Should I Quarantine All Fish?

[Sundog101]

I have a royal gramma with Ich. He's in a 29G biocube reef tank with 3 other fish. I'm planning on seting up an emergency quarantine tank for the royal gramma, but if possible I would like to avoid quarantining the other fish. My question is, if my other fish ( clownfish pair and goby) are immune and not showing signs will the Ich parasite die off while the royal gramma is in qt for 6 weeks? I was thinking he would just get re infected when he goes back in the display. I know quarantining can sometime stress fish out and it makes me a little nervous moving all of them. Also what's your opinion on quarantining a sick fish? Thanks for help!!

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by Sundog101

I have a royal gramma with Ich. He's in a 29G biocube reef tank with 3 other fish. I'm planning on seting up an emergency quarantine tank for the royal gramma, but if possible I would like to avoid quarantining the other fish. My question is, if my other fish ( clownfish pair and goby) are immune and not showing signs will the Ich parasite die off while the royal gramma is in qt for 6 weeks? I was thinking he would just get re infected when he goes back in the display. I know quarantining can sometime stress fish out and it makes me a little nervous moving all of them. Also what's your opinion on quarantining a sick fish? Thanks for help!!

Your tank has ich. Fish do not have to show visible signs of ich in order to have it, and your tank, once exposed to any fish that has it, has it. You will need to treat all fish and leave your tank fallow for 72 days (for 100% guarantee)

[Deinonych]

Quarantine is not stressful, dying is.

[CoralsAddiction]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Your tank has ich. Fish do not have to show visible signs of ich in order to have it, and your tank, once exposed to any fish that has it, has it. You will need to treat all fish and leave your tank fallow for 72 days (for 100% guarantee)

+1. The sooner you do it, the better because you have a higher chance of saving your fish and the fallow period countdown starts right away That means you won't have wasted days and weeks on the parasite infested tank

[Sundog101]

Thanks, that's what I needed to know. I was thinking a 10 to 20 gallons for a quarantine tank. With 4 fish do you think this is big enough?

[Spar]

Originally Posted by Sundog101

Thanks, that's what I needed to know. I was thinking a 10 to 20 gallons for a quarantine tank. With 4 fish do you think this is big enough?

royal gramma, pair of clowns and a goby will likely want a 20g since will be going 72 days.

if you do TTM as your QT method, you could use 10g's for the first 12 days, then switch to a 20g for the remaining 60 days.

[Sundog101]

Ok thanks

[Sundog101]

Ok, I'm planning on quarantining the fish tomorrow. Will the bacteria levels in the dt be ok without any fish producing ammonia or will I need to add an ammonia source?

[CoralsAddiction]

Originally Posted by Sundog101

Ok, I'm planning on quarantining the fish tomorrow. Will the bacteria levels in the dt be ok without any fish producing ammonia or will I need to add an ammonia source?

You can try ghost-feeding by dumping smaller amounts of fish food.

[Spar]

Originally Posted by CoralsAddiction

You can try ghost-feeding by dumping smaller amounts of fish food.

+1 feed your DT a little a few times a week and the bacteria will do fine.