Quarantine tank

[isa]

Hello everyone,

I have read a very interesting article and a lot of threads on this forum about Quarantine tank. I have a couple of questions just to be sure that I understand correctly.

1. When my cycle will be done (after I buy a tank and set everything up and wait until the water is ready for my new little friends hehe) I will add my cleaning crew. After that, every fish or inverts that I will add will have to be quarantine for a month before added to my tank, is that correct?

2. If I add a new cleaning inverts, I do not have to quarantine it, only the other inverts...

3. Do I have to quarantine the corals too?

4. Do I need more than one QT? What happens if one of my inverts and one of my fish needs to be in the hospital tank but this one is always occupied by a new fish I just bought?

Thank you :) :sfish:

 

[ErinCahir]

Quarantining the fish alone will not keep them from getting sick, you would need to do either hypo or copper while the fish are in quarantine.
https://www.livingreefs.com/hyposalinity-treatment-ich-t29672.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/copper-101-a-t29680.html

You don't need to quarantine inverts or corals.

 

[isa]

Thanks for the useful links :).
Opps I thought that I would quarantine them to see if a problem comes up after I buy him.

If I understand correctly, I will have to treat every new fishes I buy even if they look healhy?

 

[BL1]

Yes you will, if you treat some fish and not others the others will bring in parasites and disease that will affect the already treated.

 

[isa]

Thanks Brian,

That is what the articles meant by Russian roulettes, I just got it. If I add a new fish even the first one I will add to my tank, putting him in the tank without treating him is taking a chance because he can be sick and look healthy at the same time.

I am kind of sad to hear that because the poor fish will have to spend more than a month in my QT when I buy him even if he is healthy, so it will be boring for him since the tank will not contain rocks or sand... But if it is what I gotta do, well I gotta do it :)

 

[ErinCahir]

The majority of us do not quarantine our fish. Just FYI.

 

[isa]

The majority of us do not quarantine our fish. Just FYI.

Really!! :^: I thought the majority of you were doing it and since I heard you guys have a lot of experiences, I do what you guys do (since I am too much of a newbie to think by myself on the subject lol). So if they look healthy you just put them in the tank!

Do you all have quarantine tank in case a fish catch something?

 

[BL1]

No, most of us just put the fish right in our tanks. A majority of the time if your tanks water parameters are good and your fish are being fed properly then you'll never have a problem. Most of the time, if the fish gets sick in your tank it's better to leave it till it heals. Moving a sick fish can stress it out more causing it to only get worse.

 

[wontonflip]

I don't qt either. It's all a matter of finding a good place to get healthy fish (not necessarily disease free, but at least nice fat and swimming actively). But yes you do run the risk of losing everything if you put a fish with a really bad disease. But again, most fish that are eating and stress free can get better on their own. In fact, it might even make them stronger in a sense that if they get the disease again, they'll be able to fight it off faster next time.

It's all personal choice.

 

[isa]

No, most of us just put the fish right in our tanks. A majority of the time if your tanks water parameters are good and your fish are being fed properly then you'll never have a problem. Most of the time, if the fish gets sick in your tank it's better to leave it till it heals. Moving a sick fish can stress it out more causing it to only get worse.

If a fish gets sick and still the tank and I leave it there, do you treat it with something or a medication for fish or do you just keep a close eye on him and on the others?

 

[isa]

I don't qt either. It's all a matter of finding a good place to get healthy fish (not necessarily disease free, but at least nice fat and swimming actively). But yes you do run the risk of losing everything if you put a fish with a really bad disease. But again, most fish that are eating and stress free can get better on their own. In fact, it might even make them stronger in a sense that if they get the disease again, they'll be able to fight it off faster next time.

It's all personal choice.

Thanks, I am glad I asked because I am starting to shop what I will need for my tank and I was about to add a tank and everything I need for a hospital tank.

 

[BL1]

If you want to setup a hospital tank you don't need to buy a new tank, you can use a rubbermaid container, heater, and powerheads for QT. Supplements like garlic extract and vitamins (Selcon) are good things to add for your fish especially if they're sick.

 

[isa]

I like the rubbermaid idea since I would not have to buy an additional tank. The thing is if you guys are not in a favour of an hospital tank because it could stress the sick fish, I will do the same thing as you. I have tortoises and I know how much the stress factor can be a risk.

 

[wontonflip]

You should never medicate in your main tank. Most of the medications can kill your inverts and corals, hence why people set up a separate hospital tank, where they can treat their fish. Meds like copper especially are not good for reefs -- it will be nearly impossible to remove copper once you put it in.

 

[isa]

Thanks Wontonflip.

How long do you guys keep the sick fish in the main tank to give him time to heal by himself before treating him?

 

[wontonflip]

There's no easy answer for that...it really depends. If they start looking worse, then yeah, it's time to take it out and treat it....but the catch is that it's already stressed from being sick...chasing it around w/ a net will stress it more. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't type of situation. Leave it alone, it might get better, it might not. Treat it, it might survive treatment, it might not. Hence why I said it's really a judgment call.

From MY own personal experience, I've had bad luck catching and treating sick fish. They both died, and I highly doubt it was from being sick...it was probably from the stress and from the treatment. So I'm more in the side of making last minute judgment calls. It really depends.

If you're that concerned, then increase your chances of having healthy fish by getting fish ONLY from reputable places, and treat ALL the fish from day 1, following the treatment guidelines. Yes, it's time consuming....but people here who qt all their fish do great with their fish. If I were to redo my 125g, I would have treated all my fish from the start.

 

[chuck78]

I only QT if a fish looks sick. It does pay to have a QT when u get a new fish though. IE: If a current resident is territorial, place him/her in the QT for 3-7 days while new fish get orientated and relaxed. This method decreases chance of an ICH OUTBREAK brought on by new fish

 

[Bifferwine]

Good advice so far! I also don't quarantine new fish. And you don't need to quarantine inverts or corals. You should always dip new corals though, as they very frequently come with pests.

 

[Jmck]

All my SPS come with little crabs :D and a couple of clams have come with clam shrimps ;)

Dont know about pests, because my lfs does his own qt of everything before he sells it

 

[isa]

Thanks for the input Wontonflip, Chuck,Sarah,and Josh.
Sorry if I sound stupid but what does SPS mean :)?

So I will not quarantine my new fishes but will wait 3 weeks before adding a new one. So my first fish will be able to spend all his time alone with the inverts before having another fish friend added in the tank lol :

In what do you dip new corals before putting them in the tank? Corrals are not easy as I thought and because of them, there are all kinds of inverts and fishes I can add to my tank because they will eat it... I will have to see if corals is something I really want. That is sad because I think they look fabulous in a tank and the fishes look like they like to hide in it too.