In aquarium keeping, this is probably the best investment you can have.
Any fish I purchase gets a nice freshwater dip for a while, then goes into the quarantine. Water changes from my main tank are increased, and some of it goes straight into the quarantine to assist with climatization (my main tank is in excellent shape; at most, I'm introducing a bit of nitrate). Temperature and salinity are kept the same so that introduction to my main tank takes a minimal amount of time.
New fish has a parasite? Parasite is contained away from the main system.
New fish has an illness? Illness cannot spread to other fish.
If I have a fish that needs medication, I can place the fish in the quarantine to keep the medication from seeping into the liverock and substrate.
Really, this is the best protection for your system that you can have. How many of you are protecting your investment in livestock with a simple, small minimalist tank?
2008-07-11T17:59:02Z
I'll admit I was preachy...got a little carried away.
But I was genuinely interested in whether or not most people follow this simple, incredibly useful procedure.
BobW2008-07-12T16:57:04Z
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Yes, I use a QT. I agree with the statement of dabom that if a fish is going to get sick it's going to get sick but not with the conclusion. If a fish is going to get sick I don't want it in my main tank. I want it in a QT so that I can feel free to treat it. My QT is smaller than my main tank and therefore I use less meds to treat the fish and my healthy fish stay that way. I learned this the hard way but it isn't all gravy. I've killed fish in QT by trying to do QT the way most people suggest; an uncycled tank with daily water changes. That just kills fish for me. I ultimately decided that my QT was going to be a cycled aquarium. I keep something in the tank to keep the cycle going. When a new fish comes in the current inhabitant will get to move to the big tank.
It depends on the person and their experiences with fish and diseases. I do not personally use any quarantine because if the fish is going to get sick, they're going to get sick. For two, I don't believe in quarantine because it's a waste of time for me. For three, I never mix any water from my tank to the bag of water. What I do is, I let the fish in the bag sit in the room until it reaches room temperature, after that, I then pour the bag of water out with the fish into my net, then I gently place the fish into my display tank, I keep the fish in the net until I see it ready to swim.
Diseases needs to be taken care of, the temperature of the water will not kill off the diseases. You have to understand that even freshwater dips for marine fish will also not be that accurate. It may cause more harm than good by dipping it into freshwater. My theory is, the reason why freshwater dips can cause more harm than good is because if you dip your marine fish into freshwater, then you put it back into saltwater, this will cause the fish to go into shock. This tends to be the case. You can cause more stress on the fish, although marine ich does tend to explode in freshwater, this is not always the case.
Marine ich which is Cryptocaryon irritans is a parasite which can adapt to lower salinities. The reason why they recommend quarantines is that if you have live rock, live coral and invertebrates, majority of the treatment methods will kill the live rocks, live corals and invertebrates, whereas, if you have fish only tank, you don't necessarily need a quarantine tank. Quarantine tanks are usually for if you have these live rocks, corals and invertebrates, also including eels.
The basics that you really need to avoid all this problems with diseases is, proper filtration, proper nutrition, proper care for the tank, and knowing the diseases and how to treat it without harming any of your fishes.
I tried this technique for marine ich, Since water conditioners and stress coats adds more slime to the fish, I use these things everyday, after feeding time. Also, I use these things when water evaporates or when I change water.
What the slime does for the fish is to protect it from parasites burying into their skin. And because I have been doing this for awhile now, the fishes don't have too many diseases. It is down to a minimal. And I was surprised because one guy told me that he's going to buy water conditioners just to add the slime for the fish. And then someone else told me that it will help boost the fishes immune system.
So I thought I'd give it a try, and yes, it sure did work. It works wonderfully, If you don't know what you are doing, I will not recommend this, but this is through my knowledge, if you get any product that will add slime to the fish, I would recommend you to use it, but don't abuse it. This will reduce the ammount of marine parasites burying themselves on your fish and or infesting your tank, so all in all, Quarantines are not necessary.
A Real good question that you have there, thumbs up for you............
Um, this isn't really a question. It's more of a you-want-to-tell-us-what-you-know sort of thing (not that that's bad :)) Yeah, I keep a quarantine tank, but just by accident. I read it was a good idea to have one, but was certainly not going to invest in another tank (I don't have that valuable a collection). I started out with a 10 gallon tank, and recently upgraded to a 45 gal one. So I decided to keep the 10, incase I ever needed it.
I have a quarantine bucket, and a quarantine filter and heater to go with that quarantine bucket... Unfortunately, it usually lasts a week at best, as I am rather impacient, and it's a bit difficult to see your new fish in a bucket... If I had space, I would, and I'm sure it'll take more than just space for me to make the move... rather an outbreak that ends up killing my Discus. I agree, it's probably the best investment you can make, especially in marine or planted tanks, where medications will be detrimental to the environment (live rock, live sand, biofilter, plants, corals, inverts, etc.).
Interesting post. But more of a statement/poll then a question. But to answer your question. No. I have one tank with one fish. No quarantine necessary!
But in my previous tanks (which were more community tanks), I did not have a quarantine. I never ran into any issues.