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.