Who doesn't quarantine???

[99taws6]

Ok here is my questions:

Who here does not use a quarantine tank for new livestock?

How do you deal with disease such as ich or velvet if our fish develop it?

Would you have a quarantine tank if money and space were not a problem?

Thanks

 

[cdness]

I don't...Figure out how to treat it...Maybe, but they are a PITA to maintain...I used to QT, now I just verify the fish is healthy. I don't have the room to set up another full tank for QT. I do have hospital tanks, but they are only set up when needed. QT is the best way to control disease and pests, but it isn't something everyone can do. However I do dip all my corals before they enter the tank so that covers a little pest control.

 

[el richie]

Never qt'd any fish. Corals just get a dip and in they go. If a fish develops ich I use the seachem ich cocktail and that's what has worked for me

 

[btkrausen]

I didn't quarantine until I lost $100's, probably $1000s worth of fish from a single fish coming in that had ich.

Now I run a 40B tank in the garage as a complete setup with skimmer and MP10 as a Q tank. Have three fish in it now.

 

[Birdee]

I once added a fish that looked perfectly healthy and clean without QT. It WASN'T! And I got ich in my tank. A tank that had been disease free for over 6 years.

Now, I didn't lose any fish to the outbreak, but tearing the whole tank down (65gal hex) to get the fish out and into a hospital was a huge pain.
From now on I'll always QT, and keep a hospital/QT up and running. I don't do "big" fish so for me this means a 20L... but even if I needed a larger tank like a standard 55gal. I would find a place for it. A QT/Hospital in not a complicated thing. It needs a biofilter (maybe a skimmer if you are going to load it up)...that's IT imo. Mine also contains some pipe pieces for hidey holes, a bit of extra sand which is VERY thin, and some extra macro I've thrown in there.

I'm not willing to risk the time and energy it takes to UNDO that mistake, and I'm kind of attached to my very first fish purchases (a pair of O. clowns and a YWG who are nearly 8yrs). It would really suck to kill them because I'm impatient. I left my guys in the QT/hospital for 2 months to be sure there is NO WAY that there are more problems.
I've got a tiny little C. argi in QT right now, and it will remain there until Christmas or the new year.

 

[99taws6]

Ok well that being said I have a 30gallon cube right now with a valentini puffer, watchman goby/pistol pair, lawnmower blenny, red flame hawk and a pair of o. Clowns. I also have an anemone, flower pot coral and lr/ls. I lost a foxface and a coral beauty to ich. The stress was a Niger trigger who has been removed.

I only have a 12 gallon nano tank that would be used as a QT tank. It has no filter other than a mj900 and a sponge. I also have a pair of koralia nanos I could use.

Would the snails/crabs/conch be ok in the 30 for the 8 weeks to let the ich die? Would the other fish be ok in the 12 to treat with copper or hyposalinity?

 

[btkrausen]

Copper/Hypo will kill inverts. However, you can leave in fallow for 9-10 weeks and let ich die naturally. Thats what I did in my display just recently.

 

[btkrausen]

FWIW, I probably won't quarantine fish from LADD, but only from DD since they take such great care of their fish.

 

[Birdee]

I would NOT put ALL those fish in a 12g....
You've got as many fish in your 30 as I have in my 65 that is running a 150 rated skimmer.
A Niger or a Foxface ever in a 30 baffles me. But, anyway...

The crabs and snails will be fine alone.
A 20L could be snagged for about $20 if you look around.
And IMO for a hospital/qt you can use a simple HOB for the filter (no carbon in the cart of course). But as a newly set up tank I'd watch it closely for water params. Mine is well established so I never have to worry. (One of the reasons to keep a QT running, it's always ready when you need it.)

For copper treatment I recommend Cuprimine. Remove all fish from reef and treat in QT, leave main tank empty of fish for a couple of months to be sure the ich has all died away due to lack of host.

 

[99taws6]

So I can let the inverts fallow for the 8-10 weeks in my DT just like a reef without the fish? Can I add corals?

