Who uses quarantine tanks?
 

We all have read about the benefits of a quarantine tank when introducing new livestock into our aquariums. However, it can be a hassle to set up such a tank. I felt it was time for a new poll and want to know who actually uses a quarantine tank, what they quarantine and for how long.

I can't even reach the bottom of my tank and find it very difficult to remove anything once introduced into my system. Therefore, I want to be confident that what ever goes into my tank is as healthy as possible and hopefully free of disease. Therefore, I have a 44 gal quarantine tank constantly stocked and running and add new fish and inverts for 2-3 weeks. I don't have strong lighting on the quarantine tanks and thus add corals directly to the main tank (probably should also quarantine and/or dip).

i QT and dip. i mean really, the dip takes at the most ten minutes. real easy and a precaution that we should all be taking.

for while i didnt bother QTing and then i ended up getting a bad case of ich and ended up with a tank full of dead fish. ever since, ive been kicking myself for being stupid enough to take that risk in the first place.

I Qt all fish, if for one reason or another qt has to be cut short I'll treat prophylactically. Corals get dip and qt.

How do you do your dip? Does anyone use any commercial products?

A Lugol's dip?

In the past I didn't QT anything. I recently went through a bout of ICH and lost my Regal. I have since learnt my lesson and now have a QT. My justification for not having was it's only a 75 I can get a fish out without a problem..while true, I had no where to put it! Now that I recently upgraded to a large tank, I won't take the risk of putting anything in that hasn't been QT'ed. I simply won't be able to get things out as easily.

For corals I have used Lugols. It's not a complete answer but what it does do is make the parasites if any leave the coral. You can then at least see/identify them in the dip container and proceed accordingly. My last few frags I used TMPCC as a dip rather than Lugol's but same idea.. For fish I have used Formalin, Prazipro and fresh water.

after killing a whole tank full of fish everything goes in the qt

I use a QT tank as well. I cannot imagine killing my fish due to my impatience.

I just do a standard freshwater dip. mind you, lugol's would be nice, but i think the FW dip is sufficient. oh, and i dip before and after QT.

I dip all my frags going in, and if I can, I dip them on the way out as well. I use Tropic Marin Coral Pro Cure, and Interceptor (only if I feel a need, and only on incoming frags). I never used to dip frags, but after a complete tank wipe out, frags, and fish in 2005 due to red bugs, I am compulsive about it.

I don't currently use QT because I'm not adding anything anymore, and I have a severe space restriction. However, I used to QT and did hyposalinity on fish when possible.

Fish get quarantine.

Acros get quarantine and red bug treatment.

All my corals are going to get Flatworm Exit as well from now on.

I assume all the treatments are for incoming corals? May I ask what using Flatworm Exit is like?

I just did it yesterday. Cost me my White Cheek Tang:cry: Multiply the number of flatworms you can see by 2 or 3 hundred to give you the total number in your tank.

I thought I was witnessing the end of my tank. I'm going to do another treatment next Saturday to make sure I got them all. I hope I never see the little buggers again! From now on everything incoming will be treated.

Cryptocaryon, Red Bugs, Flatworms. Sometimes I wonder why I keep an aquarium! The only line of defense is quarantine to keep them all out.

I'm so sorry to hear that. So your treating your whole tank right now with flatworm exit, and then from now on you'll treat each individual incoming coral?

That's the plan.

Where do you get your flatworm exit. I understand it doesn't meet Canadian standards for "drugs" and therefore most stores don't sell it. J&L has pulled it too.

Quarantine or dip
 

I had been using a quarantine for about six months, and then was advised against it by my LFS. It appeared that about 1/3 of the peopleworking at the LFS did baths and used a quarantine and the other 2/3 did not. I discussed the issue at length with a group of people working at the LFS and at the end of the day, concluded that I would not dip or use a QT. While everything on the Internet and in the books strongly suggests a quarantine, the arguments against using one seem equally as strong. The main argument is that the strongest determinant of fish health is water quality and that it is almost impossible to get as good a water quality in your QT as it is in your display tank. Unless you are willing to basically duplicate the equipment from your display on your QT, you might be doing the fish more harm than good by using a QT. This seems to be the conclusion reached by most of the people working at the LFS.

Am I the only one that has come to this same conclusion? Not according to the results of the poll ;-)

To me the biggest reason to quarantine new fish is to protect the fish that you already have in your tank. If I hadn't quarantined my achilles tang I would of lost all of my fish to marine velvet

Except for Gordon H, everyone posting a reply is in favor of quarantine and/or dipping, often because of personal experience. If done properly, I think the benefits greatly outweigh the negatives.

Maybe we should talk about ways to quarantine that reduce stress on the animals/corals. If done poorly, it may just add more stress to the anima or coral. I am always worried about plopping a fish into a newly set up quarantine tank with the potential added stress of the tank cycling. Therefore, I have a 44 gal tank always running with a filter, protein skimmer, and a few permanent resident fish. As a result, the quarantine tank is already stable. I do weekly water changes, alternating between new SW and water from the main tank. Before moving a fish out of the quarantine tank, I will do additional water changes using water from the main tank so the water in both tanks is as similar as possible. However, this requires additional time to keep the quarantine tank running constantly; but personally I think it provides the least amount of stress on new arrivals.

