QT or not QT

tlo · #1 03-31-2010, 03:26 PM

I always quarantine everything before it goes in my tank. There are alot of posts out there about the griefs of not doing so. (ie - velvet wiping out a tank) and I can honestly say that I have an ich free tank. I also quarantine all my corals before they go in the display.

marie · #2 03-31-2010, 03:33 PM

I quarantined all my fish, it's more then making sure they don't infect your other fish with disease. It's about making sure the fish is eating and is getting used to living in a glass home without the added competition of other fish

Lance · #3 03-31-2010, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marie

I quarantined all my fish, it's more then making sure they don't infect your other fish with disease. It's about making sure the fish is eating and is getting used to living in a glass home without the added competition of other fish

+1 Fatten him up so he can compete with the others in his new home.

mike31154 · #4 03-31-2010, 03:35 PM

Quarantine is insurance against mishaps, but I'm guilty of not using it as well. If you have a good handle on how your LFS or supplier handles their livestock & systems, your chances of problems are minimized, so QT may be overkill. You just never know for sure. Even QT is not an absolute guarantee against problems down the road. Some species of fish don't handle the stress of QT environment either, so may be more harm than good. Some research on the particular species is useful to determine whether it's better to QT or not. For example, I don't believe quarantining a Mandarin Dragonet is useful or beneficial. They have a particular slime coat which protects them from predation as well as disease. In addition, they need live pods to survive & stay healthy and I think it may be difficult to provide sufficient nourishment in a small QT tank. A tang on the other hand, is purportedly an ich magnet, so quarantining one of those might be a very good idea.