Feeling defeated. Did I get into the wrong hobby???

[RJ83T]

Hey all!!
I’m new to reef tanks and have been gathering equipment for the last few months to start my first tank. I’ve been interested in the hobby since I went over to a friend of a friends house and laid eyes on my first reef tank. At the time, I worked out of town quite a bit and having a tank of my own was not a possibility. Fast forward 11 years and I was finally in a position where I thought now is the time. I started researching everything about the process and have spent a few thousand dollars on equipment over the last few months. This coming weekend was what I’ve been waiting for…… finally I was ready to add my water and aquascape and begin the cycling process….. until last night when I regrettably started watching BRStv’s series on fish disease and quarantine tanks. What a mistake. What I’ve gathered from the series is that without a proper quarantine my tank is one major event away from disaster. The quarantine process they outline seems like a ton of work. Quarantine my CUC for 72 days? Same with corals?? How many more tanks and equipment do I have to buy at this point? I was so excited and ready to put in the work on this tank, but now I just feel defeated. I don’t have the room or time to be managing multiple QT tanks, as well as my DT, and my wife sure as hell isn’t gonna buy into this nonsense. It was hard enough to convince her on the one tank in my office. I feel like I’ve wasted thousands of dollars and feel absolutely defeated. Please tell me what these guys are doing is not the norm and way above and beyond. It seems absolutely absurd. It sounds like a full time job. I have no problem going the “maintain” route they outline where you maintain the diseases properly, but even then they make it seem like one power outage and I can kiss my fish goodbye. I guess I’m just venting a bit because I put so much work in at this point and it feels like it’s destined to fail. Anyways, thanks for listening, if you made it this far.
Cheers

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Hey all!!
I’m new to reef tanks and have been gathering equipment for the last few months to start my first tank. I’ve been interested in the hobby since I went over to a friend of a friends house and laid eyes on my first tank. At the time, I worked out of town quite a bit and having a tank of my own was not a possibility. Fast forward 11 years and I was finally in a position where I thought now is the time. I started researching everything about the process and have spent a few thousand dollars on equipment over the last few months. This coming weekend was what I’ve been waiting for…… finally I was ready to add my water and aquascape and begin the cycling process….. until last night when I regrettably started watching BRStv’s series on fish disease and quarantine tanks. What a mistake. What I’ve gathered from the series is that without a proper quarantine my tank is one major event away from disaster. The quarantine process they outline seems like a ton of work. Quarantine my CUC for 72 days? Same with corals?? How many more tanks and equipment do I have to buy at this point? I was so excited and ready to put in the work on this tank, but now I just feel defeated. I don’t have the room or time to be managing multiple QT tanks, as well as my DT, and my wife sure as hell isn’t gonna buy into this nonsense. It was hard enough to convince her on the one tank in my office. I feel like I’ve wasted thousands of dollars and feel absolutely defeated. Please tell me what these guys are doing is not the norm and way above and beyond. It seems absolutely absurd. It sounds like a full time job. I have no problem going the “maintain” route they outline where you maintain the diseases properly, but even then they make it seem like one power outage and I can kiss my fish goodbye. I guess I’m just venting a bit because I put so much work in at this point and it feels like it’s destined to fail. Anyways, thanks for listening, if you made it this far.
Cheers

Purchase fish from a retailer that puts the fish through quarantine prior to shipping. Problem solved!

