Qt Clowns

[saltwaterlover]

Hi! So I’m going to be getting a 108g tank and I wanted to know whether once the cycle is over I can get some clowns and just add them straight into the tank. (after acclimation) The store I will be getting them from qt their fish when they first come in. When I get other fish in the future after the clowns I will qt them all, it’s just it would be so cute to put the clowns straight into the tank once my cycle is done. But I don’t know whether that’s a rlly bad risk?

 

[Big G]

Congrats on starting a new tank! Great adventure for sure! The unpleasant part is that the only QT you can truly trust is you own. Lots of sad stories on this and other forums about QT'd fish from some LFS that brought disease into their tanks. Sad.

 

[saltwaterlover]

Congrats on starting a new tank! Great adventure for sure! The unpleasant part is that the only QT you can truly trust is you own. Lots of sad stories on this and other forums about QT'd fish from some LFS that brought disease into their tanks. Sad.

It’s a shame because I really wanted to be able to just put them in the tank cuz it’s like the first saltwater fish I will have ever had :/

 

[Geebs19]

The LFS qt probably isn’t anything like what most of us do for a qt. Usually they just make sure they are eating and have copper in their tanks. I would still do a full qt if that’s your desire. I will never not do one, took one fish to change my mind when I didn’t qt and ended up losing more than that fish.

 

[Melbe]

I just had a powder brown tang change my mind about qt killed my two clowns with what ever he had now I just bought a wrasse and two skunk clowns and they are in the qt tank being treated

 

[JonoB]

It's going to be hard, but you have to think about the long term. If you put the clowns in with QT but then QT everything else, there is a chance that the clowns not being QT'd will make all the other QT for the other fish pointless.

I vote go ahead and QT them, it isn't that much extra time without them being in the tank, you can still see them in QT, and it will be better for them, for other future fish, and for your wallet long term.

 

[bluprntguy]

You could start the quarantine when you fill the tank. By the time they are done with quarantine your tank should be cycled. If it happens not to be ready, you just leave them in quarantine (without meds) until the tank is ready.

 

[Mariette]

Because they’re the only 2 fish, there’s no risk any disease would spread to other fish. If you’re willing to catch and treat them if anything comes up, the only risks I see are:

1 - delay in treatment as opposed to prophylactic approach

2 - DT then has to go fallow for 76 days (recommend pulling substrate as well during fallow period which is a major pain)

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/why-a-fallow-period-will-sometimes-fail.536167/

3 - if the clowns have Uronema (which mostly effects clowns and chromis), there’s no getting it out of the tank without nuking the whole thing.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/uronema-marinum.247940/

There are very knowledgeable ppl who are successful and don’t qt. I’m not one of them. Personally, I wouldn’t risk it.