Do you Quarantine?

NaH2O · 11-30-2003, 08:51 PM

I'm well aware that I should quarantine any new arrivals - I even have a plan in place, but I'm afraid that the quarantine would end up being more stressful on the fish than not, especially if done improperly. So, what do you do? If you do quarantine, please elaborate on what your procedure is (i.e. how long? do you also dip?)

Thanks guys!

Spooda420 · 11-30-2003, 08:56 PM

I dont and know I should, just tagging aong

TDEVIL · 11-30-2003, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Spooda420
I dont and know I should, just tagging along

i dont with fish, (only buy from certin places) but i do with corals,(not that i have that many) feshwater dip, followed by a dip in Lugol's (mainly for the zoo's)

TD

SaltyQueen · 11-30-2003, 11:24 PM

I don't, haven't had any problems yet (knock on wood)...

Witfull · 12-01-2003, 01:55 AM

im fortunate that my LFS qts his new arrivals, but i have few fish. corals and clams i will examine closely and then decide. personally i feel that qt can be stressfull and if in question i wouldnt buy to begin with, i think its better to get them into healthy environment as soon as possible. the fish will be happier and a happy fish is a healthy fish.

BoomerD · 12-01-2003, 02:12 AM

I quarantine ALL new fish, even those from another hobbyists tanks. The move can often be so stressful that a normally healthy fish can develop ich or other problems. Besides, you just don't know if they might have been exposed to velvet, ich, flukes or any other diseases/parasites. It's jsut not worth taking the chance to me. Tonight, I had to empth the fish out of my 40 gallon semi-reef to quarantine a new fish. Fat, healthy, looks exceptionally nice, but too darn big to quarantine 3 to 4 weeks on my 20 gallon q.t. 5" Sohal tang. Beautiful fish, too good of a deal to pass up. SHHH!! Be quiet about it, the Tang Police might hear!

Destined for the new 180 after it is set-up & cycled. The small purple tang, coralbeauty & black percula weren't happy about getting moved, but they'll be fine in the 20 for a short time.

Travis · 12-01-2003, 03:41 AM

Guilty as charged.

wooddood · 12-01-2003, 06:20 AM

i don't but know i should.sorry

Pro_builder · 12-01-2003, 08:37 AM

I haven't ever quarintined anything. I know that I should before putting it into the tank, but Knock on wood, I haven't had any problems yet. Well, except for that nasty crab that I ended up gettin.

NaH2O · 12-01-2003, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Witfull
im fortunate that my LFS qts his new arrivals, but i have few fish. corals and clams i will examine closely and then decide. personally i feel that qt can be stressfull and if in question i wouldnt buy to begin with, i think its better to get them into healthy environment as soon as possible. the fish will be happier and a happy fish is a healthy fish.

I'm tending to agree with Wit on this one. I, too, have a LFS that "says" they quarantine all the new arrivals and dips them as well. I know it probably isn't a wise decision to not quarantine, but I can't help but think that I may be putting the fish into a more stressfull situation. I'm sure one day I'd regret not quarantining, but hopefully with carefull selection, I won't have any problems.

Travis, careful about admitting guilt....Wit may have to cuff you and keep you, but maybe not if you give him some clams. LOL!!!

ScottT1980 · 12-01-2003, 09:36 AM

I also agree and am in the same situation as Wit. My LFS holds fish for at least 30 days so they do the Q/T for me. FWIW, the LFS just dumps the fish, no acclimation or anything. From what I have read and heard recently, the "dump method" (vs. drip acclimation) is being used more and more.

I was never really successful with Q/Ting fish and I lost a few in the process. It is very difficult sometimes to weigh the benefits vs. the incurred stress when introducing new fish to a system. I still haven't figured it all out...

Take er easy
Scott t.

wooddood · 12-01-2003, 02:44 PM

im kinda surprised at the answers by most,i thought everybody would say i do/without a dought/everytime thanks for being honest all.and why does everybody keep knocking on me.get it [knock on wood]lol.