Dr. Reef's is a good option. Don't let that get you down!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hey all!!
I’m new to reef tanks and have been gathering equipment for the last few months to start my first tank. I’ve been interested in the hobby since I went over to a friend of a friends house and laid eyes on my first reef tank. At the time, I worked out of town quite a bit and having a tank of my own was not a possibility. Fast forward 11 years and I was finally in a position where I thought now is the time. I started researching everything about the process and have spent a few thousand dollars on equipment over the last few months. This coming weekend was what I’ve been waiting for…… finally I was ready to add my water and aquascape and begin the cycling process….. until last night when I regrettably started watching BRStv’s series on fish disease and quarantine tanks. What a mistake. What I’ve gathered from the series is that without a proper quarantine my tank is one major event away from disaster. The quarantine process they outline seems like a ton of work. Quarantine my CUC for 72 days? Same with corals?? How many more tanks and equipment do I have to buy at this point? I was so excited and ready to put in the work on this tank, but now I just feel defeated. I don’t have the room or time to be managing multiple QT tanks, as well as my DT, and my wife sure as hell isn’t gonna buy into this nonsense. It was hard enough to convince her on the one tank in my office. I feel like I’ve wasted thousands of dollars and feel absolutely defeated. Please tell me what these guys are doing is not the norm and way above and beyond. It seems absolutely absurd. It sounds like a full time job. I have no problem going the “maintain” route they outline where you maintain the diseases properly, but even then they make it seem like one power outage and I can kiss my fish goodbye. I guess I’m just venting a bit because I put so much work in at this point and it feels like it’s destined to fail. Anyways, thanks for listening, if you made it this far.
Cheers

Now I might be going against the masses here, but when my tank was up and running, I never once qt'd anything, neither has @Paul B, and he's had his tank running for 40+ years.

CUC qt I never thought was necessary imo. If you are worried about fish getting some kind of disease, buy from a reputable vendor who sells qt'd fish (Dr. Reef is one example)

I would also highly recommend you read this thread below, as this might answer a lot of your questions.

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is nowhere near simple. This task is going to take patience, a...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[tzabor10]

I was in the same situation. Quarantine (QT) is ideal. But most reefers don’t do this. I skip it entirely. I instead use an acclimation box to slowly introduce new fish. I believe forced medication is not good for any living creature.
You might have to battle Aptasia or Bryopsis. This is not the end of the world.
What type of tank is this? What do you want in it?
You got this. Ask the wife what she likes. Having a tank that makes her happy will go a long way.

 

[RJ83T]

Purchase fish from a retailer that puts the fish through quarantine prior to shipping. Problem solved!

Dr. Reef's is a good option. Don't let that get you down!

Unfortunately I’m in Canada, so would need a Canadian company, but it is something I’ve looked into

 

[RJ83T]

I was in the same situation. Quarantine (QT) is ideal. But most reefers don’t do this. I skip it entirely. I instead use an acclimation box to slowly introduce new fish. I believe forced medication is not good for any living creature.
You might have to battle Aptasia or Bryopsis. This is not the end of the world.
What type of tank is this? What do you want in it?
You got this. Ask the wife what she likes. Having a tank that makes her happy will go a long way.

My wife was actually very against the tank until it I brought it home. It’s an Innovative Marine Nuvo 40 with the stand and it looks beautiful in my office, so I won her over with that. I was planning on a beginner tank, so mostly just softies and maybe a few LPS. It’s certainly helps hearing that a lot of people don’t go to these extremes. It seemed absolutely crazy. They were using formaldehyde at one point. Thank you for the reassurance. They made it sound very doom and gloom

 

[tzabor10]

WWC has a very simple but stunning softie tank. Low lights and low flow. This might be a good option.

 

[RJ83T]

Now I might be going against the masses here, but when my tank was up and running, I never once qt'd anything, neither has @Paul B, and he's had his tank running for 40+ years.

CUC qt I never thought was necessary imo. If you are worried about fish getting some kind of disease, buy from a reputable vendor who sells qt'd fish (Dr. Reef is one example)

I would also highly recommend you read this thread below, as this might answer a lot of your questions.

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is nowhere near simple. This task is going to take patience, a...

www.reef2reef.com

Now I might be going against the masses here, but when my tank was up and running, I never once qt'd anything, neither has @Paul B, and he's had his tank running for 40+ years.

CUC qt I never thought was necessary imo. If you are worried about fish getting some kind of disease, buy from a reputable vendor who sells qt'd fish (Dr. Reef is one example)

I would also highly recommend you read this thread below, as this might answer a lot of your questions.

