So, quarantine, right.

[gffpm1247]

@gffpm1247
I felt the same as you until what was supposed to be the last fish, the crowning glory of my tank, gave marine velvet to the entire display tank. I lost a lot of fish and money. That fish looked and acted perfectly healthy in the LFS and ate like a trooper. Goes to show that appearances can be deceiving!
Why would you trust a LFS? Half of them don't know anything about animal health, disease diagnosis, or disease treatment. Most of the rest want to sell you a UV sterilizer or medications which do not work, do not work as described, or wreak unintended consequences on your system.
What you should trust is scientific data, not anecdotal data. TTM is based on scientific data and works. Quarantine is not quite as precise but, with research, you can devise and implement a system based on scientific data that will work for you. OR, you can continue playing Russian roulette with your tank. Your choice.

My LFS has two employees which both are usually there all the time and have a total of 25-30 years of experience. I have followed their advice on just about everything. When to purchase the fish I want and in what order, coral placement, equipment, etc. On a few occasions they have told me not to purchase the thing I went there to purchase as I don't really "need" it. I think they have a pretty good idea as to what they are talking about!

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[Lfunnyfarm]

Most LFSs use shared systems, i.e. the same water runs through numerous tanks. So, if one fish is sick with disease or parasite, all fish in that system are exposed.

LFSs cannot use TTM and a good quarantine system due to the need to move product, including fish, rapidly so as to have enough profit to keep the business open.

Those employees may have years of experience but that does not give them x-ray vision which is about what would be needed to spot incipient disease or parasites.

UV sterilizers can only zap organisms that are in the water that passes through the sterilizer. The drugs and nutraceuticals sold as cures for various maladies are often snake oil treatments with no scientific data backing up their claims. Additionally, the 'cure' is often worse than the disease, laying waste to an entire tank's ecosystem and not completely eradicating the pathogen.

But again, each fish keeper has to decide what their comfort level is.

 

[Sk8r]

The object in a qt tank is to PREVENT a cycle by changing medium often enough there's no danger of it.