Why I hate quarantine...

fishboy15 · Jun 20, 2015

I think it's a hit or miss on qt because if the fish aren't sick and you put them into a smaller tank for a while with no hiding places or much room to swim and then you net them, move them again? I think that's a lot more stress along wit adding copper and such or the tank transfer method. It's really a hit or miss, if the fish look healthy then I think you should add them to the display tank. If they are eating great and swimming great then I would see no reason to qt and stress them out

bumperbeetle · Jun 20, 2015

All this talk about QT tanks is awesome, very informative and helpful. My question (as I myself don't have a qt, but want to get one before I stock my new tank) is what is needed/required vs. what is wanted/optional for a qt setup? I stocked my first tank with out QT, I went for those fish who were in the lfs for a while with the philosophy that they must be healthy if they are still alive after 2-3wks and I always buy from the same guy, he has earned that trust because he has been brutally honest with me, not many lfs's will do that. He is all about earning repeat business by honesty and education rather than bottom line and profit. I check all my levels every 5 days and am constantly doing visuals. Yes...Im even one of those folks who has names for all my fish! I have an orangeshoulder tang, coral beauty, flame angel, 3 blue chromis and two O. Clowns....in my first tank, all super happy and healthy and are all original to the tank. I will be moving my tang to my new (larger) tank in about a month as he has outgrown his current tank. Should he be QT'd before I introduce to the new tank? Thanks so much!

Paul B · Jun 20, 2015

This morning a friend of mine called me because he is getting married and is moving away. He gave me his fish, some rocks, corals and a bunch of hermit crabs. I just dumped it all in my reef. Am I bad? :rolleyes:

rlman41299 · Jun 20, 2015

With a number of lfs around my area, only 2 of them is open that they have ich in their system. One if them advised me not to grab a fish on one of their system for they are treating all fish in that system with ich. The other lfs said all fish stores have ich for they can't afford a dedicated qt system that can hold livestock for 6-8weeks at a time and they will lose money if they do for they can't have the turnover of livestock yo generate profit so he advices anyone who ask to have a dedicated qt system.
One lfs I asked if they have ich in their system straight up told me they don't for they medicate their system lol.
I too have suffered with marine velvet and wiped out my system. I am starting over again and have put up 2 30g qt system

mmnich · Jun 20, 2015

Some fish can live quite well with ich when not too stressed. Others, not so much. So you may put a fish with ich and no symptoms in a tank with other fish that are not so tolerant and bam! You got a sick tank. Quarantine!

Lynn52 · Jun 20, 2015

bumperbeetle said:
All this talk about QT tanks is awesome, very informative and helpful. My question (as I myself don't have a qt, but want to get one before I stock my new tank) is what is needed/required vs. what is wanted/optional for a qt setup? I stocked my first tank with out QT, I went for those fish who were in the lfs for a while with the philosophy that they must be healthy if they are still alive after 2-3wks and I always buy from the same guy, he has earned that trust because he has been brutally honest with me, not many lfs's will do that. He is all about earning repeat business by honesty and education rather than bottom line and profit. I check all my levels every 5 days and am constantly doing visuals. Yes...Im even one of those folks who has names for all my fish! I have an orangeshoulder tang, coral beauty, flame angel, 3 blue chromis and two O. Clowns....in my first tank, all super happy and healthy and are all original to the tank. I will be moving my tang to my new (larger) tank in about a month as he has outgrown his current tank. Should he be QT'd before I introduce to the new tank? Thanks so much!

My QT is a 20 gallon tank I bought at petco's dollar a gallon sale. It is bare bottomed. I have a HOB filter and skimmer, a couple power heads and a cheap chinese LED on it. Inside I have some PVC pipe and a plastic castle (my granddaughters choice). I keep it up all the time but probably won't once my DT is fully stocked. It sits in my living room where I can see any unusual behavior or appearance. It is bare minimum but does the job.

