Poll: QT method - Proactive, Passive, I don't quarantine?

overhead · May 25, 2026

huthain said:
Would you say the copper power dosage ln the bottle was fairly accurate? How long after you dose copper did you test the waters?

I found this calculator to be pretty accurate....may be a tad on the low side. I believe the bottle says to wait an hour to check....or I read that somewhere, but that is what I have been doing.

Copper Power Calculator | CALCONIC_ Calculator

Custom Copper Power Calculator calculator, built using CALCONIC_

app.calconic.com

huthain · May 25, 2026

overhead said:
I found this calculator to be pretty accurate....may be a tad on the low side. I believe the bottle says to wait an hour to check....or I read that somewhere, but that is what I have been doing.

Copper Power Calculator | CALCONIC_ Calculator

Custom Copper Power Calculator calculator, built using CALCONIC_

app.calconic.com

Tools need to consider liters :( i have to double the work by converting anything in this hobby haha!

Very helpful though thanks

vlangel · May 25, 2026

huthain said:
On UVs ive purchased a deltec 19 which is rated at 20watts but they claim it operates closer to 40 watts with how its built, would it be sufficient for a 750liters? I think thats roughly 200 gallons. And would you know what kind of flow rate i need on it? I considered a bigger UV but it physically wouldnt fit in the sump and if anything is fixed out of the sump my wife would put me out of the house!

I am not an expert on UV sterilizer but I know for parasite control slower flow and more watts are what you want. There are folks on this forum that are much more knowledgable on what the flow and watts should be for your tank but I do not feel qualified to answer that.

Mine is 36 watts on only a 75g which is way more than necessary. It is so big that it heats the water so I must watch the temperature when I have it turned on which is not ideal but I can work with it.

overhead · May 25, 2026

huthain said:
Tools need to consider liters :( i have to double the work by converting anything in this hobby haha!

Very helpful though thanks

Well you will be glad to know they give the dosage recommendation in ml ;)

huthain · May 25, 2026

vlangel said:
I am not an expert on UV sterilizer but I know for parasite control slower flow and more watts are what you want. There are folks on this forum that are much more knowledgable on what the flow and watts should be for your tank but I do not feel qualified to answer that.

Mine is 36 watts on only a 75g which is way more than necessary. It is so big that it heats the water so I must watch the temperature when I have it turned on which is not ideal but I can work with it.

That is a massive unit for a 75g! I assume you dont use chillers? Outdoors temps here hit 124f in summer, chillers is absolutely mandatory

vlangel · May 25, 2026

TokenReefer said:
Did you have the UV the whole time or was it recently added?

No, I did not have a UV sterilizer most of my 25+ years of reefing. I did have a 12 watt UV 20 years ago or so but the electrical components got fried and I didn't replace it. I only bought the current UV sterilizer after the January bout with disease when I lost the 7 fish. That was such a painful experience that I decided that I was going to take more precautions to try and reduce the risk of another disease event which included spending $ for the UV. An added bonus is that they make the water look very clean and crisp.

vlangel · May 25, 2026

huthain said:
That is a massive unit for a 75g! I assume you dont use chillers? Outdoors temps here hit 124f in summer, chillers is absolutely mandatory

I live in the Pittsburgh PA area so winter temps can be pretty cold. Even last week we had several days with only a high of 58-62°F. Plus I can unplug my heater and let the UV sterilizer be a heater,

.

huthain · May 25, 2026

vlangel said:
I live in the Pittsburgh PA area so winter temps can be pretty cold. Even last week we had several days with only a high of 58-62°F. Plus I can unplug my heater and let the UV sterilizer be a heater, .

I absolutely envy you! Heaters are much cheaper and quieter than chillers

had to pay a ton for a teco 2000

TokenReefer · May 25, 2026

vlangel said:
No, I did not have a UV sterilizer most of my 25+ years of reefing. I did have a 12 watt UV 20 years ago or so but the electrical components got fried and I didn't replace it. I only bought the current UV sterilizer after the January bout with disease when I lost the 7 fish. That was such a painful experience that I decided that I was going to take more precautions to try and reduce the risk of another disease event which included spending $ for the UV. An added bonus is that they make the water look very clean and crisp.

