Rock Beauty QT

[gouramiguy]

I am thinking about adding a rock beauty to my 120 FOWLR tank. I've been doing quite a bit of research and have seen lots of people recommend that these fish not be quarantined due to additional stress in addition to what they've gone through from collection, holding and shipping. Has anyone skipped the QT process with this species and not had any issues?

 

[sandwi54]

I'm sorry but 120g is too small for a rock beauty. It's already a very hard species in an appropriate sized setup.
If your 120g is a 4x2x2, then you can only stick with the geniacanthus angels. Even for those the 4' length might even be a stretch.
Also, "properly QT" every fish to prevent diseases. Contrary to popular belief, QT is LESS stressful on a fish. The fish gets to settle down alone without harassment from tank mates and having to fight for food. Plus, it's much easier to train a fish to eat prepared foods when it's in a QT all by itself.

 

[gouramiguy]

Thanks for the advice. I do quarantine all my fishes but was intrigued by what I had read about the rock beauty. My tank is actually 5' X 18" X 28" (I think) but it sounds like the rock beauty is going to be too difficult.

 

[philter4]

I think a 120 is fine for a rock beauty, they only get to 10 inches in the wild and usually under 8. It is illegal to take them over 5 inches in Florida waters and in fish tanks most are not full sized, besides except for pygmy angels most of the full sized angels can get much larger even in fish tanks, I have seen queens and blues over 2 ft long in the wild.

While I agree you should qt your fish most rock beauties will not even try to eat prepared foods unless they see other fish eating it. I have collected hundreds of them when I was working as a commercial collector and we always put them in a tank with fish that were feeding well from the first day. While I agree with Sandwi54 that qt is one of the most important things you can do to prevent disease in your main tank I don't agree that it is less stressful on you animals. Catching the fish out of qt and moving it a second time is a very stressful event for a fish. Also having a fish in qt where it is uncomfortable because of very little hiding places so you can observe it and keep the tank clean of uneaten foods is hard on them as well. If it were my fish I would put it in qt with live rock and with other peaceful fish that were feeding well and acclimated, this way they are not shy, giving the rock beauty the feeling that it is safe and showing it what prepared foods are. The other choice is to put it directly into the main tank and the problem with this is that without qt there is a very real and serious risk of introducing something to your main tank and that is something you can not take lightly.

 

[MrTuskfish]

IMO & IME, there is never a good excuse to not QT all fish. A QT is a very easy place to acclimate any fish. IMO, tough fish acclimate easier in my QT than any DT. Its quiet, no competition, bullies, etc.

 

[gouramiguy]

Thanks for all the advice. I really don't understand the thought of not using a QT for all species. I definitely will utilize mine no matter what I end up adding.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

I agree a rock beauty is too much fish for this system, mostly because of aggression. There are however much more appropriate angels for that system and a flagfin may be perfect if your heart is set on a yellow angel.

 

[twelvejewelz]

I dont know about the rock beauty but when i got my pair of multibar angels and my venustus angel i did not QT them. As philter4 says they did much better and it was easier to get them to start eating right while they saw other fish eating they followed. I think it can depend if you have fish that they may not get along with already in your tank imo. Its obviously a good idea to QT everything new you add to your tank including corals but IME some fish just dont make it past the QT and i think they would have lived just fine if i had put them directly into the display thats just me though.