Quarantining fish?

[reefrage]

i know it is a good thing to do, but have any long term hobbyists got by without doing it? even if i do decide to quarantine, how would i go about it? just observe or treat with medication? thank you in advance!

 

[exnisstech]

Plenty of people do not QT at all. Others do observation. Others full medicated QT. I do not medicate but observe but I've been in the hobby a while and am very selective when I buy fish and never order fish online. Copper QT is recommended or purchasing from vendor that sells QTed fish is an option if you can't or don't want to QT. Not many things will ruin the hobby faster than loosing a tank to disease.
Here's some reading on current QT recommendations if you haven't seen it.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/

 

[reefrage]

Thank you! i live in Tasmania, Australia and its an island so marine fish are limited. there is only two fish stores in the whole state that sell marine fish, and only one sells corals so buying fish local can be pricey.
If i really want a lot of options, i have to buy inline. also a quarantine tank is possible, just a bit of a pain to do .

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don't like to suggest it, especially with new hobbyists, but it can be done, I haven't qt'd in about 20 years. The idea is complete stress reduction. I feel that lots of rock is important, fish need to hide, and they like to swim in and out of the rocks. If you have a minimum rockscape or just that one arch in the middle of the tank, then forget you need to qt. Keep a light fish load, peaceful and compatible fish only, and feed them often. Its complete stress reduction, any amount of stress can trigger hidden illnesses or disease.

 

[reefrage]

i think i have enough rock work, but ill let you be the juje

I don't like to suggest it, especially with new hobbyists, but it can be done, I haven't qt'd in about 20 years. The idea is complete stress reduction. I feel that lots of rock is important, fish need to hide, and they like to swim in and out of the rocks. If you have a minimum rockscape or just that one arch in the middle of the tank, then forget you need to qt. Keep a light fish load, peaceful and compatible fish only, and feed them often. Its complete stress reduction, any amount of stress can trigger hidden illnesses or disease.

i think i have enough rock work, but ill let you be the judge of that. here is a link to a youtube channel that has my videos on it.
https://www.youtube.com/@AquaMarineTanksFish
ignore the old tank, i got rid of it. the one i have now ins in the newest video called my new Waterbox 220.6

also interested to hear if you buy fish online? as mentioned above you cant tell how healthy the fish is that way? thank

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

i think i have enough rock work, but ill let you be the juje

i think i have enough rock work, but ill let you be the judge of that. here is a link to a youtube channel that has my videos on it.
https://www.youtube.com/@AquaMarineTanksFish
ignore the old tank, i got rid of it. the one i have now ins in the newest video called my new Waterbox 220.6

also interested to hear if you buy fish online? as mentioned above you cant tell how healthy the fish is that way? thank

I've never bought a fish online and that might be a big part of it too, I live in the city and there are many LFS's here

 

[reefrage]

I've never bought a fish online and that might be a big part of it too, I live in the city and there are many LFS's here

what did you think of the rock work? you tell me if there is too little, i just don't know.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Your rockwork is fine to me, I like it.

 

[reefrage]

nice! glad i could get some input from an experienced hobbyist.

 

[mfinn]

@Jay Hemdal can give you tips on doing quarantine

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

i know it is a good thing to do, but have any long term hobbyists got by without doing it? even if i do decide to quarantine, how would i go about it? just observe or treat with medication? thank you in advance!

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

If you are buying wild caught fish that have not been fully quarantined, you should set up a proactive process for them. This link is where we keep our updated quarantine protocol:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/

I'm not sure what medications you have available to you though.....

 

[larrysaltisfun]

The two people that first responded to you are both very knowledgeable and IMO fish experts. Both of them have given me advice over the past year and a half.

I buy from two different local stores. One keep their salinity at 1.018 so they can be masking disease, even if all the fish look great. The other fish store I buy from keeps their tanks at 1.024 but always has copper and prazipro in them

From The first store I always do my own quarantine. For the second fish store I do observation first but I never put any fish directly into my display tank.

I also buy from Dr reef who pre-quarantines fish.

So I think a lot of it has to do with who you buy from.

With few exceptions the fish medics will recommend you quarantine 100% of everything that has not been quarantined by a reliable online vendor like Dr reef. And even then, some of them think you should do your own quarantining..

Mr. Mojo rising has a lot more experience than I do but in my experience shows a sick fish will break out even if stress-free with great rock work.

You of course will make your own decision, but I listen to Jay Hemdals advice on this subject.

