QT tanks. Seriously, WTF??

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by fishytime

Sorry about your fish Christy. We grossly underestimate the stress putting a net to a fish causes. I compare it to hooking the fish with a rod and reel. Conservationists and wildlife officers have long known that a small percentage of properly released game fish die from a build up of stress induced lactic acid. Fish simply cant get rid of LA like warm blooded creatures. When you go in and try and net a fish you are not only stressing your "target" fish, but every other fish in the tank as well. Then if your fish survives the QT treatment process, you stress him out again catching him and putting him back in the display.

Oh I totally agree, however in this case he was just laying there. The process of netting the fish (from the outside observer) was fairly easy and uneventful. However, he perked up after transfer to the QT and looked quite stressed before eventually settling down (into eventual death I suppose). I dunno, sometimes I believe that QT tanks are just ammonia factories and I really believe that between the ammonia (I didn't test it) and the stress of the new environment likely caused his demise. Then again, he was just laying there in the display tank too. Ultimately we can only speculate.

[RuGlu6]

QT for new fish YES!
QT for the ones that in the display tank NO! too much stress + infection+net scratching

[mark]

I've done the QT thing and lost fish as well. First time believe was a NH3 spike (can rise surprisingly fast) on a newly set up QT.

Last time I tried QT was for a new fish. I placed a Potters in my 20g fuge that had been set up for awhile. I isolated it from the display (thought if something did show up, would just toss the macro), added a heater, SS65, monitored ammonia and still the fish died after about 3 weeks.

Really believe in the idea of the QT, just not having much luck with them.

[aussiefishy]

The QT issue should NOT be up for debate. It should be used for all new livestock and existing wounded/sick specimen Period.

The poped-eye sickness was induced due to environmental stress factors. ie: existing wound on eye, chemical imbalance in saltwater causing immunodeficiencies at the eye site. the best way to treat poped eye, in my opinion, is to use freshwater dips.

certainly, there will be additional stress induced to the specimen when catching it. but on the contrary, what is the chances for the fish to survive without intervention?

My experience tells me it is far, far cheaper to have a new or wounded specimen die in your QT than watching your main tank inhabitants die off one after another slowly.

The QT have saved me so much money in the past 5 years, that i am convinced this is the best practice to be employed at all times.