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is nowhere near simple. This task is going to take patience, a...

www.reef2reef.com

Well that is certainly good to hear. I was open to the whole quarantine process until they started talking about formaldehyde dips and quarantining the CUC and corals for over two months. Then they started talking about brook and uronema and I thought “what the heck have I got myself into?” The whole video series had a “do these things or your fish will all die” vibe. I’ll check out the thread you mentioned. Thanks again!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Well that is certainly good to hear. I was open to the whole quarantine process until they started talking about formaldehyde dips and quarantining the CUC and corals for over two months. Then they started talking about brook and uronema and I thought “what the heck have I got myself into?” The whole video series had a “do these things or your fish will all die” vibe. I’ll check out the thread you mentioned. Thanks again!

Coral, I do recommend dipping, though. Dipping is not nearly as complex as it looks. This will get rid of any pesky creatures that can be hiding on them.

Coral Dip Guide

I put this together because I was tired of searching around for this information. Here it is in all one place for some of the more popular methods of dipping coral. General cleansers and cleaners commonly used for eliminating parasites and bacterial infections. Coral RX – General, 1.25ml/cup...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ScottJ]

QT is pretty hotly is a pretty debated subject I personally don't. Just try to feed everybody as good as I can (no dry pellet or flake food. Fresh or frozen only) and keep the water quality up. I don't worry about QT coral or inverts. I do dip coral most of the time, though. I have very few fish and concentrate on coral. That's my taste.

 

[RJ83T]

Coral, I do recommend dipping, though. Dipping is not nearly as complex as it looks. This will get rid of any pesky creatures that can be hiding

Coral, I do recommend dipping, though. Dipping is not nearly as complex as it looks. This will get rid of any pesky creatures that can be hiding on them.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-dip-guide.769149/[/U

on them. [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-dip-guide.769149/

Coral, I do recommend dipping, though. Dipping is not nearly as complex as it looks. This will get rid of any pesky creatures that can be hiding on them.

Coral Dip Guide

I put this together because I was tired of searching around for this information. Here it is in all one place for some of the more popular methods of dipping coral. General cleansers and cleaners commonly used for eliminating parasites and bacterial infections. Coral RX – General, 1.25ml/cup...

www.reef2reef.com

I was absolutely planning on coral dipping.

 

[Pandaexpress]

I don’t think people should use formaldehyde in their own house, it’s a carcinogen nasty

 

[Dom]

Hey all!!
I’m new to reef tanks and have been gathering equipment for the last few months to start my first tank. I’ve been interested in the hobby since I went over to a friend of a friends house and laid eyes on my first reef tank. At the time, I worked out of town quite a bit and having a tank of my own was not a possibility. Fast forward 11 years and I was finally in a position where I thought now is the time. I started researching everything about the process and have spent a few thousand dollars on equipment over the last few months. This coming weekend was what I’ve been waiting for…… finally I was ready to add my water and aquascape and begin the cycling process….. until last night when I regrettably started watching BRStv’s series on fish disease and quarantine tanks. What a mistake. What I’ve gathered from the series is that without a proper quarantine my tank is one major event away from disaster. The quarantine process they outline seems like a ton of work. Quarantine my CUC for 72 days? Same with corals?? How many more tanks and equipment do I have to buy at this point? I was so excited and ready to put in the work on this tank, but now I just feel defeated. I don’t have the room or time to be managing multiple QT tanks, as well as my DT, and my wife sure as hell isn’t gonna buy into this nonsense. It was hard enough to convince her on the one tank in my office. I feel like I’ve wasted thousands of dollars and feel absolutely defeated. Please tell me what these guys are doing is not the norm and way above and beyond. It seems absolutely absurd. It sounds like a full time job. I have no problem going the “maintain” route they outline where you maintain the diseases properly, but even then they make it seem like one power outage and I can kiss my fish goodbye. I guess I’m just venting a bit because I put so much work in at this point and it feels like it’s destined to fail. Anyways, thanks for listening, if you made it this far.
Cheers

I think we've all been here at some point. And if you are second-guessing getting into the hobby, I suppose now would be the best time.

