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quar·an·tine
[ˈkwôrənˌtēn]
NOUN
1. a state, period, or place of isolation in which people or animals that have arrived from elsewhere or been exposed to infectious or contagious disease are placed.
I'm glad this was pointed out, because "quarantine" and "prophylactic treatment" are different but I feel many reefers use the term "quarantine" to include both. This muddies the waters sometimes.
^^ This is an excellent point. Not every choice needs to be so extreme. There is always a middle ground. For those who do not like prophylactically using medication on fish and feel the "stress" of a bare bottom QT will kill a fish ..... Why not setup a miniature version of your DT and observe new fish in there?? If the fish looks healthy after 30 days, add him to your DT. If a disease pops up, have a small 10 gal hospital tank on standby to treat. (You can store it in your garage.) Bottom line is you are protecting the fish inhabitants of your DT from infectious diseases. View attachment 934201
This is exactly what I do, and I've had much more success with my 20 gal "permanent" QT than I did with so called "sterile" tanks and prophylactic treatment.
That having been said....
It would be wise for others considering QT /no QT to realize, that years of experience and success cannot be overlooked.
I believe @keithdoc was referring to years of reefing experience in general. I'd like to point out that, like anything else in life, successfully using potent medications in quarantine requires experience and expertise that you can't get from a website. Folks like @Humblefish have years, if not decades, of experience and can medicate and cure sick fish as a matter of course. People like me, with 2 1/2 years reefing experience, might kill lots of fish that way. (And believe me, I have).
To make an analogy, would I give one my junior nursing students a cardiac medication and a sick patient and say "Oh hey! You looked it up in the drug reference book, you're good. Nurse on". Of course not. Why would anyone expect a brand new reefer with zero experience to use fish medications any more safely or effectively?
There are many aspects to reefing experience. The value of expertise in competently treating sick (or healthy) fish is overlooked in this thread.
ETA: @Paul B, I hope your knee feels better. Sincerely, this VA RN.