Longnose Hawkfish · Jun 20, 2015

Always thought QT was not necessary and I could get away without doing it. Boy was I wrong. I was never worried about getting ich because I've heard that with good care the fish can fight it off. (even though it still is in your tank) Well I ended up getting flukes in my tank and went from something around 10 fish down to 5 before I realized what I had got. Treated with prazi in tank for a couple weeks and flukes were gone. I was happy to save half. Week later my tang starts looking weird. A couple days later the symptoms appear to be intestinal parasites. Treat with seachem metroplex but couldn't save the tang. Now I went from a fully stocked tank down to four fish all cause I didn't QT. I actually have three now but I think the one that died was a freak incident because there were no symptoms and he ate all the way until his death. I am buying a 20 gallon long today to get ready to start QT for some new fish. I will always QT from now on. Learned my lesson and it was horrible.

philfree · Jun 20, 2015

I never QT. Never lost any fish due to disease. Never lost a coral or invert.
The only pest that has stowed away was a small aiptasia. Wasnt apparent when i first got it. Perhaps had i QT, i would have seen in come out before adding to display. So, i suppose the "consequence" spectrum is wide, and varies.

Daniel@R2R · Jun 20, 2015

philfree said:
I never QT. Never lost any fish due to disease. Never lost a coral or invert.
The only pest that has stowed away was a small aiptasia. Wasnt apparent when i first got it. Perhaps had i QT, i would have seen in come out before adding to display. So, i suppose the "consequence" spectrum is wide, and varies.

It's ultimately Russian Roulette everytime. You might continue to get lucky, but if you read my story, you know I was lucky too...until I wasn't. I won't risk it again.

Longnose Hawkfish · Jun 20, 2015

philfree said:
I never QT. Never lost any fish due to disease. Never lost a coral or invert.
The only pest that has stowed away was a small aiptasia. Wasnt apparent when i first got it. Perhaps had i QT, i would have seen in come out before adding to display. So, i suppose the "consequence" spectrum is wide, and varies.

That's what I thought too. My old 65 gallon never had any problems without QT. My biocube no problems without QT. My 93 fine for almost the whole time except when I added a firefish as the last fish. I went through probably 20 fish before I ran out of luck and it is horrible once it happens.

bumperbeetle · Jun 21, 2015

Lynn52 said:
My QT is a 20 gallon tank I bought at petco's dollar a gallon sale. It is bare bottomed. I have a HOB filter and skimmer, a couple power heads and a cheap chinese LED on it. Inside I have some PVC pipe and a plastic castle (my granddaughters choice). I keep it up all the time but probably won't once my DT is fully stocked. It sits in my living room where I can see any unusual behavior or appearance. It is bare minimum but does the job.

Thank you Lynn52!

Daniel@R2R · Apr 16, 2026

Just got to thinking about this thread again today. I remember the story that led me to this point. Man, that was a bad day.

Freenow54 · Apr 16, 2026

Daniel@R2R said:
I just ordered a new batch of fish to add to my 180, and it got me to thinking about the good old days...before I started quarantining my fish... I got to thinking about why I hate quarantining so much...

I hate it because I'm not patient. Let's face it...who wants to watch them swim around in pvc fixtures and a tank that's occupying space that is out of place (I don't have a place to keep a qt setup all the time...how I envy those of you with fish rooms...so every time I buy new fish, out comes the equipment...). A proper qt requires weeks of observation for disease or parasites, but it also involves the task of getting the new guys eating whatever you serve your display so that when they go in there, they're already used to your husbandry.

I hate it because it means work. There's the doubling of most husbandry tasks bc if we are to properly qt, then feedings, water changes, etc. get done on your qt as well as the display. Additionally, checking levels becomes a mandatory task throughout the procedure, and your checking levels that are not usually necessary to check in your display unless there's a problem (ammonia, nitrites, ph, etc.). If you discover a disease or some kind of problem, then you've got the added issue of medication. So qt involves work...

