QT or not to QT...

[jnarowe]

So I have been watching a vlamingi tang at the LFS for 3 months and it is very healthy and ready to come home with me....

My question is, if I know from close observation that this fish is healthy, is putting it through the QT process really a good thing, or will it just add to its stress? Right now it is in a 350g display reef tank and would go into my 1000g reef tank. I always introduce new fish after lights out.

So far my experience with QT has been mixed. The tank is only 29g so I have run into water quality issues a couple of times, and also had fish jump out. I am concerned that putting the good sized vlamingi in that small of a tank may not be the best choice.

Any advice?

 

[cristhiam]

That's a tough call, but in my case I put all new fish throug 6 weeks hypo. I had a 3" saifin tang in once and was not too happy been in a 20G but it's doing great now in the display. IMO it's worth it, I had my tank whipped out by ick once, lost all the fish. You can cut eggcrate and cover the QT with it. How big is your fish?

 

[Sk8r]

That's a doozy. If you test your water AND their water that should give you some indication how much stress is involved. I don't have to tell you that tangs are incredibly subject to ich, and in any stress situation they're liable to manifest. Perhaps you could request that the fish be fed garlic for a few days prior to transfer, and you continue the practice after, plus match the water sources so that the acclimation time is down to very, very little. Turn the lights out when you put him in the tank---heck, I'd even dim the area when he arrives and keep him in a dark bag, much like blindfolding a horse to reduce panic, and give him an hour in the dark of your tank before bringing up the twilight. I don't think you CAN practically qt this fish, but I think the measures above might give him his best chance of escaping the ich attack.

 

[jnarowe]

Hey, I appreciate your input guys! I always feed with garlic soaked food so that is a given.

The fish is roughly 6". That's a key issue of course with my small QT. I generally acclimate to the display or the QT over several hours. What I do is put a bucket in my sump and place the fish and the incoming water inside the bucket. I do this to acclimate temp. Then over a long period I add small amounts of either system water or QT water while removing small amounts until I have completely replaced the water in the bucket with the destination water.

My QT is set up with a float valve link to the display refugium so when I am ready to acclimate a specimen to the display, I open valve that feeds the float valve and slowly remove water from the QT. Over time the entire volume is replaced with system water.

So Sk8r, if you come out to the West Side try to make a visit. I am on the Kitsap Peninsula.

 

[Steven Pro]

For starters, I would get a bigger quarantine tank. No need trying to shoe horn large fish into a 29. You have a 1,000 gallon reef display. In the immortal words of my friend Anthony Calfo, "take a crow bar to your wallet and spring for something larger."

 

[Triggerfish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8043419#post8043419 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
request that the fish be fed garlic for a few days prior to transfer

agree with Pro...nothing else can be said:

 

[jnarowe]

Well I would have to redesign my tank room a bit. The current 29g Tall is on a SS table along with a 10g larvae tank, and the table cannot take much more weight.

Evidence:

That happened with a 96g holding tank. So I would definitely need to build something more sturdy. I am contemplating it but that won't help with the current incoming fish. I know I need a larger one...

Edit...I do have a 70g Tall I am using for a FW Planted tank in my dining room...do you guys think that is big enough?

 

[bureau13]

The thing I would be worried about, as far as not quarantining is concerned, would be the possibility that the tang could bring in something like an ich or velvet parasite that is not (yet) showing up where you can see it. If he goes straight to the tank, so does the parasite, and its a lot easier to put them in than it is to get them out.

jds