When I first got my tank, I asked about QT and the person at the lfs who was answering my questions said that ich is everywhere and there is nothing you can do to prevent it. He said only the wealthy are able to support a quality qt system, so the best I could do is make certain the water and nutrition is healthy in my tank and I shouldn't have a problem with it. Of course being new, I believed anyone with the slightest more experience than myself. Especially who worked in a fish store. And in many ways, much of what he is said is correct. I even bought a UV sterilizer. My established fish look perfect -- but I've still been battling ich ever since. Now I'm not quite ready to take apart my 210 and have it go fallow (yet). But here is my answer to Rev's question: I do quarantine -- just not the same way. I have a 20L (actually two) and I place the new fish in there. I treat for flukes, internal parasites, and watch for bacterial infections. I won't treat with copper unless I think there is a chance of velvet. The fish swim around, are happy and healthy in my qt tank, then after a few weeks, I put them in my display tank -- which, as you can guess, they generally pick up ich relatively quickly. The symptoms don't last too long and eventually they get through it and are soon swimming around the tank as happy and healthy as the others. However...I recently placed my two new tangs into the display tank. My yellow tang is doing great. My goldrim is covered in ich. I'm typing this on THE EXACT SAME DAY that I read @4FordFamily 's article about how acanthurus tangs don't do well with ich and chances of survival are grim. (Good read, btw.)My fingers are crossed that my new goldrim makes it through -- he's eating at least. But I'm not hopeful. I love that tang. I recently had an established coral beauty die of something -- I don't know what. It wasn't ich. But that parasite got through too. On a side note -- I dip every coral, but I do not qt them.
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