I learned my lesson, big time. I added an Orange shoulder tang (epulete) to my 90 and with in two days it was dead, the day or two after I started loosing fish. I'm assuming it was Amyloodinium (sp).
Keeping a new fish seperate from the established tank can serve a couple of purposes, first off, you can observe the fish in isolation, if something appears to be off you can treat it with out having to rip apart all your rock etc. If after a couple of weeks your fish seems fine, then you can take the plunge and add it to your tank, OR you can play it really safe and give that fish a couple more wweks on it's own. During the time in isolation the fish won't have to compete for food with other fish, chances are it will be fattened up and in top notch shape when it gets put into the main tank. At that point the fish will have enough energy etc to deal with being the new kid on the block.
I'm surprised by how many people don't use an isolation tank as well but I do understand some people don't have the room, and despite the potential benefits it is a pain to have a QT tank set up etc. Who ever said the price of a couple fish would pay for that QT tank was right on the money. I'm of the mind set that if you don't QT and you haven't lost a bunch of fish to disease that was brought in by a new fish, you're lucky. I hope your luck doesn't run out.
Doug
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