Starting to QT on a tank that already has fish?

[Afarouki]

So basically I’m new to the hobby, and have a 65 gal with 2 clowns and and Royal Gramma currently inside. No corals, but a few snails and hermit crabs.

I introduced the clowns (25 days ago) and Gramma (4 days ago) without QT.


Im assuming, since I didn’t QT, even though they all look healthy, its possible they carry some pests or diseases that just haven’t become a problem.

QT-ing new fish might be useless because current fish in my DT likely have illnesses, right?


Should I remove the fish in the DT, treat them, and have the DT go fallow?

Or should I carry on, and just start QT-ing incoming fish

 

[KrisReef]

I don't know, but if they are indoors in California they need to be waring a mask now.

The purpose of preventitive medicine is to prevent diseases. If your fish are not showing signs of disease the best "mask" you can provide them is good nutrition, ime. Live foods, fresh chopped clams, along with frozen and dry foods with a resonable variety of food items is sometimes said to be the best method of keeping healthy people and their pets healthy. Fewer "happy meals" and more nutritious food has a good chance of keeping them happy.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

To answer your question, yes its VERY possible for the fish to have parasites since they weren't QT. You can closely monitor for the next 8 weeks for strange behavior. i.e. scratching, excessive yawning, heavy breathing, flashing, lack of appetite, lethargy, etc. Keep a close eye for salt like grains or light dusting on the body, as well as coloring of the fish. A stressed fish color will fade and this is not a good sign.

I always QT because I had an ich outbreak and went through the whole process of medicating in a QT and running my system fallow for 12 weeks, but now I have peace of mind that my tank is parasite free. The issue with these parasites is they sometimes don't show until weeks or even months down the road when the fish becomes stressed.

 

[jmichaelh7]

You can:

1) Run copper in display and kill inverts at the same time.
2) Run fallow 76 days, or 45 at 81 degrees Pull your fish and run copper in quarantine tank for 30 days. Then run prazi 2 weeks after.

3) Run ich management forever. Meaning get a UV and feed healthy. Cause low stress, and don’t pack your tank that will stress them out

I would personally #2. Because I just finished 30 days copper power treatment and have 15 days fallow left at 45 degrees

 

[ylreefer]

Everyone has different options on QT. some say it causes more harm than good, some swear by it, and some just play the lottery.

I myself have learnt the hard way that QT is 100% worth the effort if done properly. And without going into all of the obvious bits by properly I mean more or less not cross contaminating the QT tank with any other tank.

personally if I were in your shoes right now I would just monitor all your fish for any signs of stress or visible parasites. At which point yes all the fish would have to be removed and treated. But removing potentially healthy fish and putting them into a temp (likely smaller) QT tank will cause undue stress and possibly bring on issues that you might well not have now.

do keep a close eye on them for the next 2 weeks though. Try to spend 15 min a day just inspecting them as they swim about. Watch for abnormal movements or marks on the body.

hopefully they are all clear.
I’d definitely QT all future incoming fish though.