How many folks actually quarantine?

[reddogf5]

Having done both methods, I find QT to be pretty remarkable and I am not a believer that Ich exists in all tanks just waiting for a suppressed immune system. It's a pathogen with a definitive life cycle that can be broken via strict QT and copper.

Had my tank tested last year for parasites, no ich. Did have uronema, so I broke it down and sterilized it (not just because of that, need to fix plumbing and some other things). So I agree that ich does NOT exist in all tanks.

 

[Wizard677]

I previously did not quarantine anything. This past year I had an Ich outbreak. I transferred 14 fish to a hospital tank and treated (a task in itself). I lost a Tomini Tang, Dragonete Scooter Blenny, Coral Beauty, and a Banghai Cardinal. After 76 days fallow and treating with copper and prazi and finally sendning everyone back home.....decided quarantine was the way to go for me, so far it has paid off.

 

[Rewd]

Had my tank tested last year for parasites, no ich. Did have uronema, so I broke it down and sterilized it (not just because of that, need to fix plumbing and some other things). So I agree that ich does NOT exist in all tanks.

I didn't know anyone did tests for parasites! That is pretty cool. How did you go about that?

 

[gbroadbridge]

I am in a reboot after a time away. I have never used a QT system before, I have been at this since the early 90s. I have decided to give QT a try.

I purchased 3 fish two weeks ago and have them coming out of HTTM and going into an observation tank tonight. My thing is, every single reefer I speak to IRL does not quarantine. My mentor does not, his mentor does not. I was in the LFS last week and they asked if I was ready for more fish. I said when I get done with QT for my current batch. The owner mentioned my patience and in talking, he said that to his knowledge, almost none uses QT that purchases fish there. He said his employees and he do not for their personal tanks.

It just go me thinking, who uses quarantine? Do you use it just for fish or everything wet? What method do you use?

Fish ALWAYS.

Corals get a coral dip and H2O2 dip. Snails get a toothbrush scrub.

 

[reddogf5]

I didn't know anyone did tests for parasites! That is pretty cool. How did you go about that?

Aquabiomics, the do a DNA test for parasites in addition to the bacteria survey. Technically it is their tank DNA testing, and identifies eukaryotes so a whole bunch of things that aren't bacteria.

 

[Rewd]

Aquabiomics, the do a DNA test for parasites in addition to the bacteria survey. Technically it is their tank DNA testing, and identifies eukaryotes so a whole bunch of things that aren't bacteria.

Man, all this time in the hobby and I can still learn something new almost every day. Thank you so much! I am going to look in to that

 

[LOONEBIN]

I quarantine all of my fish using the method described on Humble.fish. In my younger reefing days I didn’t quarantine and from time to time would lose fish, mostly due to Ich/velvet. I can honestly say quarantine is the only way to go. Quarantine has allowed me to keep my tank free of Ich, and I credit it with my success in keeping an Achilles Tang.

 

[Jason Kelsey]

I quarantine fish for a minimum of 28 days.
Corals go directly into the tank AFTER I dip in BioAdvanced Insect Killer, and then rinse them off in a Coral RX dip, and then in a fresh saltwater bath. Only then do they see the inside of the tank.

I have lost only a couple of corals, probably from overstress, but I haven't gotten any critters in my display tank that I didn't put there.

I have a bunch of corals arriving in the morning and I just so happened to be planning on using the same dipping method you mentioned but I have a couple questions. Is it safe to go straight from bayer to CoralRX or is there a rinse in between and also, I was thinking about adding an h2o2 dip as well. Better to be safe. I plan on keeping lights off for a day then using acclimation mode to ramp up. What concentration of the bio advanced do you use? Per gallon. Thanks in advance

 

[naterealbig]

Poll didn't have an option for QT fish and inverts but NOT corals.
That's where I'm at.
So far so good but we'll see how that goes as I keep adding more corals (dip only).

The effort is futile if you're QTing fish but not coral. Stages of Ich lifecycle remain on exposed coral skeleton, plugs, bases , and you introduce them to the display if not QTd.

 

[naterealbig]

I quarantine all of my fish using the method described on Humble.fish. In my younger reefing days I didn’t quarantine and from time to time would lose fish, mostly due to Ich/velvet. I can honestly say quarantine is the only way to go. Quarantine has allowed me to keep my tank free of Ich, and I credit it with my success in keeping an Achilles Tang.

Following the Humblefish method as well. 0 disease outbreaks since.

 

[Alexraptor]

I don't, I know I should, but I don't. Even though I've had a tank wiped out from an ich outbreak.

That said, I tend to primarily focus on inverts and corals these days, not so much fish. At the moment I only have one clownfish that's about a decade old now. And all new corals are dipped on arrival and new LR is usually kept in a separate container for observation.

 

[chema]

I quarantine all my fish, and treat them if required.

I quarantine corals if I'm not very sure about the source. I they come from a reputable source and they had been in the distributor tanks for several weeks (what happens most of the times) I do not quarantine them. I think that buying corals from distributors that keep them in their tanks for a few weeks is very useful to get a good idea of what the real colors are.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I have lost fish from all the major parasites. It has made me convinced the only way to go is quarantine.

 

[EricR]

The effort is futile if you're QTing fish but not coral. Stages of Ich lifecycle remain on exposed coral skeleton, plugs, bases , and you introduce them to the display if not QTd.

Understood but I do feel the risk is less with coral than with fish,,, not zero, but less.
*I only keep soft corals but for sure the frag plug is potential source for problems

 

[hunterallen40]

I QT my fish (or purchase QT'd fish if they are a pricey species that has me nervous).

I also QT my corals, as I don't want anything nasty getting to my Achilles. My invert / coral QT system is just my frag tank. My frag tank is set to 80.5°F, and holds only inverts. It's in my basement, while the display is on the first floor of my house. Corals get at least one type of dip, then hang out there for 45 days. After that, they can move to the display.

In fact, I just did this with four acros yesterday! They were definitely living on risduals, but I expect them to color back up soon enough. I have a couple reef hermit crabs that did some damage to them in the frag tank (they sure cleaned the plugs though, what can I say).

This said, it took about a year for my frag tank to be in a state that it can hold my acros, and they definitely don't look good at all coming out of QT. It's important, though, as you never know what else (e.g. red bugs, AEFW, etc) could get in.

 

[naterealbig]

Understood but I do feel the risk is less with coral than with fish,,, not zero, but less.
*I only keep soft corals but for sure the frag plug is potential source for problems

Agreed - definitely less risk

 

[Subliminal]

I don’t quarantine…and I’m just five more weeks I can add clownfish back to my display tank when the brook is gone. Oy

 

[Rugops]

I wouldn't quarantine because I don't have any room to quarantine anything.

 

[mfinn]

The effort is futile if you're QTing fish but not coral. Stages of Ich lifecycle remain on exposed coral skeleton, plugs, bases , and you introduce them to the display if not QTd.

Yeah I found out my strict fish quarantine routine was worthless when I brought velvet to my display tank with a couple new corals. Guy who sold me the corals ( and others) didn't say he was taking the tank down because a velvet outbreak killed most of his fish.

 

[Kathy Floyd]

Yeah I found out my strict fish quarantine routine was worthless when I brought velvet to my display tank with a couple new corals. Guy who sold me the corals ( and others) didn't say he was taking the tank down because a velvet outbreak killed most of his fish.

That's awful!!