The Other Way to Run a Reef Tank (no Quarantine)

[fishybizzness]

I apologize but...
There is no science in this article. Lot's of conclusions that have no facts to support them. Annectodal accounts do not make good science.
This is a perfect way to kill the hobby. The high mortality of fish is the best evidence that the collection, even sustainable, of ornamental fish should be banned. This was the argument used in Hawaii. Encouraging people to be irresponsible is not helpful.

I am currently going the route of not quarantining. I would 100% quarantine if any science or common practice was proving that it was more effective than parasite management. I have grown tired of reading posts of loss of fish during the quarantine process. I'm not aware of any studies that have been done comparing quarantine vs not quarantining and the average losses of each method. I am feeding natural food, using uv and ozone and hoping for the best. I do regular water changes as well as only adding visually healthy fish. I would be more devastated by quarantining fish, going through a fallow period and adding fish after all that and getting parasites as I have read about many times than losing a few fish during the process of building their immunity. Imho.

 

[fishybizzness]

I sense a bit of baloney here as the old tank never made it to the new place. The fish and corals are now in a brand new tank that is cleverly disguised to look like the old tank.



View attachment 934331

So if I have a tank for 10 years and it starts leaking and I take everything out and buy a new tank and put everything in the new tank,my tank is brand new?? I don't get it...

 

[Paul B]

I don't either.

 

[Mortie31]

So if I have a tank for 10 years and it starts leaking and I take everything out and buy a new tank and put everything in the new tank,my tank is brand new?? I don't get it...

It’s a very strange, irrelevant comment

 

[fishybizzness]

It’s a very strange, irrelevant comment

Imho, it is very relevant. Please explain how it is strange, you lost me on that one.

 

[fishybizzness]

My comment was made in response to a statement made that by Paul purchasing a new tank and putting all his aquarium contents,( rock , substrate, fish etc) into the new tank makes it a whole new tank.

 

[Bradley Keck]

I have to apologize if I am not my usual jovial self and my comments may reflect that. I am in rather heavy pain where I would climb the walls but my wife would go nuts over the footprints. I ran out of narcotics a week ago and Tylenol is great for eyelash, Snowflake, Girly Man pain but this hunk of Titanium or aluminum in my knee feels like it wants to get out and I would like to let it. Even my fish are hiding from me. Yes, even the 27 year old non quarantined ones that I so irresponsibly threw into my tank because I am so lazy. They hate me for that and really wanted to be dipped in tree stump remover, then Prizapro then put in a PVC elbow for three months and they really hated not to be included on the disease forum

I was thinking of painting some black ich spots on my 10 year old copperband because I can't paint white spots. At least he would feel like I love him and don't want him to croak.
I am in so much pain now that I may set up a quarantine tank just to see how long my fish could live in there. I will have my great friend Humblefish come over to set it up for me. I am secretly trying to get him to move near here so he can take care of my fish for me when I am out buying quarantine tanks and Prizapro which I use to make chicken soup.
OK why don't we list our quarantined fish and how old they are. How about that. Any 20 year olds, how about 15, OK 8.

It's time for another Tylenol so just ignore this post because I have no idea what I just wrote.

Here I am watching my copperband swim around my boat for a little vacation.

How old is the TKA? Swelling? Shifting, popping, giving out at all? I have worked with several people in the past who had fairly severe pain in operated knee and something was indeed wrong with the hardware, rejecting the metal, or infection.

 

[Mortie31]

Imho, it is very relevant. Please explain how it is strange, you lost me on that one.

Please explain how changing the tank effects anything? A glass box won’t last for ever, the methodology and most of the inhbitants, sand, rock remained the same. I’ve transfered live rock through 3 different systems over the last 14 years, is the rock only as new as the last move? Sorry some confusion here I was agreeing with you over land sharks stupid comments...

 

[fishybizzness]

Please explain how changing the tank effects anything? A glass box won’t last for ever, the methodology and most of the inhbitants, sand, rock remained the same. I’ve transfered live rock through 3 different systems over the last 14 years, is the rock only as new as the last move? Sorry some confusion here I was agreeing with you over land sharks stupid comments...

I think we are on the same page. It may have just been a misunderstanding of what I wrote. The point I was making is the same as you are stating. I agree that changing the glass box is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, it's the contents that are important.

 

[Vahanyos]

Guess I've been doing it "right" this whole time I've never had a QT

 

[User1]

I know I keep asking but I am still curious. How many "old" tanks do we have that were quarantined where everything was quarantined and the fish are spawning and dying only of old age with no disease? The hobby has been in the US for 47 years. Where are all the old tanks that are quarantined.

I'm not sure it is fair to use this has an example. Well, let me redact the fair comment. What I mean to say that I'm not sure this is the right question to be asking because there are many factors that will vary the response you get. How do we measure success after all - it is a lot like how do we measure a planet... I hear what you are asking though.

Is success having spawning fish? Spawning corals? Combination of both? Fish dying of old age? What is old age? Or is it all of that and a minimum number of year successfully running a tank without a crash? There is that success word again. I mean is it just having a tank without catastrophic issues year after year? Anything over 1 seems like a good deal then because, well, not everyone has been in the hobby for the same amount of time, right?

Heck I've only been in the hobby since 2000 but I did lose a tank while on vacation. Proper planning with neighbors I trusted or hiring someone possibly could have helped. But then again corporate corruption and California's political ineptness during the summer Enron linked blackouts isn't a recipe for success either. So in my case, as an example, I only have a string of 7 years after that mess.

But to me that is success because it is all I got at the moment.

