There are some situations where a quarantine tank is not viable. For example, in an office environment (our situation), especially if the person doing the fish-care is not based at the office. To have another temporary tank set up (on a desk, with hoses and wires running over chairs) just to quarantine a fish for 6 weeks, would cause the whole fish idea to be scrapped.
Note: I'm assuming that (1) the office has already decided to install a large REEF tank, and (2) there is NO MORE ROOM (or desire) to put any more tanks, even temporarily... meaning, more than a few hours. And (3), the main desire is to be safe from ick and velvet.
Here are some reasons why a no-quarantine approach should be considered. First, as in our situation, there is just no room (and also it's just not an option; if it requires a second tank, then they'll forget the whole thing.) Second, if "expanding the hobby" is desired, then disease-control simply must be made easier to understand and pay for. Hearing the word "quarantine" is just not what a beginner needs to hear. Third, by eliminating the agonizing 6-week quarantine wait, beginners will move into the hobby quicker.
Imagine if cars worked like reef tanks. You could not just buy one and use it. First you had to understand what tires could be used with what engines. Then, you had to buy a second SMALLER car to put your engine or tires on when they were not working properly. Would it be any wonder if many people just decided to walk instead?
So, I have listed here what I have learned in my first six months of reefing, as far as protecting from ick and velvet are concerned, when you DO NOT have a quarantine tank:
BEFORE ADDING FISH:
1. Reduce the tempurature of the tank (one degree a day) until it is down to 75. Ick multiplies more slowly at this temp, and thus will multiply more slowly which will give the fish's immune system more chance to beat it.
2. Install a UV sterilizer. You may only use it for the first week or so while acclimating the new fish, or you may continue to use it. Your choice. Yes it will kill some useful microbes, but that's why you can decide to only use it during acclimation.
3. Have your cleaners ready: Cleaner shrimp, gobies, or wrasse; whatever you choose, have them already in the tank.
4. SLIGHTlY lower the salinity of the tank to the bottom of your normally acceptable range. Of course I don't mean hypo salinity (as in a separate hypo treatment tank); just the lower range of what you normally run. I'll leave the exact number to you.
5. Put some garlic drops in the display tank. The current thinking is that they increase the immune system of the current fish, and the smell makes it harder for the ick to find the fish. Apparently one garlic drop per 10 gallons is enough; once in the morning, and once in the evening. After three or four days, if no fish shows signs of ick, you can reduce or stop the garlic.
ADDING FISH:
6. Introduce very few fish at one time, preferable just one per week, max. Since each new fish will be carrying some invisible disease, the less you introduce at once, the less "attack" there will be on your current fish. If the first fish (and the current fish) last a week with no sign of ick (which would be visible in 3 or 4 days), then you could add another one the following week. The "one-fish" rule would not apply to schooling fish, of course, which need a group to survive.
7. Give each fish (not inverts or coral) a 5-minute freshwater bath with freshwater that is the same temperature at the display tank. This will remove a lot of ick that may be on the fish, again introducing less "attack" on the current fish. The ick will fall to the bottom of the bath container, so always use a net to get the fish out.
8. Acclimate more slowly than normal (like inverts), so as to induce less stress. More time for temperature equalization; more time for salinity equalization, etc. And leave the tank lights and pumps off for a while. The idea is to add only one new change at a time, in order to get the new fish up to speed with the tank.
9. Do frequent water changes, and substrate vacuuming, for the first week. The water changes will reduces the ick that are in the swimming stage, and the vacuuming will (I believe) reduce the ick that are in the substrate.
From that point on, just do whatever you can to not add more stress to the fish; don't chase it around; don't move things, etc. My understanding is that if you don't see any white spots (or other signs) for a week, then you can start bringing you tank conditions back to your normal conditions slowly over a few days.
The idea of quarantine-less operation is that the lower the numbers of ick that are "attacking" your fish, the less the fish will have to fight off. Each technique above does not eliminate ick from the display tank (like quarantining does), but it does reduce the numbers. If the numbers of ick are kept low enough, then no ick or velvet should show up on your fish (even though they are "in the water.) This is similar to humans and the flu. If one member of your office comes in with the flu, and you sit next to him, drink after him, talk continuously face-to-face with him, and at the same time you don't get any rest, stay cold, and don't eat right, then yes, you ARE going to get the flu. But if you protect yourself in all the little ways like you normally would, you probably won't get it. And you never had to quarantine him
Of course, one can say that you can eliminate all these steps by using a quarantine, but the assumption here (and indeed, our situation) is that NO quarantine tank is allowed, due to time, space, and money, and over-complexity.
