To those of you who DON'T quarantine...

[Delphinus]

My one and only foray into QT'ing new fish was a disastrous experiment. I got scared into trying the QT for fear of introducing something like velvet into the main DT after it happened to a couple friends of mine in the last year.

Before that I had always introduced new fish straight into the DT. Some would develop ich, sometimes a couple spots would spread to other fish but in 2-3 days would be gone.

I'm left wondering if my QT tank "saved" my current inhabitants, or whether the sudden jump in bioload on the QT tank simply crashed the system and left it unable to sustain fish. The latter case is clearly the more likely I would think.

So QT'ing definitely requires a bit of caution in the setup, and definitely needs slow additions as well if there isn't already a steady state cycle in place. Ie., one fish at a time .. and perhaps some long-term inhabitants in that tank as well just to keep the cycle going. Of course this means you already have a pretty good idea that the new fish is probably already healthy. If not then maybe it needs to be passed on purchase, or go into a more hospital type setup (but that may have worse consequences, I don't know).

[Leah]

I have to agree with Laurie. I am a huge fan of Seachem stability when I Q.T.

[prodogg02]

i must be lucky as in 5 years i hav never qt a fish only issue was adding a regal tank bam just like that it had ich.other than that no issues i hav no space or buget for a second sw tank.hope i dont jinks myself here.

[Atomikk]

The value of quarantining new fish gets displayed only when hobbyists encounter Marine Velvet in their reef tank. It is really unfortunate that many do not use their QTs.

I have seen it too many times, and it is really hard to understand why a simple process is not practised. A 20 gallon tank, with a trickle filter, airstone/powerhead, ammonia detector (SeaChem made), some PVC (2" or 4" cut pieces, or Ts and elbows), heater, and a light (CFL). That is it. All for under 100$.

[Albertan22]

Ok, for those that are QTing then, what kind of survival rates do you get and what are you doing to increase the fish's chances? Ken mentioned drip aclimating and using products like selcon or garlic. I haven't been using a dietary supplement, but my doomed fish have always been eating, active and healthy looking (except for the one clown with the growth). They seem to take a turn for the worse within one or two days when they die. They won't eat one day (usually around a week in), then they're dead sometime over the next two days.

The two fish that did survive through QT are thriving and have been happy as can be in my DT for many weeks now, so it's not like I can't keep saltwater fish alive...

[BlueWorldAquatic]

What do you have for flow & such in your QT tank?

Ken

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Albertan22

Ok, for those that are QTing then, what kind of survival rates do you get and what are you doing to increase the fish's chances? Ken mentioned drip aclimating and using products like selcon or garlic. I haven't been using a dietary supplement, but my doomed fish have always been eating, active and healthy looking (except for the one clown with the growth). They seem to take a turn for the worse within one or two days when they die. They won't eat one day (usually around a week in), then they're dead sometime over the next two days.

The two fish that did survive through QT are thriving and have been happy as can be in my DT for many weeks now, so it's not like I can't keep saltwater fish alive...

Qt set up should be around a 20g tank with a heater, airstone and pvc hidding places. I have found that the most important thing with QT to prevent healthy fish from dying, is that you have to do a 40%-50% water change every two to three days, no exceptions. This is because that is the only way I have found to keep ammonia and nitrate levels down low enough so that it doesn't spike causing the fish in QT to die.

[Atomikk]

Originally Posted by Albertan22

Ok, for those that are QTing then, what kind of survival rates do you get and what are you doing to increase the fish's chances? Ken mentioned drip aclimating and using products like selcon or garlic. I haven't been using a dietary supplement, but my doomed fish have always been eating, active and healthy looking (except for the one clown with the growth). They seem to take a turn for the worse within one or two days when they die. They won't eat one day (usually around a week in), then they're dead sometime over the next two days.

The two fish that did survive through QT are thriving and have been happy as can be in my DT for many weeks now, so it's not like I can't keep saltwater fish alive...

That's is a sign of something else.. like cyanide. All cyanide caught fish display those types of symptoms. Sudden loss of appetite, and then the next day they perish. Usually when fish don't want to eat, they are sick. But when a fish dies within a day or two, it must be cyanide (unless there are visible signs of distress).

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Definatly a possibility of Cyanide caught fish. Hawaii fish are really bad for it, also possibility of copper in the system, we found Angels don't like that.

Ken