Quarantine help?

[Dierker2003]

Hi, I currently have a 29 gallon reef tank with a dwarf angel aswell as a clownfish. I have had lots of trouble with parasites in the past and quite a few loses which have devastated me and these are the only fish I’ve kept over a long period of time. I Had them for about a year. I have a ten gallon aquarium with a hob filter and heater. I’m debating turning this into a quarantine tank and wondering if it would be big enough. I’m also wondering should I take my fish out of the DT and put them in quarantine? Is it worth it? I know ich is present in the DT but I’m not able to start quarantining every hermit and coral that goes in the tank so it’s always going to be. So should I just start quarantining new fish additions or Is there any Benefit to doing this if I don’t quarantine my coral? I’ll still dip them but that won’t eradicate fish parasites. Also for how long and what medications should I quarantine with?
Thanks!

 

[SPR1968]

I personally don’t QT but you may find this sticky helpful

HIGH - Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Stickies

My Current QT Process Ratios for Dosing Copper Power Uronema - Eradicate or Ignore? Hybrid TTM to treat all parasites! PSA: PRIME safe to use with COPPER POWER Medications to keep on hand Fallow periods: Going Fishless Difficult Fish to QT guide Ich eradication vs. Ich...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[kartrsu]

Hi, I currently have a 29 gallon reef tank with a dwarf angel aswell as a clownfish. I have had lots of trouble with parasites in the past and quite a few loses which have devastated me and these are the only fish I’ve kept over a long period of time. I Had them for about a year. I have a ten gallon aquarium with a hob filter and heater. I’m debating turning this into a quarantine tank and wondering if it would be big enough. I’m also wondering should I take my fish out of the DT and put them in quarantine? Is it worth it? I know ich is present in the DT but I’m not able to start quarantining every hermit and coral that goes in the tank so it’s always going to be. So should I just start quarantining new fish additions or Is there any Benefit to doing this if I don’t quarantine my coral? I’ll still dip them but that won’t eradicate fish parasites. Also for how long and what medications should I quarantine with?
Thanks!

It’s all or nothing unfortunately. Even if you quarantine your fish, if you don’t do the same for your corals, cysts can come in on any hard surface. You’re back to square one if you are unlucky with a coral frag / invert. If you get velvet, likely game over for the fish if you don’t treat.

I would recommend treating your current fish (10G is fine) and running fallow for atleast 45 days, 76 to be ultra safe. Once fish are cured, you can add back to tank. At this point, you can buy quarantined fish / inverts while quarantining your corals to manage the bio security. The other option is to keep your fish separate while you shop for all your corals and QT them in display. Again, 45 or 76 days from last addition. This of course means any hitchhikers that make it through the dips will be in your tank.

I personally prefer to quarantine everything, since partial effort can become wasted effort if you are unlucky. Once you have your fish selection done, it’s just another tank for coral additions.

FWIW, 29G does not offer much “dilution” of parasite populations. If it’s in, it can spread in a short manner.