OK, I welcome any corrections to this, or any other techniques I may have missed.
Bryan
Note: I'm assuming that (1) the office has already decided to install a large REEF tank, and (2) there is NO MORE ROOM (or desire) to put any more tanks, even temporarily... meaning, more than a few hours. And (3), the main desire is to be safe from ick and velvet.
Here are some reasons why a no-quarantine approach should be considered. First, as in our situation, there is just no room (and also it's just not an option; if it requires a second tank, then they'll forget the whole thing.) Second, if "expanding the hobby" is desired, then disease-control simply must be made easier to understand and pay for. Hearing the word "quarantine" is just not what a beginner needs to hear. Third, by eliminating the agonizing 6-week quarantine wait, beginners will move into the hobby quicker.
Imagine if cars worked like reef tanks. You could not just buy one and use it. First you had to understand what tires could be used with what engines. Then, you had to buy a second SMALLER car to put your engine or tires on when they were not working properly. Would it be any wonder if many people just decided to walk instead?
So, I have listed here what I have learned in my first six months of reefing, as far as protecting from ick and velvet are concerned, when you DO NOT have a quarantine tank:
BEFORE ADDING FISH:
1. Reduce the tempurature of the tank (one degree a day) until it is down to 75. Ick multiplies more slowly at this temp, and thus will multiply more slowly which will give the fish's immune system more chance to beat it.
2. Install a UV sterilizer. You may only use it for the first week or so while acclimating the new fish, or you may continue to use it. Your choice. Yes it will kill some useful microbes, but that's why you can decide to only use it during acclimation.
3. Have your cleaners ready: Cleaner shrimp, gobies, or wrasse; whatever you choose, have them already in the tank.
4. SLIGHTlY lower the salinity of the tank to the bottom of your normally acceptable range. Of course I don't mean hypo salinity (as in a separate hypo treatment tank); just the lower range of what you normally run. I'll leave the exact number to you.
5. Put some garlic drops in the display tank. The current thinking is that they increase the immune system of the current fish, and the smell makes it harder for the ick to find the fish. Apparently one garlic drop per 10 gallons is enough; once in the morning, and once in the evening. After three or four days, if no fish shows signs of ick, you can reduce or stop the garlic.
ADDING FISH:
6. Introduce very few fish at one time, preferable just one per week, max. Since each new fish will be carrying some invisible disease, the less you introduce at once, the less "attack" there will be on your current fish. If the first fish (and the current fish) last a week with no sign of ick (which would be visible in 3 or 4 days), then you could add another one the following week. The "one-fish" rule would not apply to schooling fish, of course, which need a group to survive.
7. Give each fish (not inverts or coral) a 5-minute freshwater bath with freshwater that is the same temperature at the display tank. This will remove a lot of ick that may be on the fish, again introducing less "attack" on the current fish. The ick will fall to the bottom of the bath container, so always use a net to get the fish out.
8. Acclimate more slowly than normal (like inverts), so as to induce less stress. More time for temperature equalization; more time for salinity equalization, etc. And leave the tank lights and pumps off for a while. The idea is to add only one new change at a time, in order to get the new fish up to speed with the tank.
9. Do frequent water changes, and substrate vacuuming, for the first week. The water changes will reduces the ick that are in the swimming stage, and the vacuuming will (I believe) reduce the ick that are in the substrate.
From that point on, just do whatever you can to not add more stress to the fish; don't chase it around; don't move things, etc. My understanding is that if you don't see any white spots (or other signs) for a week, then you can start bringing you tank conditions back to your normal conditions slowly over a few days.
The idea of quarantine-less operation is that the lower the numbers of ick that are "attacking" your fish, the less the fish will have to fight off. Each technique above does not eliminate ick from the display tank (like quarantining does), but it does reduce the numbers. If the numbers of ick are kept low enough, then no ick or velvet should show up on your fish (even though they are "in the water.) This is similar to humans and the flu. If one member of your office comes in with the flu, and you sit next to him, drink after him, talk continuously face-to-face with him, and at the same time you don't get any rest, stay cold, and don't eat right, then yes, you ARE going to get the flu. But if you protect yourself in all the little ways like you normally would, you probably won't get it. And you never had to quarantine him
Of course, one can say that you can eliminate all these steps by using a quarantine, but the assumption here (and indeed, our situation) is that NO quarantine tank is allowed, due to time, space, and money, and over-complexity.
OK, I welcome any corrections to this, or any other techniques I may have missed.
Bryan
