how long do you quarantine all your fish?

TTM Followed by 4 weeks QT, if all goes well. Longer if needed.
Since I started this method, the only fish I've lost died in QT without harming anyone else.
 
I do a shorter QT period because I don't feel the long observation period is critical.

First day home straight to TTM

2 weeks TTM ( transfers 2 and 3 I treat with prazipro) I also only feed on the last days right before transfer so I don't dirty up the water.

Week 3 - general cure treatment to get any remaining worms.

At this point your fish should be pest free.

Week 4 - treat any secondary infections if necessary. ( never had to do this).

Move to DT at end of week 3 if no secondary infections.

During my entire QT I also dose seachems StressGaurd and ParaGaurd daily until wounds healed then dose every 2 days the remainder of QT time.

I find this QT protocol works very well and I've never lost a single fish.... I've even brought back some severely ill fish with several open ulcers. Had a powder blue tang survive that had all fins rotted off and 4 open ulcers. Ulcers closed and fins grown about 1/3 the way back in 2.5 weeks.

I think TTM is the biggest reason for success.


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I do TTM on all fish and follow with a round of prazipro then 2 - 3 more weeks of observation. Have only lost 2 fish in 3 years. 1 lost to carpet surfing he jumped out found him dried up days later behind the tank. The other was a chromis that I assume was beat up by the other chromis.
 
If a fish has been at the LFS for 4-8 weeks with no signs of sickness, should you still QT them when you get them home? I saw that my LFS writes the dates on the tank when he got them and some have been in there for around a month and look healthy.
It all depends. First, do you trust that the LFS is using proper QT conditions: copper or hypo, and at the right amount? I know many LFS who only use a half dose of copper, or hypo above 1.009. Second, can they guarantee that no new fish are added to the tank they are using for QT for the entire 4-8 weeks? If they add any new fish, they need to restart the QT at day one.

In theory, if the LFS does QT properly, you can reduce your QT by that amount of time, even down to zero. However, IME, very few LFS quarantine the way they should.
 
Years reefing: 8
Tanks established: 5
Most expensive fish purchased: $45 Fathead Anthias
Longest quarentee period: 0 days
Fish lost due to sickness: 0

Call me lucky, foolish but I only buy healthy looking fish that eat for me in the LFS and I've never had a problem. Honestly, if I had a huge tank with lots of fish or with very expensive fish, I would indeed QT them. I don't think mandatory, mutli-week QT of chromis, clowns, and other cheap and robust fish is necessary if you learn how to visually identify healthy fish. Learn the species before you buy, learn how to identify healthy fish, quickly (about 15min) acclimate to salinity and temperature and then transfer the fish with no water from the LFS to your DT. YMMV.
 
If someone told you they have driven drunk a dozen times and never gotten into an accident, would you then start driving drunk?
 
If someone told you they have driven drunk a dozen times and never gotten into an accident, would you then start driving drunk?



Great comment....yes LJA, I think most would call you lucky. But people have successful tanks a variety of ways. That is a great thing about this hobby.


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I don't QT,fish killer imo



I agree that you can kill fish in quarantine if you don't know what you are doing. I killed a beautiful bicolor Angel trying to perform hyposalinity during quarantine. It was my error for sure but I personally wouldn't use that technique again.
More commonly, I think people lose fish in quarantine due to lack of an sufficient biofilter and/or difficulty with ammonia spikes. But quarantine is indeed stressful for fish even when everything is going well from our point of view.
But I still would choose quarantine over acclimate and cross fingers everytime. There are few things worse in this hobby than having a tank full of fish die from a new addition. JMO


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My most recent QT was TTM with Prazi mixed in and also an antibiotic at the end. Fish is now in observation. Realistically there should be no chance of Ich, flukes or bacterial diseases. Is it realistic for velvet to pop up after weeks/months?
 
If someone told you they have driven drunk a dozen times and never gotten into an accident, would you then start driving drunk?

Dissimilar comparison. There are inherent risks to QT, it is a choice the individual makes based on experiance, knowledge, risk and other factors.

Telling newbies they need to QT every fish every time or they risk their whole tank being killed is elementary thinking and practice.
 
Um. Your post history has you using a qt at least once and questioning qt setups quite a bit. So 0 days of qt ever? And yet vehemently advising against it? Poor advice. And expensive.
 
At least 3 weeks if fish looks healthy and no sickness symptoms. During the 3 weeks, I do 2xPraziPro treatments plus 1xMetro
 
Formalin bath from store. Then to ttm with nitrofuracin. Add prazi during transfer 2-3. Observed for another week or two then into display.


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Um. Your post history has you using a qt at least once and questioning qt setups quite a bit. So 0 days of qt ever? And yet vehemently advising against it? Poor advice. And expensive.

In my first post in this thread I explain that I would do it for expensive fish or if adding to a heavily stocked tank. If you read what I wrote, it is hard to describe my comments as vehemently opposed. Check out what I wrote again.

As with many other things in this hobby, I've experimented with many techniques. I forgot I had a QT setup for my anthias, I think I discontinued it after 1 or 2 days if I remember coreectly.

My point in regards to QT is that with research and experiance, when dealing with robust and inexpensive fish - it is more advisable to learn how to identify healthy fish from reputable sellers and add directly to your DT in <15min after adjusting to temperature and salinity. Its not a vehemently argued point, but a suggestion based on personal experiance for a narrow construct of circumstances.
 
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