NaH2O · 12-01-2003, 03:23 PM

wooddood, cute response! I'm also surprised by the consensus of not qt new arrivals. I didn't figure it would be leaning so much to the "do not quarantine even though I should". It makes me feel a little better about not QT. Thanks again for eveyone's responses!

Maxx · 12-01-2003, 03:43 PM

I think that as long as your purchasing healthy livestock and selective about your purchases, you'll do much better in the end. QTing is stressfull to the fish and inverts, but in some cases maybe something that should be doe more often. I'm actually less worried about QTing fish and inverts than I am about bringing hitch hikers. there was a brief period of time where alot of stores here in St Louis had flat worm problems. I was given some Macro algae to to get my refugium up and running and recieved some of those as well. I took care of them by Flatworm exit (Salifert) and was happy for a few months. Then an OD on iodine caused my pod population to crash. I once again got some Macro from a friend and got some new different flatworms as hitch hikers. I dont think that they are coral eaters as these look totally different than the previous, but I still dont like 'em. They almost resemble the old Star Trek symbol that was on everyones shirt in the original Star Trek series...Sorta like a fat filled in letter A, w/ the apex being the mouth or oral cavity. They've moved from my refugium to the display tank, but the 6 line wrasse is keeping them under control there. I will be dipping every rock, and new aquisiton to my new 58 in water treated w/ MASSIVE doses of Flatworm Exit to prevent them from making the transition on any rockwork. I treated my 20 w/ flatworm exit shortly after I noticed them originally but they seemed to require quadruple doses in order to get them to die off. I went so heavy on the Flatworm Exit that my snails and bristleworms were grokked out for a few days...unfortunately some of the lil boogers survived, and have since repoplulated my 'fuge....
I may have to use a freshwater dip on my larger pieces of rock work that dont have Zoos growing or star polyps....I know that it'll kill my liverock, but that should repoplulate when placed back in a tank stocked w/ otherwise fresh liverock...
Nick

DocG · 12-01-2003, 04:04 PM

I always quarantine new fish in the quarantine tank. I never medicate the quarantine tank or do any type of treatment unless I need to.

I really haven't seen a huge increase in stress to the fish by quarantining them first. I have some seeded Bio-max ceramic rings that are in the filter of the main tank and I mave them over to the filter of the quarantine tank (and replace with new media in the main tank).

Doing this has really avoided any type of ammonia spike in the
Q-tank. The worst my water quality got was 0.3 Nitrite. I do my water changes from the main tank.

There are also other benefits of a Q-tank. I recently put a lawnmower blennie in quarantine. I know that it is sometimes difficult to get these fish to eat. It took me about a week of hard work to get this guy to accept prepared foods, but he eventually did. Now he is a pig. I feel that it was the lack of competition that allowed me to train him to eat.

I have heard too many horror stories around town to not quarantine. Also - I have seen the state of some of the fish in the LFS.

There is always a little stress involved in moving the fish from the Q-tank to the main tank. However because there is no acclimation involved - the fish is always fine after 5 minutes. I never use nets either. Its a simple scoop, move over 2 feet and dump.

I have never quarantined inverts or corals.

View Poll Results: Do You Quarantine?
Yes, I quarantine regularly	26	15.20%
Yes, not only do I quarantine, but I also dip	10	5.85%
No, I don't - even though I know I should	123	71.93%
Quarantine, what's that?	12	7.02%
Voters: 171. You may not vote on this poll

11-30-2003, 08:51 PM	#1 (permalink)
NaH2O Contributing Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 1,929 View Gallery Karma Komment	Do you Quarantine? I'm well aware that I should quarantine any new arrivals - I even have a plan in place, but I'm afraid that the quarantine would end up being more stressful on the fish than not, especially if done improperly. So, what do you do? If you do quarantine, please elaborate on what your procedure is (i.e. how long? do you also dip?) Thanks guys! __________________ ~Nikki~

11-30-2003, 08:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
Spooda420 Scopas Tang Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 484 View Gallery Karma Komment	I dont and know I should, just tagging aong __________________ 120 gallon, 100 gallon sump, GEO Calcium Reactor, Aqua C EV-400 Skimmer, 300 pounds of LR, Bare Bottom, 2 Tetra UV2 Sterilizers, 2 Tunze 6080 streams, 2 - 400 watt DE Metal Halides