Thank you for the information and perspective. Sorry for your losses. Getting aUV has been on my mind lately. I've had my fish for a while now and have grown quite attached. Haven't added any in a few years and now I'm worried about doing so. This helps make my case with the bank ;)

steveschuerger · May 25, 2026

I voted for not personally quarantining. Mainly all the reasons Randy put forward. But I do see the benefits and am willing to purchase a quarantined one .

winxp_man · May 25, 2026

huthain said:
So youre classifying observation being half measures?

Just a couple of weeks ago, my brother decided observation being he got the fish from a LFS that keeps its fish in 2.40-2.5 copper. Ended up getting another fish from another shop a day later. I told him to dose copper and get the QT going ich ended up on the fish, and lost time, about a week.

Here are the facts. Unless you get the fish from a QT vendor, do not wait! Why wait? Do you know if the fish has ich, velvet, brook, flukes 100% or not? And if they do but takes a week to show you just lost time.

In a time frame where we see diseases more prevalent than ever why lose time? And risk the fish to get more of an infection? Stress is also a factor and many LFS’s now under run some kind of suppressant meds, or low salinity to suppress the diseases. Thus most fish can become carriers.

Just my two cents. Get the fish in copper as soon as you can.

vlangel · May 25, 2026

huthain said:
I absolutely envy you! Heaters are much cheaper and quieter than chillers had to pay a ton for a teco 2000

I understand completely, I had a big chiller when I had erectus seahorses and we did not have AC. Finally we got AC when we decided it was cheaper to have whole house AC than to run the chiller!

TokenReefer said:
Thank you for the information and perspective. Sorry for your losses. Getting aUV has been on my mind lately. I've had my fish for a while now and have grown quite attached. Haven't added any in a few years and now I'm worried about doing so. This helps make my case with the bank ;)

You are welcome! Before the January disease incident, I had not had a major incident in 25 years. I maybe would lose one fish here or there in the first week of bringing it home but it was seldom. A lot of the fish I had were transfers from my 10 year old 56g column tank last Sept and they had been with me for 5 years or more. When I got the 75g I was excited to get more fish but resisted for 4 months so the tank could settle (even though I used all my old rock from that tank and its 30g sump). I thought the tank was ready by January but the newness probably contributed. Adding 7 new fish in 2 waves I am sure contributed as well. I played a risky game foolishly and my pets paid the price. I am fortunate that I still had 10 fish survive and for that I am truly thankful!

For me a QT was easy because when I set up the 75g I was toying with having a sump so I put the 20g high tank in the cabinet before setting the 75g aquarium on the stand. However, I decided to simplify this tank and not have a sump but use a canister filter instead but the 20g tank was in place and is perfect size wise for a QT. It has live rock and I have old artificial decor so fish can hide if they want. I had old lights and pumps so I was set. I can even do water changes from the 75g DT into the 20g so new fish are already acclimated to the display water. And I only treat fish if I observe disease. Again, I must say this isn't a guarantee but it no doubt reduces the chances of a bad outbreak of disease greatly and the UV sterilizer even reduces the chances more. I plan to only use the UV when new fish are being introduced or for bad algae.

slingfox · May 25, 2026

huthain said:
Would i be able to hook up 2 UVs to my tank? Would that work? If so do they have to be pumped by a Y split or after each other?

Theoretically running multiple UVs in parallel is better than running in series. For your size tank I would try to get a larger UV. The TMC Vector 800–even if you ran 3-4 of them—doesn’t seem the best suited given the space they would take and annoyance of watching and changing so many bulbs. If you can fit two Vectons then you probably have the to fit one larger UV.

exnisstech · May 25, 2026

winxp_man said:
Just a couple of weeks ago, my brother decided observation being he got the fish from a LFS that keeps its fish in 2.40-2.5 copper. Ended up getting another fish from another shop a day later. I told him to dose copper and get the QT going ich ended up on the fish, and lost time, about a week.

Here are the facts. Unless you get the fish from a QT vendor, do not wait! Why wait? Do you know if the fish has ich, velvet, brook, flukes 100% or not? And if they do but takes a week to show you just lost time.

In a time frame where we see diseases more prevalent than ever why lose time? And risk the fish to get more of an infection? Stress is also a factor and many LFS’s now under run some kind of suppressant meds, or low salinity to suppress the diseases. Thus most fish can become carriers.

