Quarantine & Salinity

[Scuba Diver Gal]

Now that we have a quarantine tank, what salinity should we keep it at for new fish we buy? How long do you quarantine new fish?

Maybe this is a dumb question…

[LoJack]

Personally I keep my quarantines parameters as close to my main tanks parameters as possible, makes for a more seamless transition when you transfer to display.

[dino]

I run lower salinity in my quarenteen when its running then slowly raise it to match my tank when ready

[Sunee]

I keep my quarantine close to the main tank and quarantine for at least one month, sometimes longer (up to 2 months).

[xenon]

Originally Posted by dino

I run lower salinity in my quarenteen when its running then slowly raise it to match my tank when ready

+1.

Match your QT salinity to what your fish arrives at from the LFS. Its usually between 1.018-1.022.

Then slowly bring it up to the same parameters as your display when its time to put them in.

[asylumdown]

It really depends on what you're doing in your QT tank. If you've decided that your'e going to QT everything under the hypo salinity protocol, then you keep your salinity exactly within that range. If you're not doing hypo, I can't really see a reason why you would hold the salinity at anything other than what you keep your display tank at. Keeping it at slightly lower salinity but not low enough to call it hypo could potentially mask certain problems and erroneously lead you to believe your fish are free of parasites when they are not. I know of at least one LFS here that does that, every time I bring fish home from them I test the SG in the bag water at 1.018. It's not low enough to outright kill something like ich, but it is low enough to suppress it to the point where you might not notice it.

[Scuba Diver Gal]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

It really depends on what you're doing in your QT tank. If you've decided that your'e going to QT everything under the hypo salinity protocol, then you keep your salinity exactly within that range. If you're not doing hypo, I can't really see a reason why you would hold the salinity at anything other than what you keep your display tank at. Keeping it at slightly lower salinity but not low enough to call it hypo could potentially mask certain problems and erroneously lead you to believe your fish are free of parasites when they are not. I know of at least one LFS here that does that, every time I bring fish home from them I test the SG in the bag water at 1.018. It's not low enough to outright kill something like ich, but it is low enough to suppress it to the point where you might not notice it.

Wow. Never thought of that. We have a lot to learn still