Quarantine tank not an option... What is next best process?

[eamike261]

Assume that a quarantine tank is not an option... I'd like to hear opinions on the best process before adding a new fish to the tank.

Just a Fresh Water Dip with aerator and matching temp/pH?

Would people recommended adding medication to this?

Or is a dip too much stress on a fish when he has to deal with acclimating to a new tank in the same day?

Thanks.

 

[wesman42]

This has been asked before and you will get many different answers. However, until you get burned and a few hundred if not thousands of dollars of fish die, I'm assuming nobody can change your mind.

That being said, the best process before adding fish into your tank is to quarantine them. I don't have knowledge of medications or dips that will make even the slightest impact in curing an illness.

 

[dwest]

Assume that a quarantine tank is not an option... I'd like to hear opinions on the best process before adding a new fish to the tank.

Just a Fresh Water Dip with aerator and matching temp/pH?

Would people recommended adding medication to this?

Or is a dip too much stress on a fish when he has to deal with acclimating to a new tank in the same day?

Thanks.

I say ask someone to do it for you. Or get another hobby.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

If a quarantine tank is not an option I would look at ways to make it an option.

IMO a quarantine tank is as necessary to this hobby as salt.

 

[eamike261]

I guess the question wasn’t clear.

I’m asking about best practices sans quarantine. Not asking whether a quarantine is a good idea. Debating the merit and utility of a dedicated quarantine is a separate debate.

No need for rude, unconstructive comments.

 

[dantimdad]

I guess the question wasn’t clear.

I’m asking about best practices sans quarantine. Not asking whether a quarantine is a good idea. Debating the merit and utility of a dedicated quarantine is a separate debate.

No need for rude, unconstructive comments.

I agree. Saying get another hobby is completely uncalled for.

If you cannot have the space to quarantine I would ask someone to do it for you separate from fish they are quarantining. Other than that, it's honestly a crap shoot. You never know what you are going to get.

Now, the question is: Do you have absolutely no room for a quarantine tank? If it's money, you can use a $10 ten gallon from petco and a diy cheap sponge filter and a heater to quarantine. Cycle the sponge filter in your main display for a few weeks before using it.

I hope this helps.

 

[AcanthurusRex]

If a fish can benefit from a freshwater dip then it needs to be quarantined.
Ammonia is the biggest issue with shipped fish.

 

[Swoody]

How about giving us a little bit more information to go on. Such as what size tank you’re looking to stock, what type of fish you’re looking to put into it as some fish are way more prone to bacterial infections than others. That way you will probably get some better answers to your query. Out of all the fish in my tank which equals 13 right now only one of them has been through any kind of a quarantine and it was just an observational quarantine ( other than Prazipro round). I’ve never lost a fish due to diasease so it can be done ( Lost a couple of green chromis but they did each other, not including the two that went into the overflow )..probably not the best thing to try these days but thrre are many here who have never quarantined a fish and have good success rates. That being said I have 5 in quarantine as I type this. I’m not willing to take the risk any further since I have a large tank with corals in it and not looking for the misery that comes with a round of Ich or Velvet.

 

[Crabs McJones]

You could ask a friend in the hobby with a qt tank to run your fish through quarantine. Or, while they're rare, there are a couple places out there that sell pre-quarantined fish. Otherwise get the fish put it in the tank and roll the dice.

 

[dwest]

I guess the question wasn’t clear.

I’m asking about best practices sans quarantine. Not asking whether a quarantine is a good idea. Debating the merit and utility of a dedicated quarantine is a separate debate.

No need for rude, unconstructive comments.

My bad. Didn’t mean to be rude. But, looking back it sounded rude for sure.

 

[eamike261]

I could've been a little defensive in my initial post and mentioned that if I had a massive tank with a ton of fish I'd certainly get a dedicated quarantine, no question about that.

I agree. Saying get another hobby is completely uncalled for.

If you cannot have the space to quarantine I would ask someone to do it for you separate from fish they are quarantining. Other than that, it's honestly a crap shoot. You never know what you are going to get.

Now, the question is: Do you have absolutely no room for a quarantine tank? If it's money, you can use a $10 ten gallon from petco and a diy cheap sponge filter and a heater to quarantine. Cycle the sponge filter in your main display for a few weeks before using it.

I hope this helps.

It's a combination of space and cost. There isn't a lot of extra space in my one bedroom apartment with a fiance, dog, cat, and fish tank. But I also figured I'd end up spending around $100 minimum to setup a little 10g quarantine which is pretty pricey considering I'd only use it for probably 1 fish in the next couple years.

If a fish can benefit from a freshwater dip then it needs to be quarantined.
Ammonia is the biggest issue with shipped fish.

Well my thinking was that I should be proactive instead of waiting to see that he is sick but unable to catch him in my rockwork. My thought was that doing a medicated dip would help reduce the chances of dealing with something in the tank.