Edit: I don't QT. I see value in aspects of it though. I do, however, do fresh water dips/baths in Methylene Blue following Mr. Fenners guide with new fish.

 

[Thales]

This one is 3 minutes ago.

This tank ran for 5 years in one house, then I moved and it was in the second house for 42 years, then 5 months ago I put it all in vats and moved it here to my hew house.

Thanks!

 

[Mortie31]

I’d like to make a suggestion, I believe all of us reading this thread truly want/ believe we’re doing the best for our fish, how about we set up another thread and guide every one towards it to report all fish deaths, be that in tank or quarantine and for whatever reason, was the fish quarantined or not? I’m not sure the best way to do this or whether it would produce any meaningful results or the best criteria, but it might contribute towards the knowledge base, also if the time scales could some how be incorporated, how long in tank/ quarantined etc etc. Thoughts chaps @Humblefish @4FordFamily @Paul B @Kmsutows

 

[fishybizzness]

I’d like to make a suggestion, I believe all of us reading this thread truly want/ believe we’re doing the best for our fish, how about we set up another thread and guide every one towards it to report all fish deaths, be that in tank or quarantine and for whatever reason, was the fish quarantined or not? I’m not sure the best way to do this or whether it would produce any meaningful results or the best criteria, but it might contribute towards the knowledge base, also if the time scales could some how be incorporated, how long in tank/ quarantined etc etc. Thoughts chaps @Humblefish @4FordFamily @Paul B @Kmsutows

Excellent idea! The info collected would be very interesting to see for both sides of the discussion.

 

[fishybizzness]

Knowledge is power!

 

[Mortie31]

I’d like to make a suggestion, I believe all of us reading this thread truly want/ believe we’re doing the best for our fish, how about we set up another thread and guide every one towards it to report all fish deaths, be that in tank or quarantine and for whatever reason, was the fish quarantined or not? I’m not sure the best way to do this or whether it would produce any meaningful results or the best criteria, but it might contribute towards the knowledge base, also if the time scales could some how be incorporated, how long in tank/ quarantined etc etc. Thoughts chaps @Humblefish @4FordFamily @Paul B @Kmsutows

Sorry scrub this... it actually doesn’t address the main point which should be what makes fish live longer, Maybe we need to add another section for proavable fish longevity, but don’t see how that’s possible

 

[Paul B]

How old is the TKA?

I don't know, whats a TKE? If it's the knee, about 3 weeks.

Guess I've been doing it "right" this whole time I've never had a QT

You must be like me, Lazy and In competent, in coherent, impassioned, incomprehensible, Intollerable, I forgot the word. Still in pain.

Saf1. As I said success means having all your fish die of nothing but old age. I think the fish would agree. There are 30 users on this thread right now so I guess none of them have an old quarantined tank and thousands on the site. But I have not heard one that has an old quarantined tank. There should be somebody with an old tank, if not, we are killing an aweful lot of fish.

What is happening to all those fish in quarantined tanks? Where are they? I mean, not one!
How about all the people argueing with me here with quarantined tanks. How old are their fish and do they die of old age. I mentioned the presumed age of fish.
If your fish die from disease you are not successful. Sorry.

Maybe we need to add another section for proavable fish longevity, but don’t see how that’s possible

I won't live long enough because most of our fish live longer than I will

 

[Vahanyos]

I've been successful with no QT because I genuinely care for the fish I put in my tank, unlike some reefers I see that only chase after the coral, etc... I make sure to keep my fish well fed, try to provide for them things they need (hiding spots, cool aqua scape, etc..) so they can thrive and not suffer. I probably have ich in my tank right now, because i've seen some of my fish with a small white dot here and there, but it's only for a very brief moment and it won't appear again in weeks even months. When it does show signs, I take that as a sign that I am doing something wrong and the fish is just unhappy with his home.

Keep your fish well fed, good diet, and accommodate their needs and I don't think a QT is absolutely necessary...

 

[Brian Kennedy]

You caught me. Here is the original tank in 1971. It was kind of scratched so I polished and stretched it.

Paul, I'm very interested in your Tank stretching method. I would never have ordered a new 120g had I known stretching was an option.

 

[PanchoG]

I have to apologize if I am not my usual jovial self and my comments may reflect that. I am in rather heavy pain where I would climb the walls but my wife would go nuts over the footprints. I ran out of narcotics a week ago and Tylenol is great for eyelash, Snowflake, Girly Man pain but this hunk of Titanium or aluminum in my knee feels like it wants to get out and I would like to let it. Even my fish are hiding from me. Yes, even the 27 year old non quarantined ones that I so irresponsibly threw into my tank because I am so lazy. They hate me for that and really wanted to be dipped in tree stump remover, then Prizapro then put in a PVC elbow for three months and they really hated not to be included on the disease forum

I was thinking of painting some black ich spots on my 10 year old copperband because I can't paint white spots. At least he would feel like I love him and don't want him to croak.
I am in so much pain now that I may set up a quarantine tank just to see how long my fish could live in there. I will have my great friend Humblefish come over to set it up for me. I am secretly trying to get him to move near here so he can take care of my fish for me when I am out buying quarantine tanks and Prizapro which I use to make chicken soup.
OK why don't we list our quarantined fish and how old they are. How about that. Any 20 year olds, how about 15, OK 8.

It's time for another Tylenol so just ignore this post because I have no idea what I just wrote.

Here I am watching my copperband swim around my boat for a little vacation.

Keep it up @Paul B!

I will send you a Tequila bottle to make you forget the pain... hahaha