Quarantine and multiple fish

[Elricsfate]

I have read with interest posts by Snorvich and other regarding quarantine. I definitely see the value, and though I have not done it with my current tank I am setting up a new one in a few weeks and likely will.

I do have a question though, regarding the mechanics.

One of the tips for keeping multiple tangs is to add them all at once, so that no fish has an established territory. This would require buying them all at once...and quarantining them all at once. I am assuming most people do not have 220 gallon quarantine tanks. So, how would you go about quarantining multiple tangs simultaneously so that you can both adhere to the quarantine protocol AND the "add them all at once" protocol?

Thanks

 

[AwesomeDavid]

I would think that you would buy baby tangs so you can quarantine them in smaller tanks.

 

[Elricsfate]

I would think that you would buy baby tangs so you can quarantine them in smaller tanks.

Of course. But let us say I buy 4 or 5 juvenile tangs. For argument sake, let's say I get two yellows, a purple, and a powder blue (and let's assume my DT is properly sized for these fish). If I put all of them in a single QT tank for weeks...they are likely going to fight.

So are we talking about having a QT for each of them individually? That's a lot of tanks.

 

[scooter31707]

Of course. But let us say I buy 4 or 5 juvenile tangs. For argument sake, let's say I get two yellows, a purple, and a powder blue (and let's assume my DT is properly sized for these fish). If I put all of them in a single QT tank for weeks...they are likely going to fight.

So are we talking about having a QT for each of them individually? That's a lot of tanks.

Using your example, I would probably do the 2 yellow tangs first, trying to get small ones. Then I would try and get the Purple and PB around the same size, but bigger than the Yellows. IMO, a 20 gallon long would probably support two 2-3 inch tangs, but a 40 gallon breeder would probably be ideal.

 

[ca1ore]

It's a good question. While buying all your tangs at once seem sensible in theory, it's tricky in practice. Frankly, I don't bother. I do think that a 30L is a good size to manage even a few decent sized fish for the duration of QT. I QT'd a quartet of 4" pyramid butterflyfish for 3 months without any major issues.

 

[Sk8r]

One solution is a large enough qt tank with eggcrate dividers. You get the oxygenation bennie of a large tank, but nobody can get at anybody,

 

[CrayolaViolence]

I've QT'd 4 gold rims in a 55 gallon tank and 3 Yellows in a 40 gallon. They did not fight, but I provided lots of hiding spaces and they were all pretty small.