Do you quarantine livestock?

[crissie]

Having browsed through a few of the sub-forums today, I've noticed there's a huge variation on whether or not people quarantine their livestock and how long for.

So, do you quarantine all, some or none of your livestock, and why do you choose to do it that way?

Personally I quarantine everything for at least 4 weeks (some times as long as 6) before adding to my main tank. Basically because I don't want any parasites/infections/hitchhikers causing issues to everything else.

 

[billsreef]

In a word, YES. Simply put, the old adage an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

 

[das75]

no and I got ich.

Ich is bad enough but there's also lots of other things that can take down a tank. Anything wet should go through a QT.

 

[mattnano]

YES YES YES

my first 6 fish went in with zero problems and were healthy and eating happily. Introduced one last night and BOOM ICH! Caught it fast and no one perished but
I am in the middle of Hypo and all fish have been ich free for 1 week so only 4-5 more and I am home free. Lesson leaned ALWAYS QT. Now this is just me but not only am I only going to QT... When I am done my tank will be completly Ich free so I plan to QT and hypo and new addidions for at least 5 weeks so I never intrduce Ich back into the tank. Lots of public Aquariums do this on a much larger scale... makes sense right?

 

[crissie]

It does make sense.

It surprises me though, how many people only quarantine because they got Ich, rather than having always quarantined from the beginning.

 

[mattnano]

It does make sense.

It surprises me though, how many people only quarantine because they got Ich, rather than having always quarantined from the beginning.

Agreed. I think it comes down to a false sense of confidence and lack of knowledge. I will be the first to admit I should have put every fish through QT. I hope others can learn from my mistakes, that is why I replied to a threat that is basically asking a question.

 

[degibson84]

My current fish weren't quarantined. All very healthy.

Every fish I have ever tried in a qt first died of unknown reasons. So for me no. Until I can figure out a way to qt without deaths

 

[crissie]

Agreed. I think it comes down to a false sense of confidence and lack of knowledge. I will be the first to admit I should have put every fish through QT. I hope others can learn from my mistakes, that is why I replied to a threat that is basically asking a question.

That's a very good way to look at it!

 

[crissie]

My current fish weren't quarantined. All very healthy.

Every fish I have ever tried in a qt first died of unknown reasons. So for me no. Until I can figure out a way to qt without deaths

Perhaps being quarantined was overly stressful for them?

I know some people disagree and use a bare tank, but I think the use of some live rock so fish can hide is often helpful.

 

[mattnano]

Do some research on hypo QT... I Swear by it now. Currently my entire main display is at 1.008 and all fish are super active/vibrant/eating well. I did have to remove all live rock and inverts and double/triple up on water changes but all fish from now on will be hypo QT'ed to ensure Ich never returns.

This is a video of the fish in QT @ 1.008 salinity
http://vimeo.com/88612061

 

[vipermaverickk]

Do some research on hypo QT... I Swear by it now. Currently my entire main display is at 1.008 and all fish are super active/vibrant/eating well. I did have to remove all live rock and inverts and double/triple up on water changes but all fish from now on will be hypo QT'ed to ensure Ich never returns.

This is a video of the fish in QT @ 1.008 salinity
http://vimeo.com/88612061

Beautiful tank and setup, very clean!

 

[billsreef]

My current fish weren't quarantined. All very healthy.

Every fish I have ever tried in a qt first died of unknown reasons. So for me no. Until I can figure out a way to qt without deaths

The trick is a seasoned biological filter and adequate cover. Air driven sponge filters and biowheels are great, as they can be kept in the sump of your main tank to be seasoned For cover, adequately sized PVC pipe fittings or clay pots are good as they won't react with any medications and are easily cleaned.

 

[trueperc]

QT everything wet. I went through and cook my rock for 10 weeks, during that 10 weeks, I QT'd my fish, but them all through copper and pazipro and then a few weeks nothing to make sure all was good. I will say having some biological filter is a must as well as some places to hide.
But now why I qt even live rock, snail and anything wet, is after all that. I bought an anemone to put in the tank the same day I was introducing back the fish after the rock when in and was hit was a server case of ich.

 

[snorvich]

If you think ich is bad, there are parasites which are much worse. Always quarantine anything wet. Or come visit us in the Fish Diseases Forum.

:dance:

 

[Mr. Limpid]

Not Quarantine is like playing Russian roulette. If you don't get any disease till your last fish you introduce to your TD then you are in need of several or very large quarantine tank. Quarantine will also provide time for getting them to eat without competition and personal attention. One note your quarantine tank filtration should be as good as or better than your DT so stress will be minimum.

 

[toothybugs]

I've set up and taken down a few tanks that were never QT'd at all, for anything. However, I used to wonder how folks stopped diseases before they hit a main tank - I got ich in my tank once but somehow it cleared up after maybe a week with little work on my behalf... Really weird.

After thinking about it and taking the opportunity to be a bit wiser without "just guessing" at the right way to do things, I'm QT'ing everything this go-around. It's a chance to watch the new little buddy for a bit longer than in the store, eating well, and generally make sure things are going well. It's also a great excuse to have a few more tanks floating around that the wife can yell at me for

 

[Savoie83]

I watch to be sure they eat well and after that it's 3 week of cupramine...
Got ich once and velvet in the same year, and a fallow period is long... so now it's qt qt qt.

 

[snorvich]

I watch to be sure they eat well and after that it's 3 week of cupramine...
Got ich once and velvet in the same year, and a fallow period is long... so now it's qt qt qt.

should be 4 weeks of cupramine.

 

[das75]

I've set up and taken down a few tanks that were never QT'd at all, for anything. However, I used to wonder how folks stopped diseases before they hit a main tank - I got ich in my tank once but somehow it cleared up after maybe a week with little work on my behalf... Really weird.

After thinking about it and taking the opportunity to be a bit wiser without "just guessing" at the right way to do things, I'm QT'ing everything this go-around. It's a chance to watch the new little buddy for a bit longer than in the store, eating well, and generally make sure things are going well. It's also a great excuse to have a few more tanks floating around that the wife can yell at me for

you still got ich, thing is it's just not showing.

QT'ing is still good idea to prevent introducing other things, but ich is in your display.

 

[ca1ore]

It surprises me though, how many people only quarantine because they got Ich, rather than having always quarantined from the beginning.

Don't know how long you have been in the hobby, but there are lots of things that seem 'intuitively obvious' today that were not always so. Places like RC, frankly, make it quite a lot easier now to adopt best practices than when I started up my first reef tank in 1988 and was largely 'winging it'. It's only been for about the last 10 years that I have employed strict quarantine procedures for fish - prior to that there really was no consensus that it was a worthwhile thing to do. Heck, even today there are some experienced reefers who eschew the practice.