The cons of quarantine

[Aquattro]

So, not having a really well established QT tank may have contributed to the new leopard wrasse not surviving. New water with a few pounds of mature sand and 25 pounds of good rock, so figured it would be fine. Not so much...

Kills me, I'm pretty sure if it had gone into the display, it would have had a better chance. Of course it could have killed everything else too, so what ya gonna do....

[cuz]

all true!! Some fish are better off without quarantine but it does put all other fish at risk. I gambled with my new tank and so far things are ok. I know there is ich present but have yet to see it re surface on any of the fish since transfering them over.

[reefwars]

yeah that sucks , i guess the best thing to do is keep a small tank running(40-50g) treat it like a normal reeftank . keep it basically fishless untill you get new fish. fish go in here for their first week and if they are in need of meds out they come to go full qt. if they seem healthy and alive for that week then they can stay untill they go into the display to really get adjusted.

i love the idea of qt but its def risky both ways .....you add straight to and everything dies...you add to qt and the stress or some other small factor kills it.

not everyone is going to be able to set up a small tank i know that but it does help to have something stable mature and running all the time .

and the way i see it is fish know their habitats and they arnt dumb they know when we are watching, they know when we are in the tank and they know foreign objects to a point. the best chance we have at making them feel at home is to provide as close to what we can to a full ecosystem.

i also believe only qt 1 fish at a time( i dont stick to this so so i bet others dont either lol) but it should be how its done.

did i ever mention how i find fish to be the leading cause in reefstress lol??

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by reefwars

i love the idea of qt but its def risky both ways .....you add straight to and everything dies...you add to qt and the stress or some other small factor kills it.

Yup, but rather lose one fish than all the fish plus the new one. I haven't even paid for this one yet, gotta to the LFS and see what it cost me

I'm going to leave this running now as a grow out/murderous hermit home, maybe a damsel or clown to maintain bacterial populations. Essentially a ghetto reef in the basement -lol

[reefermadness]

The best qt is one that runs inline with the display IMO. Also with the option of taking it offline if you need to treat.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by reefermadness

The best qt is one that runs inline with the display IMO. Also with the option of taking it offline if you need to treat.

That makes zero sense.

[sphelps]

I feel your pain Brad, I just lost a pair of Golden Butterflies and a Blond Naso. On top of that the Emperor Angel isn't looking too good either. Not sure I'll continue QT at this point, all fish were healthy and doing well, QT tanks are quite large considering and fully cycled with everything you would normally include. At this rate it hardly seems worth the effort, if you have to keep buying new fish to put into to QT it won't take long to exceed the value of the whole tank, a total wipe-out is rare and starting to seem well worth the risk.

[wmcinnes]

Originally Posted by reefermadness

The best qt is one that runs inline with the display IMO. Also with the option of taking it offline if you need to treat.

That is basically the same as putting them directly into your DT.

Originally Posted by sphelps

I feel your pain Brad, I just lost a pair of Golden Butterflies and a Blond Naso. On top of that the Emperor Angel isn't looking too good either. Not sure I'll continue QT at this point, all fish were healthy and doing well, QT tanks are quite large considering and fully cycled with everything you would normally include. At this rate it hardly seems worth the effort, if you have to keep buying new fish to put into to QT it won't take long to exceed the value of the whole tank, a total wipe-out is rare and starting to seem well worth the risk.

I agree! I have lost a Leopard Wrasse, Powder blue tang, royal gramma and yellow coris wrasse all within the last while in QT. I have a couple more in there now that look good but then again the others did too right up until they died. Im starting to think that a quick freshwater dip or formalin bath and then into the DT may be the way to go..

[windcoast reefs]

I have had some really bad luck with quarantine tanks to, my solution was just to stop buying fish!

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by windcoast reefs

I have had some really bad luck with quarantine tanks to, my solution was just to stop buying fish!

Agreed, although my collection still wants a leopard wrasse and anachilles tang. Once I've got those, I'm done.