12-01-2003, 03:41 AM	#7 (permalink)
Travis Smilie Bartender Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 6,890 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Guilty as charged. __________________ Help build the Encyclopedia of ReefKeeping Find over 1400 Reef Aquarium Articles at The Reef Aquarium Index

12-01-2003, 06:20 AM	#8 (permalink)
wooddood the wood dude Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: marion. INDIANA Posts: 3,457 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	i don't but know i should.sorry __________________ 120 gal/in wall tank/starboard substraight/2 250 watt 10k xm metal halides/ 4 55watt 03 actinics/150lbs lr/scwd on return/scwd on a closed loop/aquaclear aquatics 200 pro wetdry w/skimmer. ask all the questions you have if we cant answer it we'll make up some thing. remember patience is the key to a kick ass reef. dave.

11-30-2003, 11:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
SaltyQueen Scopas Tang Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 400 View Gallery Karma Komment	I don't, haven't had any problems yet (knock on wood)...

12-01-2003, 02:12 AM	#6 (permalink)
BoomerD Reef Shark Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Northern California Posts: 5,638 View Gallery Karma Komment	I quarantine ALL new fish, even those from another hobbyists tanks. The move can often be so stressful that a normally healthy fish can develop ich or other problems. Besides, you just don't know if they might have been exposed to velvet, ich, flukes or any other diseases/parasites. It's jsut not worth taking the chance to me. Tonight, I had to empth the fish out of my 40 gallon semi-reef to quarantine a new fish. Fat, healthy, looks exceptionally nice, but too darn big to quarantine 3 to 4 weeks on my 20 gallon q.t. 5" Sohal tang. Beautiful fish, too good of a deal to pass up. SHHH!! Be quiet about it, the Tang Police might hear! Destined for the new 180 after it is set-up & cycled. The small purple tang, coralbeauty & black percula weren't happy about getting moved, but they'll be fine in the 20 for a short time.

12-01-2003, 08:37 AM	#9 (permalink)
Pro_builder DIY Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Oxford, Iowa Posts: 1,746 View Gallery Karma Komment	I haven't ever quarintined anything. I know that I should before putting it into the tank, but Knock on wood, I haven't had any problems yet. Well, except for that nasty crab that I ended up gettin. __________________ -Troy 180 gallon Reef, 3- 250 XM 15K MH Electronic ballast, 380 watts VHO Actinics, 2- 5 watt LED Moon lights, 100 gal rubbermaid sump, 75 gallon Fuge, ETSS 600 Skimmer, 4700-5400 gph pump for return, Octopus 3000 controller, Iwaki 40 RL skimmer pump, 2- 65w PC 10K fuge lights, 2 55 gallon barrels, Custom light oak stand and hood, misc pumps, extra 600 gallon rated tank size protein skimmer. Purple tang, yellow tang, pacific blue tang, 2 green chromis, 1 Sand sifting star, snails, hermit crabs, 2 mated perculas, pulsing Xenia, Anenome, mushrooms, ricordia, zoanthids, kenya tree 1 1/2" tall, misc other hitchhiker stuff. DIY is my dream... ...well OK the only way I can afford this Addiction!! Just as the light goes on in my head... ... I break the bulb!!

12-01-2003, 09:36 AM	#11 (permalink)
ScottT1980 Reef Lobster Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 1,485 View Gallery Karma Komment	I also agree and am in the same situation as Wit. My LFS holds fish for at least 30 days so they do the Q/T for me. FWIW, the LFS just dumps the fish, no acclimation or anything. From what I have read and heard recently, the "dump method" (vs. drip acclimation) is being used more and more. I was never really successful with Q/Ting fish and I lost a few in the process. It is very difficult sometimes to weigh the benefits vs. the incurred stress when introducing new fish to a system. I still haven't figured it all out... Take er easy Scott t. __________________ My Tank

12-01-2003, 02:44 PM	#12 (permalink)
wooddood the wood dude Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: marion. INDIANA Posts: 3,457 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	im kinda surprised at the answers by most,i thought everybody would say i do/without a dought/everytime thanks for being honest all.and why does everybody keep knocking on me.get it [knock on wood]lol. __________________ 120 gal/in wall tank/starboard substraight/2 250 watt 10k xm metal halides/ 4 55watt 03 actinics/150lbs lr/scwd on return/scwd on a closed loop/aquaclear aquatics 200 pro wetdry w/skimmer. ask all the questions you have if we cant answer it we'll make up some thing. remember patience is the key to a kick ass reef. dave.

