quarantine hobbyists fish (not from store)

[ChrisfromBrick]

if a person is selling some fish to me that they have had for a bit in their home, is it safe to assume that they don’t need further qt from me (copper etc) as they didn’t come from a fish store? Or is it still best practice to give a 30 day qt?

 

[Marine Betta]

if a person is selling some fish to me that they have had for a bit in their home, is it safe to assume that they don’t need further qt from me (copper etc) as they didn’t come from a fish store? Or is it still best practice to give a 30 day qt?

I would QT. The only way I would consider not doing so is if I knew their QT protocol. Even then, I probably wouldn’t risk it.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

It depends on how comfortable you are with their biosecurity. Observation of the fish is number one followed by two the condition of the rest of the aquarium environment.

I am not big on Prophylactic treatment of fish cause it has not worked that well for me. Might be good to ask an expert in the fish disease forum.

 

[mfinn]

I would quarantine. At least to observe them. No telling what the other person has added in the last few months or weeks.

 

[Ziggy17]

I would 100% QT with copper and prazi.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

thanks- my gut was telling me to qt but wanted to make sure because they aren’t fish that just arrived from indonesia.

 

[billwill]

If we’re talking some rando person on Craigslist, maybe. If you’re part of a local reef community and buying from them it’s quite silly to quarantine imo unless the fish is not doing well and you’re actually rescuing it. I’ve had more fish die from poor quarantine process than simply adding straight to my tank. Quarantine is only as good as how diligent you are maintaining it, and a pop up quarantine for a new fish isn’t that easy

 

[Ziggy17]

If we’re talking some rando person on Craigslist, maybe. If you’re part of a local reef community and buying from them it’s quite silly to quarantine imo unless the fish is not doing well and you’re actually rescuing it. I’ve had more fish die from poor quarantine process than simply adding straight to my tank. Quarantine is only as good as how diligent you are maintaining it, and a pop up quarantine for a new fish isn’t that easy

I disagree. Popping up a proper QT tank takes about 20 minutes not including the time it takes to mix the water.
I’d rather have one fish die in QT than a whole tank die because I didn’t.
Here is my 20g QT tank. Literally took 15 minutes including the ATO. I always have two sponges in my DT sump so I always have one seeded and ready to go. The ceramic media in the bag is just insurance, but also lives in the sump.

 

[Kasrift]

QT. There's a local near me that had a fully QT'd tank, bought from QT'd vendors and everything. They got a fish from a local and it wiped out their tank, they lost an achilles, gem tang, borbonias and more.

 

[mfinn]

I disagree. Popping up a proper QT tank takes about 20 minutes not including the time it takes to mix the water.
I’d rather have one fish die in QT than a whole tank die because I didn’t.
Here is my 20g QT tank. Literally took 15 minutes including the ATO. I always have two sponges in my DT sump so I always have one seeded and ready to go. The ceramic media in the bag is just insurance, but also lives in the sump.

I have all the pieces ready to go, and a running sponge filter in the 240 sump. So it's all ready to go.

 

[Ziggy17]

I have all the pieces ready to go, and a running sponge filter in the 240 sump. So it's all ready to go.

An ounce of prevention……

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

thanks- my gut was telling me to qt but wanted to make sure because they aren’t fish that just arrived from indonesia.

Back when I was an aquarium curator, I would quarantine all incoming fish, even those from other public aquariums. Moving fish is stressful to them, and we see fish that were harboring chronic infections of one sort or another develop acute infections due to the stress of the move.

 

[fishface NJ]

I would quarantine.

 

[PPBlimpy]

If you qt stuff from the fish store you still need to qt from other hobbyists.
Its a great hobby but not everyone is honest.

My tank has ich and I manage it.
If I sell something- fish, coral, rock etc. to anyone I inform them at the beginning or even in my ad that the tank has ich.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

invaluable information- thanks everyone.

Let me ask this..

I live an hour away from tsm aquatics that qt’s for 30 days copper and i think prazi. You’re paying a surplus for this. Would some of you still qt from a place like tha?

 

[PPBlimpy]

invaluable information- thanks everyone.

Let me ask this..

I live an hour away from tsm aquatics that qt’s for 30 days copper and i think prazi. You’re paying a surplus for this. Would some of you still qt from a place like tha?

Personally I do not qt at all. Not even petco fish, that said if I was to start a fresh tank and had an actual decent LFS that did do a proper QT, I would not buy fish from anywhere else and I probably would bypass home QT but still set up an observation tank to keep them in for 14 days minimum
..

Yet again, I keep expectations low for LFS and not sure if I have ever met an honest sales person.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

invaluable information- thanks everyone.

Let me ask this..

I live an hour away from tsm aquatics that qt’s for 30 days copper and i think prazi. You’re paying a surplus for this. Would some of you still qt from a place like tha?

I personally would not QT from a place like this. Now from another hobbyist, local fish store, etc. Yes, I would qt.

 

[Ridgeback1]

IMO, always quarantine anything and everything. 30 days of observation even for biosecure captive-bred fish before they go in the display tank. I just worked through an ich bout that came in from live rock. In the past I have had twice (yes, I'm slow to learn) disease rounds kick off when I bought from an online vendor who advertises the fish as quarantined (and I don't buy that route anymore--not going to pay extra for pre-quarantined fish when I now quarantine myself). We all feel it: We want to get the fish into the tank immediately. It's just not worth risking your entire tank. As another commenter put it, it's better to have one fish die in quarantine than all your fish die in your display tank.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Personally I do not qt at all. Not even petco fish, that said if I was to start a fresh tank and had an actual decent LFS that did do a proper QT, I would not buy fish from anywhere else and I probably would bypass home QT but still set up an observation tank to keep them in for 14 days minimum
..

Yet again, I keep expectations low for LFS and not sure if I have ever met an honest sales person.

TSM isnt a normal LFS. They only do salt and the store (warehouse) is really impressive. Actually went step by step with me how they bring in orders from all over the world, copper usage and amounts, and other meds. It matches up with the qt process that folks like Jay and others here recommend. They're starting to get some really nice and some rare corals in their store as well. Much improved from years ago.

 

[PPBlimpy]

Sounds like a good deal. If you are comfortable with their procedure and understand whatever happens is on you then that is perfect.

I have 5 salt water only shops within a 1 hour drive and don't trust any when it comes to clean fish, also none claim to QT also.