You only need one QT tank. And it doesn't have to be an actual tank. A plastic tub will do the trick, although not ideal.

The BRS TV videos are informative. But I also feel they are overkill, designed to sell product as much as they are to inform.

 

[MoshJosh]

I have never quarantined. . .

Ideally you would quarantine yourself, if not possible then buy from a seller who who quarantines, if that's not possible buy from a reputable LFS who has had the fish on hand for a while and thoroughly inspect before purchase.

They also make a dip that you can use for new fish. . . It might be snake oil but I have used it without ill effects so I say it's worth a try.

Quick Dip HydroPlex Broad Spectrum Dip for New Fish (2 oz) - Ruby Reef

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

Now of course quarantine becomes more important the more expensive your fish are, but this will depend on your personal comfort level. . .

Quarantine is best practice but there are tons of reefers (maybe even the majority) who do not (or cannot) quarantine their fish.

 

[RJ83T]

Well I certainly feel much better about the whole thing now. I just couldn’t believe anyone was going to these lengths. If you do, kudos to you. It seems like a lot of commitment. Maybe one day I’ll get to that point, but as a beginner, with the amount of information I’ve learned over the past few months, it was just too much for me.

 

[rtparty]

Like it or not, this hobby will absolutely humble you every chance it gets. It will NOT be smooth sailing, rainbows, and butterflies. You will kill things. Things will die without explanation and yes, you absolutely run the risk of major diseases wiping out all your work.

It’s not all doom and gloom but sugar coating it is only to your detriment.

 

[get-salty]

Hello hi and welcome to the saltier side!

Im going to jump right in this.. Screw the many QT, you dont need it - yet

- setup your DT and cycle it and when it is cycled....
- Come back here a ask for some highly recommended seller that qt their live stocks
- when you are ready for corals. i have great luck with TopShelf Aquatics corals. Tank grown or aquaculture corals adapts and have a super high % of surviving in your tank than wild.
- Dip your corals with coral dip - Two Little Fishies Revive is a great product and very popular
- Clean up crew or CUC, get them anywhere but do drip and temp acclimate them before adding into tank

once you are setup for ~3months. get a 10 - 40 gal tank and put a HOB filter, heater, and air stone. Use the water from your DT after you do a water change for it... and that can be your QT. you can add pvc in it for the fish to hide.

Good luck !

 

[MoshJosh]

Also, if you are just setting up the tank you could just use it as an impromptu quarantine. Finalize your stocking, order all the fish at the same time, place them in the tank and observe for a set amount of time and treat them all with medication if needed before adding corals. . .

 

[RJ83T]

Like it or not, this hobby will absolutely humble you every chance it gets. It will NOT be smooth sailing, rainbows, and butterflies. You will kill things. Things will die without explanation and yes, you absolutely run the risk of major diseases wiping out all your work.

It’s not all doom and gloom but sugar coating it is only to your detriment.

Yes, I absolutely understand that

 

[Fish Fan]

I disagree with the advice not to QT new fish and even inverts. Personally, I try to QT everything "wet", and yes, that means leaving new inverts without fish for 60 days or more before moving to a display tank. This may seem extreme if you're just starting out in the hobby, but I believe this is best practice.

I follow just about every "my fish are sick" thread on this forum, and I'd say three or even six times a day we get someone posting something like, "Everything was fine last night, and this morning all my fish have white spots and are dying!". <<We seriously see posts like this everyday, all day.

I'm very aware that there's a contingency of reefers here on R2R that do not QT, and advise not quarantining new livestock. I'll point out that these reefers are much more the exception than the rule (please see the 3-6 posts everyday asking about fish parasites), they often have 30+ years of experience keeping fish, and they often live close to the seashore where they can collect a wide variety of natural foods for their fish.

QT'ing fish doesn't have to be expensive or complicated, Jay Hemdal just recently added to his QT protocol a method to shorten the time period it takes to QT fish, though that shortened timeframe does come with some risks:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

Clearly, your milage may vary. I hope this helps and good luck whichever way you go!