I hate it because it's absolutely necessary. In my reminiscing, I remember the way I learned this lesson... As an impulsive, overly anxious reefer, I made the mistake of not quarantining new additions. Sometimes I got away with it, but in the end, not quarantining cost me most of the fish in my tank. About two years ago, I lost 16 fish in less than 2 weeks bc I introduced a sick wrasse into my system (he looked healthy during acclimation...don't trust it...). One by one, my previous livestock reaped the consequences of my foolish, impulsive mistake. It wiped everything out. So, despite the frustration that may be involved. Despite the fact that we're all impatient, and all of us want to see that new fish in the display, please learn from another's mistake and always quarantine...I know I will.

Luckily this is not during Covid or I would have considered drinking Clorox Bleach

Freenow54 · Apr 16, 2026

Daniel@R2R said:
I just ordered a new batch of fish to add to my 180, and it got me to thinking about the good old days...before I started quarantining my fish... I got to thinking about why I hate quarantining so much...

I hate it because I'm not patient. Let's face it...who wants to watch them swim around in pvc fixtures and a tank that's occupying space that is out of place (I don't have a place to keep a qt setup all the time...how I envy those of you with fish rooms...so every time I buy new fish, out comes the equipment...). A proper qt requires weeks of observation for disease or parasites, but it also involves the task of getting the new guys eating whatever you serve your display so that when they go in there, they're already used to your husbandry.

I hate it because it means work. There's the doubling of most husbandry tasks bc if we are to properly qt, then feedings, water changes, etc. get done on your qt as well as the display. Additionally, checking levels becomes a mandatory task throughout the procedure, and your checking levels that are not usually necessary to check in your display unless there's a problem (ammonia, nitrites, ph, etc.). If you discover a disease or some kind of problem, then you've got the added issue of medication. So qt involves work...

I hate it because it's absolutely necessary. In my reminiscing, I remember the way I learned this lesson... As an impulsive, overly anxious reefer, I made the mistake of not quarantining new additions. Sometimes I got away with it, but in the end, not quarantining cost me most of the fish in my tank. About two years ago, I lost 16 fish in less than 2 weeks bc I introduced a sick wrasse into my system (he looked healthy during acclimation...don't trust it...). One by one, my previous livestock reaped the consequences of my foolish, impulsive mistake. It wiped everything out. So, despite the frustration that may be involved. Despite the fact that we're all impatient, and all of us want to see that new fish in the display, please learn from another's mistake and always quarantine...I know I will.

Seriously though I have a hard time with this right now . I want to introduce more fish but dont want that exact occurrence . I cannot get Paul Mr. anti QT to tell me about the final decision making in is method . The fact remains I stink at it and am so fear full of killing fish in QT as I have done and don't know why that I do not know where to turn

mfinn · Apr 16, 2026

I used to quarantine all fish ( after my first disaster, about 4 years into the hobby) . I had minimal losses. Mostly with wrasses. They are difficult shippers.
Now with Dr Reef, I put away the quarantine equipment away.

exnisstech · Apr 16, 2026

@Freenow54
I do an extended observation without medication after killing too many fish in medicated QT. I keep a tank running with live rock and some coral for observation and fish stay in for a minimum of 30 days or as long as needed to train to eat or grow out.

BryanM · Apr 16, 2026

I have rolled the dice and gotten lucky, and do not QT fish, but I am also very hesitant to add any more due to this fact.

vittpsu21 · Apr 16, 2026

I always feel bad when I take them out of qt and move them to the display when they are doing well.. like I’m ruining their happy setup, idk I’m weird.

I also am the worlds worst fish catcher so I absolutely despise transfer day…

Paul B · Apr 17, 2026

Freenow54 said:
I cannot get Paul Mr. anti QT to tell me about the final decision making in is method .

what decision in the final method?

Freenow54 · Apr 17, 2026

Paul B said:
what decision in the final method?

When you buy them at the store you have all sorts of things you do first . But what I haven't been able to get you to understand maybe because I am not explaining myself properly . Say I am getting a cold . It usually starts with just an irritating throat but I am not showing any visible symptoms yet but if I kiss my wife I will pass it on to her. After a week say then I have a runny nose swollen eyes ect. How can you tell a fish isn't just in the beginning stages of a disease and not showing symptoms .Or are there small signs ?