QT for the Beginner

AK707

New member
I will admit i jumped in too fast, well my feet arn't wet yet as my tank doesn't have water in it, fortunetly.
I've been tweeking out on this forum for a few weeks straight and now im onto the qt.
QT definitely seems necessary to me but im already $2k deep into this hobby and like i stated before, i don't even have water in my tank. I definitely want to do SOMTHING but as of right now i just can't afford to go all out.

it seems like the consences here is 1 of 2 things:
-just watch in qt then if all seems good add fish to DT after 4-6 weeks?

OR a prophylactic? method

1-2 weeks in qt observing and relieving stress
12 days of TTM
then a couple Prazipro baths then back to QT?

im a little lost on the prophylactic method

i can afford the stuff required for TTM, i could probably get together a QT tank as well but a 3rd tank (hospital) tank is pushing it, my GF is already irritated at how much $$ im spending...

any help is greatly appreciated
 
You can incorporate the prazipro treatment into the end of the 2nd and 4th transfers of ttm. Formalin bath at end of 1st and 3rd transfers. QT tank doubles as a hospital tank.
 
2 months of quarantine should be the minimum.

Against ich you can use TTM as prophylactic measure. If you want to minimize the risk of sterilization lapses you can combine it with hyposalinity.

PraziPro may eliminate many common "flukes" (Monogenean), but not necessarily all. It also requires several treatment with the proper timing. There are thousands of species in several families.
I don't use PraziPro prophylactically without the fish showing some symptoms and a microscopic identification of at least the general type of. The most common skin "flukes" are the Capsalidae, a class of Monogenean marine fish parasites, which can usually be killed with hyposalinity as well.

Ideally you should give all new fish a formalin bath before they even go into the QT. This will reduce the risk to introduce some protozoan skin and gill parasites like Brooklynella, Trichodina, Uronema,... into the QT.
 
You can incorporate the prazipro treatment into the end of the 2nd and 4th transfers of ttm. Formalin bath at end of 1st and 3rd transfers. QT tank doubles as a hospital tank.

This. However you must QT for a minimum of two months.
 
If you have 2K into your tank so far, imagine having to reboot it because you had an outbreak killing 500 bucks in livestock.

Reboot is more $ than a QT setup. I have less than 100 bucks in my QT setup.

two 10 gallon tanks. 20 bucks
some salt buckets
Airstones, tubing, air pump, sponge, 25 bucks.
PVC 5 bucks
Heater 30 bucks
formalin and prazi 20 bucks
 
Following along for more information regarding this topic. I've currently got a 29g tank set up as a QT tank. Fully Cycled. Waiting on my next fish purchase until I have a firm grasp on how to QT.
 
how does this sound?

Straight into TTM from LSF matching LFS salinity
15 day TTM (5 transfers to be safe)
Incorporate Formaline bath at end of 1st and 3rd transfer
Incorporate Prazipro at end off 3rd and 4th transfer
Then 45 days in QT tank observing fish

What about shrimp, crabs and snails? i think i read that people do a 3 day ttm incase ich is just hitch hiking on them as they arnt hosts for ich, i can't find the thread where i was reading that
 
how does this sound?

Straight into TTM from LSF matching LFS salinity
15 day TTM (5 transfers to be safe)
Incorporate Formaline bath at end of 1st and 3rd transfer
Incorporate Prazipro at end off 3rd and 4th transfer
Then 45 days in QT tank observing fish

What about shrimp, crabs and snails? i think i read that people do a 3 day ttm incase ich is just hitch hiking on them as they arnt hosts for ich, i can't find the thread where i was reading that

Everything looks good but the Prazi-Pro. I like doing it at the beginning of Transfer 2 and Transfer 4
 
Which brands do you guys recommend for basic medications like Formalin?

Fishvet Formalin MS or any other stabilized 37% Formalin solution

What about shrimp, crabs and snails? i think i read that people do a 3 day ttm incase ich is just hitch hiking on them as they arnt hosts for ich, i can't find the thread where i was reading that

TTM does nothing for inverts, though a single tank transfer after a week or two may make sense to leave hatched infective stages behind.

Shrimp and crab should be clean of cysts after they mold, but could still have free infective stages in gills or other cavities. So shortest would be a month after a mold.

Corals, hermits and snails need to be quarantined for a minimum of 2 month against Amyloodinium or Brooklynella, at least 3 if Cryptocaryon is of concern.
 
Hermits and snails can't get infected with Brooklynella, Amyloodinium or Cryptocaryon, but free parasites (Brooklynella has no cyst stage) could travel in water of the hermits shell. The normal transmission of Brooklynella is usually via direct contact of an infected fish with another, but Brooklynella can also swim free and find a new host that way.

But Brooklynella is usually of lesser concern than Amyloodinium or Cryptocaryon when it comes to inverts. Those two encyst and can do so on any hard surface like snail or crustacean shells.
And there are other pathogens as well that could hitch a ride...
 
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