12-01-2003, 03:23 PM	#13 (permalink)
NaH2O Contributing Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 1,929 View Gallery Karma Komment	wooddood, cute response! I'm also surprised by the consensus of not qt new arrivals. I didn't figure it would be leaning so much to the "do not quarantine even though I should". It makes me feel a little better about not QT. Thanks again for eveyone's responses! __________________ ~Nikki~

12-01-2003, 03:43 PM	#14 (permalink)
Maxx Manta Ray Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: St Louis Mo Posts: 3,080 View Gallery Karma Komment	I think that as long as your purchasing healthy livestock and selective about your purchases, you'll do much better in the end. QTing is stressfull to the fish and inverts, but in some cases maybe something that should be doe more often. I'm actually less worried about QTing fish and inverts than I am about bringing hitch hikers. there was a brief period of time where alot of stores here in St Louis had flat worm problems. I was given some Macro algae to to get my refugium up and running and recieved some of those as well. I took care of them by Flatworm exit (Salifert) and was happy for a few months. Then an OD on iodine caused my pod population to crash. I once again got some Macro from a friend and got some new different flatworms as hitch hikers. I dont think that they are coral eaters as these look totally different than the previous, but I still dont like 'em. They almost resemble the old Star Trek symbol that was on everyones shirt in the original Star Trek series...Sorta like a fat filled in letter A, w/ the apex being the mouth or oral cavity. They've moved from my refugium to the display tank, but the 6 line wrasse is keeping them under control there. I will be dipping every rock, and new aquisiton to my new 58 in water treated w/ MASSIVE doses of Flatworm Exit to prevent them from making the transition on any rockwork. I treated my 20 w/ flatworm exit shortly after I noticed them originally but they seemed to require quadruple doses in order to get them to die off. I went so heavy on the Flatworm Exit that my snails and bristleworms were grokked out for a few days...unfortunately some of the lil boogers survived, and have since repoplulated my 'fuge.... I may have to use a freshwater dip on my larger pieces of rock work that dont have Zoos growing or star polyps....I know that it'll kill my liverock, but that should repoplulate when placed back in a tank stocked w/ otherwise fresh liverock... Nick __________________ "Chaos, confusion, despair...my work is done here." ...Some guy named Murphy.... A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!" Reef Sanctuary Knowledgebase (Answers to all your questions and then some!)

12-01-2003, 04:04 PM	#15 (permalink)
DocG Tunicate Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada Posts: 18 View Gallery Karma Komment	I always quarantine new fish in the quarantine tank. I never medicate the quarantine tank or do any type of treatment unless I need to. I really haven't seen a huge increase in stress to the fish by quarantining them first. I have some seeded Bio-max ceramic rings that are in the filter of the main tank and I mave them over to the filter of the quarantine tank (and replace with new media in the main tank). Doing this has really avoided any type of ammonia spike in the Q-tank. The worst my water quality got was 0.3 Nitrite. I do my water changes from the main tank. There are also other benefits of a Q-tank. I recently put a lawnmower blennie in quarantine. I know that it is sometimes difficult to get these fish to eat. It took me about a week of hard work to get this guy to accept prepared foods, but he eventually did. Now he is a pig. I feel that it was the lack of competition that allowed me to train him to eat. I have heard too many horror stories around town to not quarantine. Also - I have seen the state of some of the fish in the LFS. There is always a little stress involved in moving the fish from the Q-tank to the main tank. However because there is no acclimation involved - the fish is always fine after 5 minutes. I never use nets either. Its a simple scoop, move over 2 feet and dump. I have never quarantined inverts or corals.

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