How about giving us a little bit more information to go on. Such as what size tank you’re looking to stock, what type of fish you’re looking to put into it as some fish are way more prone to bacterial infections than others. That way you will probably get some better answers to your query. Out of all the fish in my tank which equals 13 right now only one of them has been through any kind of a quarantine and it was just an observational quarantine ( other than Prazipro round). I’ve never lost a fish due to diasease so it can be done ( Lost a couple of green chromis but they did each other, not including the two that went into the overflow )..probably not the best thing to try these days but thrre are many here who have never quarantined a fish and have good success rates. That being said I have 5 in quarantine as I type this. I’m not willing to take the risk any further since I have a large tank with corals in it and not looking for the misery that comes with a round of Ich or Velvet.

Sure thing, I have 2 clowns and 1 randall goby. I'd only add one more fish at most to system and it's only 30g so it would be some type of fish that does well in that size tank. Perhaps something like an orchid dottyback.

You could ask a friend in the hobby with a qt tank to run your fish through quarantine. Or, while they're rare, there are a couple places out there that sell pre-quarantined fish. Otherwise get the fish put it in the tank and roll the dice.

Maybe I should get some reef friends lol that would be nice.

My bad. Didn’t mean to be rude. But, looking back it sounded rude for sure.

Thanks I appreciate you saying that

 

[MnFish1]

I guess the question wasn’t clear.

I’m asking about best practices sans quarantine. Not asking whether a quarantine is a good idea. Debating the merit and utility of a dedicated quarantine is a separate debate.

No need for rude, unconstructive comments.

If you aren’t going to quarantine I would buy from somewhere that does quarantine or a place where you can observe the fish for sometime. I agree there is no dip or anything that will help if you’re not going to do it just put them on the tank. I would only do this with locally bought fish not one shipped online overnight jmo

 

[Crabs McJones]

Maybe I should get some reef friends lol that would be nice.

Lol I hear you. Some of my best friends are people I've met here on r2r. We stay in contact both on and off the site...and we live about 2,000 miles apart ;Hilarious

 

[theKoolAidMan]

Predictably you got a lot of answers ignoring your original question and just telling you that you must quarantine anyway. While I won't say those folks are wrong (objectively, they're not, but we don't all have ideal circumstances), what I will do is answer your question.

A recent poll on this forum found that only half of people here actually QT. Out of the half that don't, I'm sure some do nothing, while others employ a few easy strategies that won't eliminate the risk of disease and parasite, but will help alleviate some of it.

In my opinion the best course of action if you cannot or will not QT would be

1. Buy from an LFS that either quarantines before the fish go on sale (this is pretty rare in my experience) OR at least run copper in their sale tanks. While this won't guarantee that the fish doesn't have parasites if they've only been on sale in the tank a couple of days, it will help limit the risk somewhat, and should ensure to some extent that the tank as a whole isn't a carrier when the new fish for sale went in.
2. Observe the fish carefully at the LFS. Ask them to feed it and watch that it eats. Watch its behavior. Is it acting normal? Do you see any damage to its body? Do you see any visible signs of ich or velvet? Is it discolored? Is it breathing rapidly? If you see any signs of problems from ANY fish in that tank or other tanks that are connected to it, ALL fish in those tanks should be off limits. If one fish in the tank has something, everyone either has it or could be a carrier.
3. Freshwater dip. There are instructions via google search and on this forum. While this won't get rid of everything, it will help limit the chances of parasites making their way into your tank. I think it's most effective against things like flukes. Dip and see if anything falls off. You can combine the dip with some mild medication before the fish goes into the tank.
4. Pray to whatever God you believe in. I do not QT due to space constraints at the moment. I am aware that the longer I keep this up the higher the chance I will get something and potentially lose fish due to it. Just a couple weeks ago I got a Square Anthias. Wouldn't eat for 4 days and was dead in the morning. No signs of disease on him before or after he died, but who knows. At this point all I can do is wait and see what happens to everyone else.

Other people may recommend other solutions that I'd be interested to hear.

 

[Murica]

Buy from trustworthy sources! I've never quarantined, not once. The one time I bought from a non trustworthy source, I got flukes.

I've had fowlr for years and other than the one fluke issue, I've never had problems. When I receive fish, I visually inspect. If it's good, I acclimate temp then plop them in. I know that's blasphemy to some but, I've been doing it for years and never had an issue. I focus on keeping a healthy tank so ich and other issues never come out.

Probably strayed off from the original question a little.. But I just wanted to give my experiences. Sure quarantining is probably the best way to go but, there's other ways out there that work.

 

[theKoolAidMan]

One thing I would add to clarify is that there are people on this very forum that QT and still end up with disease because they didn't execute it perfectly. This is NOT about eliminating risk, it's about mitigating it. If we're ONLY talking about mitigating risk, a QT is the best way to do that, but there are other less effective options that will still reduce your chances of contracting something nasty.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

if you just have a small tank... you mentioned only adding one or two fish. then the dump and pray method is going to be for you.

If you are interested in the future you can find a complete 20 gallon fish tank setup on CL for about $30. That is all it takes.

good luck and have fun... at least you had the sense to ask.

 

[scuzy]

Even a 10 falling Petco $1 a gallon sale is all you need. A heater and air pump not $100 you expect.

 

[jrill]

The reality is the vast majority of people don't quarantine and never have a problem. Most float and drop with success. That has worked for me for the 50 years I've kept fish.

 

[pdiehm]

Melev has a product called Safe Stop or something. Even though you should quarantine, Safe Stop is better than nothing.