I agree with you Shane, we should have a thread, or even a sticky about how to QT or dip fish/corals with the least amount of stress as possible.

No, not according to the results of the poll. However, it is difficult to condone not Qt'ing or whatever that dipping thing is..:lol:

I don't QT. In fact, I bought a fish with full blown ick and threw it into my reef tank, knowing that good food, good water quality, etc. would cure it in a hurry. And it did, because my existing fish were healthy.

However, for the new people, who rarely let their tank mature before adding yet another fish, or adding fish that do not suit the environment, this is not an option.

:biggrin:

Not trying to be argumentative and glad it worked out for you, but IMO probably not the best idea to expose a healthy tank to a known diseased fish. Skipping qt and dealing with ick is one thing but what would you have done if the fish had flukes or velvet?, neither of which have visible symptoms in the early stages.
The good water, stress free environment argument is often used as a reason not to qt but unfortunately poor conditions can arise in any system at anytime ie. holidays, power outages, equipment failure, work, sickness etc. The key is to keep the disease out of the display in the first place.
There is no reason a properly set-up qt should be a stressful environment nor should it get the blame for a fish death. If a fish dies in qt, there was something wrong with it and better it dies in qt rather than the display. If a healthy fish dies in qt, then there was something wrong with the qt procedure. I agree with Marie, the reason I qt is to protect my display, the many benefits to the new fish are secondary.

It is quite interesting that everyone writing in is all for QT and dipping and yet the results of the poll suggest most people do not do it.

If you only use a tank for QT - how do you keep the cycle running and the water quality good?

Hey mseepman you can get flatworm exit at Ocean Aquatics. Last time I was there he had about 4 boxes.

At the moment I have live rock in mine and I'm not planning on getting fish anytime soon but when i was stocking with fish I kept some sponges for a HOB filter in the sump of my display tank to keep them seeded.
When I was expecting a new fish I would fill the QT with fresh saltwater, put the sponges in the filter and if I had a few days before the fish arrived I would add a few mysis shrimp to keep the bacteria fed.

I've always bought fish from reliable sources, so I can't say I've ever run into a problem like that, well at least for eight years now.

No such luck on the west coast. Fish go through the shops so quick 3/4 of them have disease or they're too stressed from transport to put directly in my display with a bunch of crazed territorial maniacs.

I am only aware of one LFS that quarantines all their fish and won't let you buy them until "after" the 2 week quarantine period. Ideally, I like to observe fish over several weeks at the LFS before buying them. However, most of the fish I want are snatched up quickly. I also live out of town and only make it into Calgary every few months.

You need a "only quarantine/dip corals" option for me.....

same here, no problems. I also keep a neon goby in the tank in case of ick breakouts (nothing major so far, knock on wood)>

I don't get a lot of new fish anymore and the corals get a bath before going into my system.

If I get a fish from a reliable source then no I don't QT it. However if I get a fish from a LFS and don't know how long it's been there or what the fish might of been exposed to I QT it.

I voted for quarantine and dipping. All of my fish go into a 10gal quarantine tank, which allows me to observe anything out of the ordinary. If I notice ich, etc. they'll then get transferred into my hospital tank that is kept at a salinity between 12-14 for a minimum of 6weeks. I have not ever had ich in my display tank!

All corals get a lugols dip and a freshwater dip (as per Eric Boremans recommendations). They then go into the quarantine tank for a minimum of 6weeks for observation. I have never had any red bugs, aptasia, nudibranchs, etc.... in my display tank.

In my experience the hardest part is the waiting game, but it sure is worth it.

This is going to be a dumb question maybe
 

Hi all;

Newbie here just in the process of setting up a saltwater tank - reef with a few fish.
I'm filling the tank as we speak with RO water.
Liverock arrives late next week.
I'm going to cycle with liverock and had anticipated 4-6 weeks wait time, give or take.

I read all the posts about quarentine and it got me to thinking that perhaps I should have a small tank set up as well as a quarentine tank when the day comes that I can finally have livestock. I think I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Anyhow - my question is this - would it be wise for me to set up the quarentine tank at the same time, so that when my display tank is cycled, then the quarentine tank will also be cycled and ready to receive stock????

Or....would it be ok if I put some filter media in the sump of the display tank while it was cycling and when the cycle was complete....then drain some display tank water into the quarentine tank with the seeded filter media? Would that work, or would I still have a cycle to deal with in the quarentine tank????

I keep a filter sponge in my sump. When I go to the fish store I make sure I have a water change ready to go. If I find a fish (or coral) that I like, I do a water change while the animal is acclimatising and use the old water in the quarantine. The sponge goes into the filter, and by this time the animal is ready to go in the quarantine tank. I always keep an ammonia alert on the front of my quarantine just in case.

isnt the stress of moving a fish from qt to display enough to cause an ich outbreak

The whole point of a QT tank is to kill the Ich so you never have to worry about an outbreak again

If a fish has ich putting a net in the water can make the condition flare.

Yeah thats the idea.... :)