Do you actually QT or treat without symptoms?

[Devaji]

I am stocking to tanks right now. one RS 300XL that will be wrasse dom. LPS tank and the other a 200/275 IM that will be a FOWLR angel and butterfly tank.

so I went back in forth for months on if I was going to QT or not to QT.
I am a big fan of paulB method but I am in the middle of the county so not easy access to real live ocean mud rock and other goodies.

I learned about HTTM was going to to that. but I decided to just but my fish pre QTed from a quality vendor i trust. it's added time and $$ but I know my tanks are clean.

added bonus the fish are conditioned to aquarium live. my last order I got a sand sleeping wrasse, norm. they dive right in to the sand and 1-5 days later they come out. this little girl just swam around and eat 1st day. BONUS!

it's all about your risk tolerance.
this is my 1st time in decades going the QT route. so for so good.

 

[esquare]

I am stocking to tanks right now. one RS 300XL that will be wrasse dom. LPS tank and the other a 200/275 IM that will be a FOWLR angel and butterfly tank.

so I went back in forth for months on if I was going to QT or not to QT.
I am a big fan of paulB method but I am in the middle of the county so not easy access to real live ocean mud rock and other goodies.

I learned about HTTM was going to to that. but I decided to just but my fish pre QTed from a quality vendor i trust. it's added time and $$ but I know my tanks are clean.

added bonus the fish are conditioned to aquarium live. my last order I got a sand sleeping wrasse, norm. they dive right in to the sand and 1-5 days later they come out. this little girl just swam around and eat 1st day. BONUS!

it's all about your risk tolerance.
this is my 1st time in decades going the QT route. so for so good.

Who did you decide to go with for pre-qt fish, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Devaji]

Who did you decide to go with for pre-qt fish, if you don't mind me asking?

fishhotel -he does customs orders vs the click and buy of the others.

 

[esquare]

fishhotel -he does customs orders vs the click and buy of the others.

Thanks, I'll have to check it out.

 

[klavmaister]

I whent bazooka on all fish that now are in DT. Experianced ich tvice and had to do a 80 day follow

 

[Formulator]

I have never quarantined a new fish in 8 years of being in this hobby. HOWEVER, the owner of my LFS is a long time family friend and I am very confident in their own quarantine and risk mitigation protocols. I have never seen a sick fish on display at the LFS, and their water is pristine. I have only had one sick fish and it had been in my tank for several years, so not a result of my lack of quarantine.

I know I am playing with fire and many folks may frown on this practice, but it has worked for me. There are some other LFS in my area that if I used, I know I would not be able to get away with this practice.

 

[Jimbo327]

The importance of QT goes up as you continue to stock your tank. QT can be observation or full on with meds. But the risks keeps going up as you have more fish. Brook or Velvet will wipe out all of your fish in DT, or you have to break down your tank to catch all the fishes to get into treatment tanks and fallow DT for 90 days. You are lucky if it is just ich. Especially when you have a bigger tank, it’s not so easy and you have thousands of dollars in fish. Hard to recover.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Find reputable vendor to start, like marine collectors, school of fish, or ocean devotion to name a few. I then place in an observational qt for 6 weeks and only if there are symptoms do I treat. I highly suggest proactively treating is your not sourcing the fish from a vendor who doesn't implement a qt process at the store level.

 

[NeedAReef]

I have followed this for 4 decades.
I don’t treat with anything unless I have good reason to. Plus, in Canada, we are very limited to access the good meds anyways so not much choice.

In all that time I’ve had to treat ick twice.

My QT is glass, saltwater, heater, light, homes.
In 30 days, if there is no sign of anything and eat very well, in they go.

literally same, when I water change I start with emptying some from the qt, then I fill the qt with water from my display. Also I add a UV to my qt.

 

[GARRIGA]

Everyone’s setup is different. What I or another do will never replicate self. At a minimum. QT doesn’t have to equate to medication and perhaps just observation. For which I’m a true believer assuming space available.

Scary knowing ich can transfer tank to tank by hitchhiking on moisture in the air requiring minimum 10 feet separation. No clue how that was determined and not one to succumb to fear mongering but if true best have a separate room to keep life shortly before dropping it in the main display. Say one’s bedroom or guest.

