending on the fish).
- Some fish just don't do well with standard QT methods, and could arrive weaker than a non-QT'd fish.

Why some people might choose to plop a Dr. Reef's fish straight into their display and others choose to do their own QT process is situational. If it's your first few fish, you don't really have much to lose by just putting them straight into the display. If you have thousands of dollars of fish already in your DT, you might want to take the most extreme precautions, even if you trust the seller completely.

Personally, I find that doing a simple HTTM/observation for 2+ weeks is an easy, inexpensive, and reasonable precaution, even for a fish that has been fully quarantined by a reputable seller. HTTM is safe and un-stressful for most fish.

 

[Jasonak]

I've always added straight to my tank. If you have the time to do QT yourself then just buy non QT fish. Fish that go through QT are pretty stressed out and to put them right back through QT again would not be good idea. Now if you just wanted to put them in a tank and observe them for a couple weeks thats different.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

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 did not quarantine my yellow tang from Dr Reef.

 

[Jasonak]

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?

Only tangs I've really had trouble with ich were the hippos. I've not bought anything from Dr Reef recently but I've bought a few tangs from Dr Reef and they went straight in my tank no issues. I think though I would do a observation from now on if I purchased QT fish.

Edit: I should mention I still buy QT fish from Fish Hotel Ive got to know Jeff pretty well and I just put his fish right into my tank.

 

[me & my baby]

That is you trusting someone with your reef and fish . I have heard of plenty of stories of they said it was qt’d while your watching all you fish die or ripping your tank apart to get them out so you can treat them .

 

[LPS Bum]

These days I buy all my fish from a wholesaler (QM). They typically come in very healthy but I’ve had some come in with flukes. I always QT all new fish with copper for Crypt/Velvet and hypo for flukes. Unless it was a very rare fish I don’t think I’d pay the premium for pre QT’d fish, so long as you’re going to do it yourself. If you’re not going to QT yourself, then I would absolutely pay that premium. Too risky otherwise.