Porcupine Puffer Quarantine

CodeBlueMedic

CodeBlueMedic

New member
Hey,

I wanted to bounce some thoughts off yall and get your opinions. I'm wanting to get a puffer for my 125 fowler and knowing how prone they are to ich, I was thinking about quarantine. I prefer to do the tank transfer method, but I'm concerned that my 10 gallon tanks I use for that purpose would be too small for him during the 14 day process. Thoughts?

I'm considering doing the unthinkable by just placing him in the main tank, since he'll be rolling solo for awhile. Additionally, he's been at the LFS since the beginning of July and hasnt shown symptoms of ich during this time. I visit him every few days and figure I would have seen something by now. Am I nuts for risking it, knowing the above considerations?

Thanks
 
How big is he? If you've been "studying" him at the lfs for a while I wouldn't say you were nuts for putting him in your DT.With that being said, I have a Couple questions for you; what other fish or inverts are with him at the lfs? Have you seen him eat readily? Although he doesn't have ich, he could have something else. That's why most people use a QT. So you can closely monitor him and make sure he is healthy and disease free. With that being said, your not 100% garuanteed to detect any diseases as some are hard to point out and some like marine velvet usually don't show symptoms until it's too late. Personally, with the information you provided me I would put him into my DT as their are no other inhabitants? (Correct?) Some people are going to . tell you to put him in a qt and some are going to tell you to put it in your dt. It really comes down to what you think is best. Do you feel comfortable enough adding the fish to your dt without closely monitoring him daily for 2+ weeks? If it turned out he did have some type.of disease at least no other fishes would catch it.
 
i would say DT is fine as long as you keep him by himself for 4-6 weeks, b/c your not really risking any other living things in the DT.

but FYI: i have all of 2 weeks experience
 
A lot of people rarely or never quarantine. It is a gamble. If you trust your store and all livestock looks good it is really up to you. You can use the display as a quarantine since it will be the only fish but you may still introduce ich even if the puffer never shows signs of it. If you are taking the chance just be prepared to remove the fish to quarantine and let the display go fallow for 12 weeks.
 
moneymm said:
i would say DT is fine as long as you keep him by himself for 4-6 weeks, b/c your not really risking any other living things in the DT.

but FYI: i have all of 2 weeks experience
Click to expand...
The only thing I would add to this is there a possibility the puffer could wipe . your whole system if he had some type of disease. More than likely he doesn't, but consider the risk involed before making your decision.
 
Crooked Reef said:
A lot of people rarely or never quarantine. It is a gamble. If you trust your store and all livestock looks good it is really up to you. You can use the display as a quarantine since it will be the only fish but you may still introduce ich even if the puffer never shows signs of it. If you are taking the chance just be prepared to remove the fish to quarantine and let the display go fallow for 12 weeks.
Click to expand...

im dealing with the same issue, ready to add my first fish, but i figured i can use my DT as a QT, since its only the one fish. If it does have anything like ich, cant i just treat the fish in the DT?
 
moneymm said:
i would say DT is fine as long as you keep him by himself for 4-6 weeks, b/c your not really risking any other living things in the DT.

but FYI: i have all of 2 weeks experience
Click to expand...

The only problem with this is that you can still introduce ich into the system and not know you have it. Fish can have ich and show no outward symptoms. The tank transfer method is the best way to ensure you remain ich free.
 
moneymm said:
im dealing with the same issue, ready to add my first fish, but i figured i can use my DT as a QT, since its only the one fish. If it does have anything like ich, cant i just treat the fish in the DT?
Click to expand...

Like I said. It's a gamble. Most likely you will be fine but maybe not. I didn't quarantine for years when I started and never had any diseases or pathogens introduced to my tank that I ever had any signs of. It could happen though.
 
moneymm said:
im dealing with the same issue, ready to add my first fish, but i figured i can use my DT as a QT, since its only the one fish. If it does have anything like ich, cant i just treat the fish in the DT?
Click to expand...

If you treat with copper, you will likely never be able to keep any invertebrates or coral in your tank. If you are ok with this then yes, but it will suck if you decide down the road you want some hermit crabs or an anenome or something.

You could always do hypo salinity to treat for it without introducing copper to the tank, hypo however, isn't as effective as copper and you have to be very careful to adjust the salinity very slowly especially when you bring it back up. Also the rocks suck up copper in the DT which makes it hard to keep a steady level. So either way treating in the DT is not ideal, but is possible.
 
Treating in tank with something like copper can and will also kill inverts. If enough die it could set off a mini cycle and kill the fish anyway. Also you may never be able to get the copper out of the rock. If you were going to use the display as your first quarantine I would just know you may have to remove fish to a hospital tank and let the display go fallow to starve pathogens. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure though.
 
Bottom line, if your looking for long term success, having a qt is something you should really consider that way there is a much less chance of introducing something to your system which could potentially wipe out the whole show.
 
Thanks for all of the advice! Yes he has been eating and is kept alone at the LFS. Currently my tank is LR only. I would be happy to do the TTM, but I'm afraid that the 10 gallons would be too small. He's roughly 3 inches in length.
 
I think he would be fine in a 10g qt with some hiding places. Obviously the tanks too small for him but if it's not a long term ordeal he should be just fine.
 
Just toss him in. If he has no visible signs you'll probably be alright.
They have a problem with copper treatments, so that's pretty much not an option.
 
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