is quarantined fish worth it?

[GeoSquid]

I've been keeping freshwater fish since the 70s and saltwater fish since 1990 and have never quarantined or medicated a fish ever. I have never lost a fish to any disease. It looks to me like putting a fish in a quarantine sterile looking tank just causes more stress. I think getting them in your main tank as soon as possible and feeding good food cuts down on stress. I only feed fresh, frozen seafood - never dried pellets or flakes. All this quarantine medication stuff is a waste of time and money.

 

[fyrefightr]

It is but you have to make sure your tank is free of parasites (ich, etc) and no fish is a carrier. If you have fish now, it may be a carrier so buying and adding a quarantined fish to add to your DT is counter productive.

so whats the difference in quarantining a fish in my own QT and putting it in my DT after 30 days? The same issue will still be there if my dt has parasites and a fish is a carrier.

 

[TheOldSalt]

I would doubt that even a dozen stores in the country even know how to fully quarantine fish, let alone actually do it.
If you can find one that does, then support it by buying.
Don't buy anywhere else. If you mix dirty fish with clean ones, then what's the point?

 

[fyrefightr]

I now qt clean up crew and coral for 90 days. I got majano in my system which are way worse then aptasia, from clean up crew. Als got ick from a frag. New system will never see anything introduced that has not been in qt for 90days minimum.

how do you treat a frag for ich if you cant use copper? Do you treat the tank for 10 days with reef medic?

 

[fyrefightr]

I would doubt that even a dozen stores in the country even know how to fully quarantine fish, let alone actually do it.
If you can find one that does, then support it by buying.
Don't buy anywhere else. If you mix dirty fish with clean ones, then what's the point?

I know my LFS fully quarantines all fish they sell. They have walked me through their back area. They dose with both copper, paraguard, metroplex, and focus depending on the response of the lifestock.

 

[Squidward]

If you want a ich-free tank, you'd still have to qurantine your corals and inverts too.

 

[jaganshi066]

How d

If you want a ich-free tank, you'd still have to qurantine your corals and inverts too.

o you quarantine corals and inverts? Sorry if it’s a dumb question I just started quarantining fish.

 

[TheOldSalt]

I know my LFS fully quarantines all fish they sell. They have walked me through their back area. They dose with both copper, paraguard, metroplex, and focus depending on the response of the lifestock.

That's pretty good for a start, and better than most.

But in what order do they do things? For how long?

It takes 24 days just to get rid of ciliated protozoans. Drugs interact and interfere with each other. Badguy bacteria LIKE copper, causing infection during ick treatment.

I hate to be that guy, but I used to BE that guy, namely, a professional quarantiner / ichthyopathologist at a large public aquarium, as well as a fish farmer and store owner.
Mistakes were not an option for me. It drives me crazy to see all of these people do things halfway, or even worse, poo-poo the whole idea of quarantine.

That said, it sounds like your store is trying harder than almost all of the competition, so if you hook up a big UV unit and feed your fish some garlic stuff, you should probably have great success without any disease worries. Herbtana is good, too; it really works.

 

[TheOldSalt]

how do you treat a frag for ich if you cant use copper? Do you treat the tank for 10 days with reef medic?

There are dips, like Hydroplex for example, that you can dip new corals in when you get them.
( Most corals can survive a freshwater dip, too. It does rain on them in the wild, you know. )

Then you put them into a corals-only quarantine tank for a month or two, to let any remaining ickies starve to death.

 

[fyrefightr]

That's pretty good for a start, and better than most.

But in what order do they do things? For how long?

It takes 24 days just to get rid of ciliated protozoans. Drugs interact and interfere with each other. Badguy bacteria LIKE copper, causing infection during ick treatment.

I hate to be that guy, but I used to BE that guy, namely, a professional quarantiner / ichthyopathologist at a large public aquarium, as well as a fish farmer and store owner.
Mistakes were not an option for me. It drives me crazy to see all of these people do things halfway, or even worse, poo-poo the whole idea of quarantine.

That said, it sounds like your store is trying harder than almost all of the competition, so if you hook up a big UV unit and feed your fish some garlic stuff, you should probably have great success without any disease worries. Herbtana is good, too; it really works.

So I just went though my first ich outbreak in my new tank. Not sure where it came from as I added a new mimic tang that they quarantined and I quarantined. I also got some new corals from TSA I got during the Presidents day sale. I always dip my corals but dont quarantine them. I lost my sailfin tang and 2 anthias. Was able to move my mimic tang to a hospital tang and its in day 8 of cupramine treatment. My two clowns, royal gramma and lawnmower blenny are still in the DT with no signs of ich but I am dosing 8 scoops of reef medic twice a day. I am researching to get a UV sterilizer installed on the tank now too and I do mix my food with garlic guard.

