do you quarantine your new additions?

[Aqua-Digital]

Originally Posted by Myka

That's because people don't know how to do it. They shove a fish in a tiny tank that isn't cycled or use medication that kills biological bacteria, don't use Prime/AmQuel/etc, and say quarantine killed the fish. No, the quarantine didn't kill the fish, the hobbyist killed the fish. Many people can't even recognize when they have done something wrong - no idea what ammonia poisoning looks like, or which medications to use/when.

Best words spoken on this whole thread.

[Skimmer Juice]

If you have fish you care about QT new additions. You may get lucky by not qt your fish . I have a 10 year old puffer I would never in a million years add a fish to the tank with out full qt . I try to avoid treating fish in the qt with medication unless absolutely necessary . Prefer to try to let them get over sickness on there own . I'm guessing the people who never qt have yet to have a fish for over 5 - 10 years ? If you have a fish for that amount of time would you risk killing the fish over adding a new fish form a store? Not worth skipping the qt process. Basically I had a longhorn cowfish for 5 years grew it from a baby , I decided to add a $500 golden puffer to the tank who looked fine in the store was eating no visible signs of anything . 5 days in he wiped out every fish in my tank including the cow and the golden puffer. That was the last time I have added anything to my tank without qt .

[SiliconGuy]

I put everything in quarantine for 3 good weeks.

If you think about it, quarantine benefits of both the new arrival and the established inhabitants in the DT.
If the new arrivals dies in QT (touch wood, never happened to me), it probably would not have stood a chance in the DT.

While not judgmental, I'm surprised to see the apparent majority that do not use a QT.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by SiliconGuy

I'm surprised to see the apparent majority that do not use a QT.

Not surprised at all. QT requires extra time and money, and requires patience. All things that go against the grain for the vast majority of people in the hobby.

My QT is a 50g in my kitchen that I have to apologize to my wife about all the time. Takes work, extra salt, etc. Not something most people would do, and I wouldn't either if I hadn't lost over 3k in fish in the last 2 years. Now it's only smart for me to do it. I don't like it, but it's necessary.

[SiliconGuy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Not surprised at all. QT requires extra time and money, and requires patience. All things that go against the grain for the vast majority of people in the hobby.

OK, point taken. Well I guess then that we have two groups:
the ones that have been burnt and the ones that will

Much like backing up your computer before loosing data...

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by SiliconGuy

OK, point taken. Well I guess then that we have two groups:
the ones that have been burnt and the ones that will

Much like backing up your computer before loosing data...

Ya. I bet if you're bored, you can find old posts by me very against QT. Didn't believe in it at all, and not even from a lazy or money standpoint. But having watched all my fish die, I'm never doing that again as long as I can help it.

But, there are lots of different people in the hobby. Some can't afford it. Some have more money than they know what to do with and don't mind replacing fish. Some think they're "just fish". Some don't care. Some can't afford it, some don't have room to do it, some can't or won't make the time.

Some of us can't afford not to do it

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by SiliconGuy

OK, point taken. Well I guess then that we have two groups:
the ones that have been burnt and the ones that will

Much like backing up your computer before loosing data...

Good one,... Now, hmmm, when did I last back up my computer?... Gonna have to dust off that old external drive, maybe this weekend. Thanks for the reminder.

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Ya. I bet if you're bored, you can find old posts by me very against QT. Didn't believe in it at all, and not even from a lazy or money standpoint. But having watched all my fish die, I'm never doing that again as long as I can help it.

Happy to see you are still a convert...

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Happy to see you are still a convert...

I have to be, I'm not one of those guys that can afford to replace tankfuls of fish on a regular basis And I actually get attached to the fish I have, and hate seeing them die. I'm really a softie inside -lol

[seabreeze]

Originally Posted by SiliconGuy

OK, point taken. Well I guess then that we have two groups:
the ones that have been burnt and the ones that will

Much like backing up your computer before loosing data...

Perfectly said!

[theokie]

I used to do a 2 to 3 day observation, seperate tank, just hit them with Prazipro to deworm and was fine. For almost 2 years. Then I got some Lammark's angels and didn't acclimate them separately as I wanted to get them eating in my reef, and they brought velvet. After having to tear down a 200 gallon tank 48x48 in order to catch the remaining fish to treat. I'm going to do the all out full multi-month quarantine. I lost close to 1500 in fish, some of which I had become quite attached too.

you may be fine with the gamble, and well ick doesn't kill healthy fish, when Velvet strikes you will understand why people go to such great lengths to quarantine.

On the plus side, this curbs any impulse buying as well, as I currently only have one 75 gallon tank dedicated to quarantine.