Just my two cents. Get the fish in copper as soon as you can.

This is exactly how many people that QT with copper believe. Don't get me wrong I totally understand the reasoning for not waiting and it makes perfect sense. The problem I have is many people are buying fish that are not eating and they are already malnourished. Or they eat but are still malnourished then stop eating when copper is started. Many people new that choose to medicate don't really know how to tell if a fish is malnourished. No fault of theirs, they just haven't learned yet.
I think if a fish appears healthy with no signs of malnutrition and is eating well by all means strait into copper if that is your method. If a fish is malnourished and or not eating then I think conditioning in an observation tank to get it eating and healthy then into medication is a good option. If it doesn't make it through observation the chances are it may not have made it though copper.
There's no shortage of posts wondering why did my fish die in QT to know there are flaws just as much as there are too many post about diseases. It's probably the worst part of the hobby TBH.
Just sharing a different viewpoint not say one is right or wrong.

huthain · May 25, 2026

exnisstech said:
This is exactly how many people that QT with copper believe. Don't get me wrong I totally understand the reasoning for not waiting and it makes perfect sense. The problem I have is many people are buying fish that are not eating and they are already malnourished. Or they eat but are still malnourished then stop eating when copper is started. Many people new that choose to medicate don't really know how to tell if a fish is malnourished. No fault of theirs, they just haven't learned yet.
I think if a fish appears healthy with no signs of malnutrition and is eating well by all means strait into copper if that is your method. If a fish is malnourished and or not eating then I think conditioning in an observation tank to get it eating and healthy then into medication is a good option. If it doesn't make it through observation the chances are it may not have made it though copper.
There's no shortage of posts wondering why did my fish die in QT to know there are flaws just as much as there are too many post about diseases. It's probably the worst part of the hobby TBH.
Just sharing a different viewpoint not say one is right or wrong.

The malnutrition part is an interesting one for sure. Never thought of that, will make sure I keep an eye out once I start QT

exnisstech · May 25, 2026

huthain said:
The malnutrition part is an interesting one for sure. Never thought of that, will make sure I keep an eye out once I start QT

I think the most important first step is choosing a healthy looking fish. Unfortunately that isn't possible for everyone and they get what they are shipped.

winxp_man · May 25, 2026

exnisstech said:
This is exactly how many people that QT with copper believe. Don't get me wrong I totally understand the reasoning for not waiting and it makes perfect sense. The problem I have is many people are buying fish that are not eating and they are already malnourished. Or they eat but are still malnourished then stop eating when copper is started. Many people new that choose to medicate don't really know how to tell if a fish is malnourished. No fault of theirs, they just haven't learned yet.
I think if a fish appears healthy with no signs of malnutrition and is eating well by all means strait into copper if that is your method. If a fish is malnourished and or not eating then I think conditioning in an observation tank to get it eating and healthy then into medication is a good option. If it doesn't make it through observation the chances are it may not have made it though copper.
There's no shortage of posts wondering why did my fish die in QT to know there are flaws just as much as there are too many post about diseases. It's probably the worst part of the hobby TBH.
Just sharing a different viewpoint not say one is right or wrong.

Fully agreed. And yes I’m posting with the idea a reefer gets to see the fish eat.

The worst case is a fish does not eat, but ends up with velvet. That would suck! I mean we know how fast velvet can kill.

The scenarios are endless in this world of hobby. Sadly the closet LFS to me had just about every disease known to fish haha. And if you get a fish all you can do is observe to make you it eats. And is swimming and acting normal.

One of the reason why I like to limit buying fish online. Not that you can get good healthy fish. One of my purples, and both of my yellows from TSA were solid purchases. But the statement still hard to know what you get online.

Michael Hughes · May 25, 2026

Yes, having a good LFS makes a big difference.

I've been to TSA in person (a bit of a drive though) and was really impressed with the quality and health of their fish.

huthain · May 25, 2026

Michael Hughes said:
Yes, having a good LFS makes a big difference.

I've been to TSA in person (a bit of a drive though) and was really impressed with the quality and health of their fish.

Our LFS here are all over the place, they bring in shipments and want to get rid of them within minutes! The issue is people jump on them straight away so either grab em quick or theyre gone! poor fish get acclimated to their tank and within the next hour are acclimated to the buyers tank!