 

[exnisstech]

Having experiencing marine velvet I will never add a fish to my display without a minimum of 45 days in observation. I have 3 tangs that survived that outbreak after I moved them all into copper for treatment and have now been with me for 6,9 and 10 years. I lost more than I saved
Personally I would not skip QT because it's a hassle. A hassle to me is trying to rush a hospital tank set up to treat a tank full of sick fish.
I lost too many fish when I tried medicating every fish I purchased. I'm sure it was something I did but not knowing what I did wrong I decided to switch to observation.
I used it as an excuse to set up another tank I keep a 40g running with 2 small fish and all my new arrivals go in so I can monitor them. I also use the time to condition my new fish to tank life and get them eating foods I feed.
At the end of the day it's a personal decision and we all make our own choice based on our risk tolerance and experience. I don't recommend not to QT just because I don't because not everyone has the ability to be as selective as I can be when I buy fish. I feel that is the most important step to success and not everyone is able to complete that step so QT becomes more important.
I recently had a reefer 300 fail and used the opportunity to upgrade my observation tank. I know have a 40g complete with sump and reef mat. Thanks redsea lol

My observation tank

PS. I introduced velvet when unbeknownst to me I added a fish that was housed in 1.015 salinty and low level copper. 48 hours after acclimating it to 1.025 and adding it my DT it died and others began to follow.

 

[BryanM]

i know it is a good thing to do, but have any long term hobbyists got by without doing it? even if i do decide to quarantine, how would i go about it? just observe or treat with medication? thank you in advance!

I am not a long term hobbyist, but I aim to be - 2 years and running now.

I am not a QT person and have gotten away with it. That said, when I buy fish NOW it is only from a trusted source. Either a place that does the QT, or my local guy that services aquariums.

And I 100% know this is not exactly safe, but it is what I do.

 

[vetteguy53081]

i know it is a good thing to do, but have any long term hobbyists got by without doing it? even if i do decide to quarantine, how would i go about it? just observe or treat with medication? thank you in advance!

Ive taken my chances and my consensus is to QT especially with as many fish as I have in my tank

 

[christinna77]

About 16 months into the hobby and I've already dealt with ich and flukes multiple times. Flukes terrify me the most because the early signs can be so subtle, sometimes for a month or longer, that you'd never notice just watching the fish during feeding. One of mine barely showed any symptoms and looked healthy and ready for the DT, while the other fish in the same tank was on its deathbed. Both had flukes.

I used to be impatient and wanted fish in my DT after two weeks, but not anymore. I've got fish in there now that I'm really attached to and I'm not risking exposing them to any pathogens.

Anyway, my vote is medicated quarantine following the R2R protocol.

 

[RobertK]

I try to buy captive bred fish directly from the breeder, and in those cases I do not quarantine (but I do use an acclimation box to help reduce stress and to make sure it is eating). There are a few members who will tell you they got parasites introduced to their tank this way, but that is what I do.

 

[winxp_man]

To QT or not comes down to the basics of knowledge. If you’re new to this, it’s hard to understand where to buy fish from or what to look for, thus doing much reading from the protocol page here is the way. If you have disease knowledge or buy from trusted sources you might get by just fine, putting fish in your tank.

I will not be surprised, if you don’t QT, but end up with healthy fish.
I will also not be surprised if your back here a few months down the road asking QT questions and how to save your fish.

All LFS’s near I can’t trust so I run my own QT tanks. The protocol from here with a few tweaks that make it easy for my to QT any fish I now get my hands one and have it survive with ease.

My last batch I even got a mandarin goby through QT with ease. This new batch, two wrasses and a coral beauty. No issues. Finished a wild yellow tang QT in between these batches that have more fish. The WYT I did by itself.

In final, you need to make a decision based upon what you think you can come out successful with, with what knowledge you have in the hobby. Have plenty on here talk about no QT and in 50 years has minimal issues. But have also seen more that I can think of in the reef game for 30-40 years get smacked in the face with, what seems to be the common MO, velvet outbreaks! The. They decided to go nuts in QT. I’m the latter part of the group. Used to dump fish in the tank, and velvet stuck and most most of the 27 fish I had. Again you only know what you’re capable of doing.

 

[reefrage]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

If you are buying wild caught fish that have not been fully quarantined, you should set up a proactive process for them. This link is where we keep our updated quarantine protocol:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/

I'm not sure what medications you have available to you though.....

can get most medication, just need to ship it

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I try to buy captive bred fish directly from the breeder, and in those cases I do not quarantine (but I do use an acclimation box to help reduce stress and to make sure it is eating). There are a few members who will tell you they got parasites introduced to their tank this way, but that is what I do.

Captive bred directly from the breeder are virtually always clear of the main protozoan and fluke diseases. The trouble comes in when somebody buys these from a dealer who tanked them with wild caught fish…..