Okay be Honest about QT'ing practices!

[BarbMazz]

I just lost a fish very suddently that I'd gotten unexpectedly, and free, from DFS. My QT is not finished cycling so I could not quarantine the fish. I know that people do very different quarantine practices; from none at all to much more technical as in posted by Lee (leebca) here. I'm setting mine up as per Lee's procedure.

Because of my much-loved six-line wrasse loss this morning, I've begun wondering exactly what methods everyone here uses.

 

[BigAl07]

I'll admit I'm slack. I QT about 3 weeks and then into the DT. The REALLY bad part is my QT is my Frag Tank (only 10g) so the size of fish and amount that can be QTed is very limited.

 

[AQTCJAK]

I QT only sick fish that come in from a new customer & from other LFS all of my fish & corals I get have been previously QT'd

 

[kathywithbirds]

ummm.... *cough cough*

I'm on the wrong thread.... :angel2: :scram:

I can't keep a QT params good. Sucks. Then I end up making it a "real" tank...

 

[Woodstock]

As with everything, incentive drives our daily tasks and goals. I work to feed my fish and I QT to keep them alive. LOL~

For years I didn't QT but it eventually caught up with me. Until you see your loved ones (fish) covered with ICH (or worse, have them die!) it is easy to ignore proper QT procedures.

I now QT as close to Leebca's suggested methods as possible.

 

[BEELZEBOB]

I Have 1 Fish.

 

[rlcline76]

Do you want duration of QT or just properly setting up the QT, Barb?

 

[BigAl07]

I have to be honest... when I was at LFS yesterday to pick up a Feather Duster and there was that cute yellow tang that I've been looking at for 2 weeks. It looked fairly well on Saturday (all be it not as GREAT as it could look but at LFS they never look great). Yesterday I slipped back to look at it and it was totally hosed with ICH. All fins were spotted and torn... it was cowering in the corner all sickly looking and has even lost most of it's color (was almost whiteish). If it weren't for the fact I've been watching this fish for weeks I'd say it was another fish. That made me step back and re-think my WT procedures.

 

[BarbMazz]

Do you want duration of QT or just properly setting up the QT, Barb?

Actually, Becky, BOTH. I have the highly yucky, seasoned sponges and more cooking in my sump.

 

[goldenmean]

Barb you know I QT fishes.
Im about ready to try again!

I do not QT corals. my bad.

 

[BigAl07]

I've never QT'ed corals or inverts. Just fishes.....

 

[BarbMazz]

Barb you know I QT fishes.
Im about ready to try again!

I do not QT corals. my bad.

Yes, Jeff, I DO know about the fishes.

I should've included corals in the poll! I guess I didn't because I haven't QT'ed corals either. My bad, too!

 

[prow]

i QT all my fish, yes honest i really do. depending on where i got the fish i QT 3 weeks if i get them from a trusted source and they remain asymptomatic. 6weeks + for LFS or unknown sources or if any symptoms are seen.
i do it different at times. for you i would just use your tanks water to fill about 1/2 the QT (just a water change) and then use RO/DI water and adjust for hyposalinity and add about 5lbs of your rock with a couple PH and a heater. dont worry hyposalinity will not effect your bacteria needed for biofiltration. thats it. have some amquel on hand incase ammonia pops up. i actually use it anyway prophylactically.

 

[rlcline76]

I will be QTing corals the next time I set up... as much as possible. My coral QT tank will double as my prop tank.

Really, I have a 10 gallon with a sponge filter, a cheap HOB filter...somewhere to toss media when I want it, a heater and a light. When I am considering a new fish, I use the tank water from water changes. I do not worry so much about perfect parameters...I already know that the LFSs around here do not have perfect water. I've had no problems with using the sponge from the filter after it sat in the DT system for a few days.

After adding a fish, I keep up with those water changes! And I cheat. I QT for 3 weeks symptom free.

 

[BigAl07]

I will be QTing corals the next time I set up... as much as possible. My coral QT tank will double as my prop tank.

Really, I have a 10 gallon with a sponge filter, a cheap HOB filter...somewhere to toss media when I want it, a heater and a light. When I am considering a new fish, I use the tank water from water changes. I do not worry so much about perfect parameters...I already know that the LFSs around here do not have perfect water. I've had no problems with using the sponge from the filter after it sat in the DT system for a few days.

After adding a fish, I keep up with those water changes! And I cheat. I QT for 3 weeks symptom free.

I have one question.. if your coral QT is also your Prop/Frag tank... wont that be like not QTing the corals? If you do have a "Coral Issue" you'll have infected your Prop tank... which is probably better than infesting the DT but still... am I making sense? I hope so....

 

[prow]

I have one question.. if your coral QT is also your Prop/Frag tank... wont that be like not QTing the corals? If you do have a "Coral Issue" you'll have infected your Prop tank... which is probably better than infesting the DT but still... am I making sense? I hope so....

:bluenod:

 

[rlcline76]

I would much rather have an issue in the prop tank than in the DT. I have been fortunate so far. I have mostly zoanthids, no zoa pox, no nudibranches, none of that nonsense. In this hobby, tank begets tank begets tank...I don't want to get too out of control with it. Make sense? I have to have some limits to my madness, Al.

 

[BigAl07]

:LOL: Makes total sense. Once I started "delving" into your comment I realized most likely that was your line of thought. I'm not tossing stones as I have only QTed fish thus far. I put my corals and inverts from store to tank after acclimation of course

 

[BoomerD]

I haven't read the stickied thread, so I can't compare to that, but my quarantine practice served me well for 20 years.
I used a bare-bottom 20 gallon tank with pieces of PVC in different sizes (2, 3, and 4") for hiding places. An Aqua-Clear 300 for biological filtration, Bak-Pak (later years) for skimming, and a simple hood/light...oh yeah, and a heater.
EVERY new fish went into a 4 to 6 week minimum quarantine. Any fish that showed signs of parasites went into a separate tank for coppering if it would be tolerated by the fish, and a simple cycled sponge filter and heater placed in the tank. They were kept in the coppered hospital tank for 4 weeks, then reintroduced to the quarantine tank for observation for 2 more weeks. If there were no signs of problems, they went into the display tank.
Fish that don't tolerate copper were treated with hyposalinity for 4 weeks.(was I ever glad when this technique was "invented" and refractometers were readily available) Hypo'd fish were kept at that salinity level for 4 weeks minimum, then brought back to tank parameters slowly, over about 1 week, then after 2 weeks of observation, they were put in the display tank.
I lost an entire tank full of fish in the old days because I didn't quarantine. That was a learning experience for me, and I changed my ways.
Since then, I've only NOT quarantined 2 fish. One was a 4-5" sohal tang that came from another hobbyist whose procedures I trusted, the other was a 4" CBB that also came from another hobbyist's tank who was meticulous about quarantining his livestock.

I never did quarantine corals or other inverts, and I know I should have...most got a quick rinse in fresh-mixed saltwater before being put in the display tank.

 

[Craig Manoukian]

My LFS quarantined my fish for me. The regularly use copper for fish that can handle that therapy and would hold the fish for me. I never had ich and never experinced sudden death losses, within the first two weeks of going into the display.

If you can't trust your sources then QT is mandatory, and a great investment.

Good luck Barb!