 

[jtf74]

I used to observe 90 days in fallow QT. Treat if necessary. After an ich nightmare from skipping QT (trusted the seller) showed up on a fish after 1 month into my display , and the grief from treating all my fish, any new fish for me going forward are getting treated with copper at the very least.

 

[dochoot]

I have never QT or pretreated but plan to do something as going to order on line fish (rare for me). Reading this thread considering almost all options. Have watched below as well.

How To Quarantine & Steps to Knock Out Saltwater Fish Disease - Fish Health Ep: 6

When it comes to saltwater fish quarantine, aquarists must decide between fish disease eradication vs the more realistic practice of managing fish disease. For the vast majority of us, proper disease management is the goal because complete eradication is just not realistic. The good news is that...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Spare time]

If you ever worked at an LFS, you would never go without quarentining ever again. The amount of disease that goes through the supply chain is immense. Natural immunitiy to a constant bombardment of parasites just isn't what these fish naturally experience in the wild and so its foolish to say that keeping the fish well fed and not stressed will prevent them from getting sick and/or dying. In the wild, if they get a disease like ich, they swim away and may never get it again. However, we trap these fish in boxes where they can't swim away, thus their immune system is not adapted to this scenario.

 

[Paul B]

Scary knowing ich can transfer tank to tank by hitchhiking on moisture in the air requiring minimum 10 feet separation. No clue how that was determined and not one to succumb to fear mongering but if true best have a separate room to keep life shortly before dropping it in the main display. Say one’s bedroom or guest.

I live next to the ocean so I guess I should be afraid on a windy day parasites will fly into my tank.

its foolish to say that keeping the fish well fed and not stressed will prevent them from getting sick and/or dying. In the wild, if they get a disease like ich, they swim away and may never get it again. However, we trap these fish in boxes where they can't swim away, thus their immune system is not adapted to this scenario.

This has only worked in my tank for about 47 or so years so maybe I am just lucky and foolish

 

[Northern Flicker]

It's about risk tolerance. When I ran other people's large tanks full of tangs, butterflies, etc, an ounce of prevention was worth 1000lbs in treatment. This included coral QT. I never once dealt with marine ich, velvet or flukes in customer tanks when I was fully in control of what went into the tank.

At home, it really depends on the tank, but for the most part I at least have an observation period.

Some fish (like Mandarins) need their own plan, something like the Humblefish tank transfer method, because their main food source will not survive chemical treatments.

 

[static416]

We’re trying to do everything right and I swear my family thinks I’m nuts.. they’re like you got an aquarium, for your aquarium?

This is literally what my wife said also when I first setup a QT.

Of course she didn't realize that was only the beginning.

Now have:
- 7 QT tanks
- 2 feeder tanks
- 2 large displays

I have to stop now, because I've run out of room in the house.

 

[esquare]

This is literally what my wife said also when I first setup a QT.

Of course she didn't realize that was only the beginning.

Now have:
- 7 QT tanks
- 2 feeder tanks
- 2 large displays

I have to stop now, because I've run out of room in the house.

That's just crazy talk, get a bigger house!

 

[GARRIGA]

I live next to the ocean so I guess I should be afraid on a windy day parasites will fly into my tank.


This has only worked in my tank for about 47 or so years so maybe I am just lucky and foolish

As I stated. No clue who came up with this or how they came up with it but until I know better it's something I need to concern myself with. Crazy part of this or any other hobby it's often anecdotal and hard to separate that from fact.

 

[dochoot]

My builder said, "I feel like I am building a house around a fish tank". Well, you are!

 

[Suohhen]

IMO any fish added to an established community should be quarantined but the reality is that likely less than 5% of fish are given any sort of QT. I don't know what needs to be done to increase that number but simpler is better.
The real issue is vendor quality varies tremendously. This became blatantly apparent during the pandemic when most stores ran out of fish but the best store in my area carries around 500 fish and they never came close to running low. For them that many fish probably has a 12 month turnover rate in normal times which is a testament in their ability to keep fish healthy. I keep track of CuC survival rates and it is very apparent the difference in survival rates from the best vendors to the worst.