So I've been researching a lot about QT tanks because they are able to prevent many disease outbreaks and help prepare fish/invertebrates for life in the aquarium. But, almost every site has a different way of QTing. What would be the best way for me to set up a Qt tank? How can I keep it cycled when there are no fish? Should I add preventive medications when I put the fish in? What kind of equipment will I need? These are only a few of the many questions I will have. Any other advice or input is appreciated, maybe even share some experiences with quarantine tanks. Thanks so much.
QT tank
- Thread starter reefnoob
- Start date
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
Not the authoritative guide on QTing, but this should at least give you a place to start:
How to Quarantine Marine Fish — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
How to Quarantine Marine Fish — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
Well, there is really no point in QTing a fish if you don't plan to treat it. Fish carry lots of diseases and bring them into the DT. Many of these diseases are invisible to us and fish can fight them off, but are still carriers. I know there are some people who believe that if they observe a fish in a QT tank for a few weeks and it doesn't get sick then it is safe to put in the DT - but honestly fish disease just doesn't always work that way. If you don't plan to treat the fish in QT, then I wouldn't even bother with QTing in the first place. Moving a fish from tank to tank is stressful - far better to just put them in your DT and go from there if you have no intentions of preventative treatment in QT. Most people on this site do not QT, and instead manage disease by keeping fish healthy and stress-free via good water parameters, not overstocking, feeding good food, and not buying fish whose needs can't be met in the tank we currently own.
As an aside, despite what you may have read elsewhere, you do not cycle a QT. Some people will place a sponge w/ nitrifying bacteria on it in the tank, but you really manage nutrient levels in QT via water changes. You cannot use sand, rock, or filter media in QT.
As an aside, despite what you may have read elsewhere, you do not cycle a QT. Some people will place a sponge w/ nitrifying bacteria on it in the tank, but you really manage nutrient levels in QT via water changes. You cannot use sand, rock, or filter media in QT.
Wow can't believe I didn't think of that. lol. Pretty obvious now. Some sites say that we could lower the specific gravity so that you can "shock" the unseen parasites into dropping off the fish, such as this site: Saltwater, setting up a Quarantine Tank
While other sites say to keep everything the same, like your link. Which is better, or is it just a matter of opinion?
While other sites say to keep everything the same, like your link. Which is better, or is it just a matter of opinion?
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
Well, there are different approaches to treating ich - the site I linked to offered instructions for treating with copper. Another option is treating via hyposalinity, but that is a little different than what you are talking about, which sounds more like a fresh water (or hyposalinity) dip. While a short dip might cause external parasites to drop off, it won't affect the internal parasites. You really need to treat with copper or a full hyposalinity treatment (that occurs over the course of weeks) to rid the fish of ich. And honestly, you should always inspect your fish before you buy them (if you are buying from an LFS), and don't buy ones that you can see ich on! It really is the internal ones that you want to prevent, because that is what the healthy appearing fish will carry into the DT with them. Here are a few more links for you to read to really understand the ich lifecycle, and to understand how to treat with copper or hyposalinity:
https://www.livingreefs.com/oh-no-have-ich-do-do-t30950.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/hyposalinity-treatment-ich-t29672.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/copper-101-a-t29680.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/oh-no-have-ich-do-do-t30950.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/hyposalinity-treatment-ich-t29672.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/copper-101-a-t29680.html
justanotherfishhead
Lisa
I agree with Fishy, if you are going to QT you should treat every fish for ich. I started using a QT when I first started my tank, and followed the advice of not treating unless you see symptoms. I thought all my new fish appeared healthy and even waited 6 weeks before adding them to my DT. But I brought in ich somehow and lost my favorite fish and decided to QT all my remaining fish with copper and keep it out of my DT forever. You should even QT any corals, inverts, essentially everything wet because technically they can all carry a trace of ich that can infect your fish. For many this is too much hassle and they decide to take the risk, but for me I'd rather be sure, that's just me though. I am going to treat every fish with 4 weeks Cupramine. My fish have done well with it. I found some sites that said hyposalinity doesn't always work, so I'd rather stick with copper. But there are so many different opinions on everything in this hobby and you kinda just have to go with whatever you feel most comfortable with and learn as you go.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
There really isn't a point to quarantining inverts and corals. They don't carry diseases like fish do (and the diseases that they may have are not transferrable to fish). Most people dip corals before adding them to their display tanks. This gets rid of most parasites and protects the corals from bacterial infections due to stress from moving. There is no reason to quarantine inverts, IMO. You can't treat them with any meds, and there isn't concern of disease with them.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Anything your LFS carries should be fine. They are all basically the same thing -- iodine based. Coral RX is a popular one that is probably the most commonly available dip.
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
I use coral rx, which is a pretty good dip that you can find most places
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Yes, you don't need multiple coral dips.
justanotherfishhead
Lisa
Biff, I'm a little confused and surprised that you would say that they don't carry diseases because I have read from many sources that ich can be carried in by a piece of coral, live rock, or even in a snail's shell. I think you agree that everyone's advice is to leave a tank fallow for 8 weeks when the fish are being treated in QT so that the ich that's on the live rock and sand can die off without hosts. So if my LFS has fish in a tank with their corals or if they share the same filtration system or use the same tools between tanks, then the invert can be carrying ich, right? The ich I got before started right after I added a mushroom coral attached to a rock and I hadn't added any fish for a few months before that.
Quote from one article I just found, but there are many other people saying this: "Live rock can harbor an array of undesirable creatures. Again, the tomont stage of fish parasites like Cryptocaryon or Amyloodinium could hitchhike in unquarantined live rock." An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Yes, but the odds of that coming in a droplet of water is so miniscule that I really don't see the point in quarantining every little thing for 8+ weeks. Frozen food can carry ich. Are you going to thaw that and quarantine it for 8+ weeks too? How do you avoid introducing ich in your tank if you are using frozen food? There has to be some common sense and reason used when deciding what to quarantine. The free floating form of ich that is found in water droplets is a potential source of ich that can be carried in the water that comes on snail shells, rock and sand, but the odds of that happening are so small that to me, it's not worth quarantining every single grain of sand, rock, coral, piece of macro algae, etc. That is just paranoid and over-reactionary to me. Especially since if people just kept better water quality and stocked their tanks appropriatedly, ich wouldn't be an issue in 99% of tanks anyways.
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justanotherfishhead
Lisa
Thanks Biff. From what I've read I thought that it's not just that the ich would be in the free-swimming water stage but also in the stage where it's hibernating or whatever you call it on the surface of the rock/shell/sand. So to me it seemed more likely to happen that I thought it's worth it to QT them. But I didn't know that it could live in frozen food! That really sucks :(