 

[trmiv]

I think it’s worth it. I don’t have the time, expertise or desire to quarantine fish. Also I like a little instant gratification with my fish and not having them in a sad QT tank upstairs for weeks. Also for me it’s more than just the QT. The fish also come conditioned and ready for aquarium life. I’ve bought quarantined, conditioned fish from TSM, Fishotel and Quarantined Marine and not only have they been diseased free, they’ve all been so comfortable upon arrival that they eaten within an hour and are out and about quickly.

 

[Squidward]

how do you treat a frag for ich if you cant use copper? Do you treat the tank for 10 days with reef medic?

You have to set up a qurantine tank just for corals. I leave them in the qurantine tank a minimum of 30 days. You can go by Humblefish's guidelines.

How d

o you quarantine corals and inverts? Sorry if it’s a dumb question I just started quarantining fish.

Yes. That's how I was able to have an ich free tank. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-invert-quarantine-time-frames.334584/

 

[secret_reefer337]

so whats the difference in quarantining a fish in my own QT and putting it in my DT after 30 days? The same issue will still be there if my dt has parasites and a fish is a carrier.

No difference if you quarantined your own fish or buy a quarantined fish. The scenario is like this and this is based on my own account. I have an established tank running for three years. My fish wasn’t quarantined at all, I just buy fish and drop in the tank. When I started adding tang to my fish collection I wasn’t even quarantined them. It runs good for a year. I am happy as a bee. Then one day I’ve decided to add PBT, bought a quarantined one, thinking I need to be safe. Wrong, maybe one or two of my old fish in the tank is a carrier and the PBT showed spots after a while. So even if my new fish is “quarantined “ but the rest of old ones are not, parasites “might” be hiding somewhere. The point is you will never know not unless you quarantined all your current resident fish and go fallow. So buying a quarantined fish and adding it into a tank with not quarantined fish is not an assurance that your system is parasite/ich free.

 

[Borg]

I’m in CT and I buy my fish from a guy in Nj. He quarantines them for a month . Fish are clean and eating pellets when I get home
Never had a sick fish after 2 years

You get what you pay for

 

[fyrefightr]

There are dips, like Hydroplex for example, that you can dip new corals in when you get them.
( Most corals can survive a freshwater dip, too. It does rain on them in the wild, you know. )

Then you put them into a corals-only quarantine tank for a month or two, to let any remaining ickies starve to death.

makes sense. No fish hosts the ich parasites die

 

[Fezbearer]

Lucky you! Adam Sklar at Ocean Devotion in LA.

Ocean Devotion LA

Purchase quarantined WYSIWYG saltwaterfish from Ocean Devotion LA.

oceandevotionla.com

I've purchased most of my tank from Adam, and haven't had any complaints.

 

[zalick]

I've purchased most of my tank from Adam, and haven't had any complaints.

I've read nothing but fabulous reviews from customers and people in SoCal. I'm in the process of placing my first order with him (20 fish). His responsiveness and willingness to group fish, find fish, etc, seems well worth what he charges.

 

[PedroYoung]

I plan to order online I was thinking marine collectors
and I don't have any fish yet

I have ordered all the fish in my new tank from Elliott at Marine Collectors and he has been great. Might take a day or so to reply to a text, but all the fish have been spectacular. He is working on a group of Bimac Anthias for me right now. Well worth the incremental $$ IMO. Figured if I killed one in quarantine I would be paying more anyway.

 

[DieHardPhotog-Reefer]

I now qt clean up crew and coral for 90 days. I got majano in my system which are way worse then aptasia, from clean up crew. Als got ick from a frag. New system will never see anything introduced that has not been in qt for 90days minimum.

Not questioning your choice but why did you specifically choose 90 days? I am aware of the 76 day reference to avoid velvet and other diseases for fish. I am also under the impression that 45 days at 80.6 degrees (minimum water temp) will serve the same purpose to minimize tomonts.
I've currently got 10 corals and about 20 clc crew together in the same QT but would hate to find that I didn't keep them there long enough before moving to my DT.

 

[DieHardPhotog-Reefer]

There are dips, like Hydroplex for example, that you can dip new corals in when you get them.
( Most corals can survive a freshwater dip, too. It does rain on them in the wild, you know. )

Then you put them into a corals-only quarantine tank for a month or two, to let any remaining ickies starve to death.

I'm giving my corals and clc a 45 day QT at approx 80.6 minimum water temp before bringing them into the DT.