Quarantine first group into empty tank?

Mr. Demeanor · 02/25/2012, 09:43 AM

Sooner or later I will start stocking my 125. There are no fish now and I plan on buying my first group, maybe 4-5 fish, from my LFS. It is fully cycled.
These fish will all be coming out of the same water and all be going into the same water regardless of whether its my display or QT. Whats the advantage to quarantine? My QT tank is only 10 gallons so I am thinking that my display will be less stressful.

snorvich · 02/25/2012, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Demeanor

Sooner or later I will start stocking my 125. There are no fish now and I plan on buying my first group, maybe 4-5 fish, from my LFS. It is fully cycled.
These fish will all be coming out of the same water and all be going into the same water regardless of whether its my display or QT. Whats the advantage to quarantine? My QT tank is only 10 gallons so I am thinking that my display will be less stressful.

Well, it depends. If you need to treat with copper (velvet, ich), then treating in a display tank makes it unusable for corals. And, of course, your live rock and sand now absorb copper making maintenance of levels much more difficult. Going slow has major benefits in this hobby.

Mr. Demeanor · 02/25/2012, 09:55 AM

I see your point on that. I guess it may depend on what fish I decide on and if they would be easy to remove if a disease developed. One of the issues I have is that I want a Mandarin goby and I have an incredible amount of pods in my DT. I worry about quarantine of a Mandarin in a bare tank. I guess that could go in by itself as they are easy to catch if needed.

jong11 · 02/25/2012, 10:15 AM

It's amazing how fast your pods will be eaten. Just something to think about.

Mr. Demeanor · 02/25/2012, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jong11

It's amazing how fast your pods will be eaten. Just something to think about.

This is where they are living. They are covering every inch of the rock. I have some about 1/4" long. Nothing really preying on them now except a coral banded I am keeping for cycling the tank.

Palting · 02/25/2012, 01:58 PM

Beautiful set-up! Really nice.

As far as QT, I would QT all fish from the get-go. This advice is coming from a guy whose tank with 11 fish already in it developed Ich after several months due to lack of QT. It's a pain!! If your QT is small, then don't do multiple fish. Buy only the number fish your QT can sustain at a time. I would also prophylactically treat, but that's a separate discussion altogether.

As for the mandarin, I did treat one mandarin with hyposalinity. He was in QT for 6 weeks. He survived, but barely. He got real thin, looked ike a tadpole with a big head and small body. Anyway, my main fear is Ich, and mandarins are highly resistant to Ich. So, for my second mandarin, I did not QT him.

Agu · 02/25/2012, 06:33 PM

You don't need to use a glass tank as your QT, a large plastic tub works just fine.

QT is not just about disease, it's also about getting them eating and healthy. I didn't QT a pair of Bangaii because they came from the same tank and were going to be the only fish in the new tank. However they wouldn't eat. I had to basically pollute the tank with food to find something they would eat. It would have been a lot easier if I had over fed the quarantine tank.

Mandarins are one of the few fish IMO that don't benefit from being quarantined for ich. However if they're not eating prepared foods it's more forgiving to flood a Q tank with various foods to get them eating prepared foods.

02/25/2012, 09:43 AM	#1
Mr. Demeanor Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 298	Quarantine first group into empty tank? Sooner or later I will start stocking my 125. There are no fish now and I plan on buying my first group, maybe 4-5 fish, from my LFS. It is fully cycled. These fish will all be coming out of the same water and all be going into the same water regardless of whether its my display or QT. Whats the advantage to quarantine? My QT tank is only 10 gallons so I am thinking that my display will be less stressful.

02/25/2012, 10:15 AM	#4
jong11 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Maine Posts: 396	It's amazing how fast your pods will be eaten. Just something to think about. __________________ 10 gallon nano - par 38 led bulb, 2 hk nano 240gph, 75w jager heater, aquaclear 70 (w/ ac 20 impeller), rkl controller Current Tank Info: 10 gal nano, 40 gal breeder (in progress)

02/25/2012, 01:58 PM	#6
Palting Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,912	Beautiful set-up! Really nice. As far as QT, I would QT all fish from the get-go. This advice is coming from a guy whose tank with 11 fish already in it developed Ich after several months due to lack of QT. It's a pain!! If your QT is small, then don't do multiple fish. Buy only the number fish your QT can sustain at a time. I would also prophylactically treat, but that's a separate discussion altogether. As for the mandarin, I did treat one mandarin with hyposalinity. He was in QT for 6 weeks. He survived, but barely. He got real thin, looked ike a tadpole with a big head and small body. Anyway, my main fear is Ich, and mandarins are highly resistant to Ich. So, for my second mandarin, I did not QT him. __________________ Anything I post is just an opinion. One of many in this hobby. Believe and follow at your own risk of rapid and complete annihilation of all life in your tank :) Current Tank Info: Incept 3/2010, 150 RR, 50g sump, 20g fuge, 150w 15K MH x3, T5 actinics x8, moonlight LED x6, 1400gph return, Koralia 1400 x4, 300 g skimmer, 4 tangs, 2 mandarins, 2 perc, 6 line, 3 cardinals, 2 firefish, SPS, LPS, zoas, palys, shrooms, clam

02/25/2012, 06:33 PM	#7
Agu Registered Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: Sarasota, Florida Posts: 30,279	You don't need to use a glass tank as your QT, a large plastic tub works just fine. QT is not just about disease, it's also about getting them eating and healthy. I didn't QT a pair of Bangaii because they came from the same tank and were going to be the only fish in the new tank. However they wouldn't eat. I had to basically pollute the tank with food to find something they would eat. It would have been a lot easier if I had over fed the quarantine tank. Mandarins are one of the few fish IMO that don't benefit from being quarantined for ich. However if they're not eating prepared foods it's more forgiving to flood a Q tank with various foods to get them eating prepared foods. __________________ Less technology , more biology . Current Tank Info: 30 gallon half cube and 5.5, both reef tanks

02/25/2012, 09:55 AM	#3
Mr. Demeanor Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 298	I see your point on that. I guess it may depend on what fish I decide on and if they would be easy to remove if a disease developed. One of the issues I have is that I want a Mandarin goby and I have an incredible amount of pods in my DT. I worry about quarantine of a Mandarin in a bare tank. I guess that could go in by itself as they are easy to catch if needed.