Would the fish (all less than 3") be ok in the 12 if I keep up with say daily 2-3gallon water changes?

 

[99taws6]

The 30 is just temporary until we move or get our other tank set up. I've had larger tanks in the past and I guess I've gotten "lucky" and not gotten ich or anything bad. I've had morish idols, various Tangs and such.

These fish are all tiny but you still think I need to pick up a 20 or 29 to be on the safe side?

 

[btkrausen]

I'd rather spend the money and time/effort in quaranting fish rather than kill innocent fish in your display from a sick fish. Plus, putting the new fish in the Q tank allows you to watch him closely for disease.

Quarantine tanks are also supposed to be a stress free environment, a place for fish to calm down after being shipped halfway across the US/World and a great place to get them acclimated to prepared foods, if not already.

 

[99taws6]

Also,

If you have a totally ich and disease free tank and you introduce an aggressive bully who has also been quarantined and disease free do you all believe that the new stress will cause disease to break out in the older fish or is that impossible as you believe you have a disease free tank?

Reading seams to be mixed as to whether tanks are ever disease free or not. That is why I am asking.

 

[boehm742]

I haven't quarantined any of my fish. But then again i only buy from BlueZoo and LA. I have trusted them to stock my 180 and all the fish were healthy. Call it good luck or what you want but they havent dissapointed me. Having said that now that the tank is stocked and complete my next quest is to set up my old BC for this exact purpose. I wouldnt wanna harm any of my stocked 180s inhabitants.

 

[btkrausen]

People swear that there is no such thing as a disease free tank, but if you quarantine everything, treat fish before going in, etc, then there can't be a way of ich magically appearing. However, I've read threads to where ich can lie dormant for months and months, so its hard to say.

Inducing stress to tank mates will indeed make them more vulnerable to diseases if they are present.

 

[99taws6]

I don't see how corals and such don't need to be quarantined then if the water can be host to the parasites and disease. I'm really confused on this whole subject and really wishing I would have never started reading. Lol

 

[btkrausen]

You are correct. Anything wet could potentially be carrying ich or any other parasites, although the likelihood is probably very low.

Quarantine your fish.....dip your corals....almost the best you can do without really going overboard.

 

[Aquaph8]

Look at it as more than just for disease prevention. QT has many advantages. Fish travel a great distance to get to your house. They are starved, left in less than ideal water and bounced around all the way. A stress free environment to regain strength before going into a tank full of competition is just what they need.

 

[lhemphill]

Copper/Hypo will kill inverts. However, you can leave in fallow for 9-10 weeks and let ich die naturally. Thats what I did in my display just recently.

When you say 9-10 weeks do you mean without any fish but leave water and pumps running?

 

[lhemphill]

I would NOT put ALL those fish in a 12g....
You've got as many fish in your 30 as I have in my 65 that is running a 150 rated skimmer.
A Niger or a Foxface ever in a 30 baffles me. But, anyway...

The crabs and snails will be fine alone.
A 20L could be snagged for about $20 if you look around.
And IMO for a hospital/qt you can use a simple HOB for the filter (no carbon in the cart of course). But as a newly set up tank I'd watch it closely for water params. Mine is well established so I never have to worry. (One of the reasons to keep a QT running, it's always ready when you need it.)

For copper treatment I recommend Cuprimine. Remove all fish from reef and treat in QT, leave main tank empty of fish for a couple of months to be sure the ich has all died away due to lack of host.

Hey Birdee, I just put water im my qt tank tonight. I have a AquaClear 30 that I am running with a sponge, Carbon, and Bio rings. I read what you said about not using carbon, why is that?

My plan was to make it a functioning 10g tank: LR, LS, and some snails and such. I cannot seem to settle on whether this is a waste of time, but my only place for the qt tank is on my counter-Just cleared out my FW setup to free up the tank. I put 20lbs of LS-new, and a rock from my 60g diplay. Originally I was thinking about putting a few very small passive fish to keep up the bio load. Any thoughts from anyone?