Quarantine Tank? FW Dip? Is it all really necessary?

That's is the reason I don't stress about QTing, because the QT setups that most of us have for QTing/treating fish, can't be used for inverts. That's all I'm saying. It's easy to QT fish, how often do most of us QT corals, crabs, snails, shrimps, pods? Most of us don't, including myself, which almost defeats the purpose of QTing if you're concerned about ich. I didn't laugh at anyone, just laughed at how often I read this type of stuff, nothing against anyone or the methods they use, I just don't like scaring others.

 

Actually I have seen her thread/s and was always interested....but when it comes to an average reefer like myself and most new reefers getting into the hobby, most of us can't do stuff like that, but that doesn't mean we can't be successful.

 

I have been in this hobby if you include fresh water for 42 years now, my grandmother gave me my first tank when I was 9 years old. even back then we would buy a fish and put it in a separate tank to watch it for several weeks.

I QT EVERYTHING including corals, Inverts and Fish all in the same tank. And before you ask you next question, because I do not leave a QT up and running, I do not believe in putting a new fish into water that I had treated the last fish in. I empty, scrub and disinfect all the parts of my QT that touch water thoroughly and reset it up before going out on a buying trip.

And yes a average reefer can buy a 10 gallon tank and a HOB filter which is all you need for a QT tank, you don't even really need a big expensive light. I have kept SPS for several weeks using a screw in Compact Fluorescent light and a 5 dollar clamp on light fixture.

Map9053 one of these days and I am not wishing it or hoping it happens but one of these days you will eat your words, or at least pay for not QT'ing something, the odds are just not with you....

 

outside of all the differentiated opinions it all comes down to this one solid FACT...do what YOU think YOU need to do to ensure that your tank flourishes...if you dont want to set up a QT then dont, but if something happens to where you should have used it then theres no one to blame. if you can afford an extra 50-100$(instead of buying the beautiful new fish/coral) use it on a small just in case QT...easy as pie. no need to get upset at anyone over the internet for their opinion(which is just that)

 

The info supporting my statement is absolutely 100% correct and research based. This is how they collect live Ich parasites for studies for such things as vaccines. They put collection dishes in the bottom of the tanks with Ich infected fish, and collect the daily drop offs. They remove the dishes and place them in culture tanks and wait for them to "hatch". Many things are unknown about Ich treatments, thereby making it a very debeatable topic. But the fact they can encapsulate on whatever is on the bottom of your tank... corals, snails, rock etc, is not debeatable. It's aresearch proven fact.

I'm not playing the game of showing tank pics to prove knowledge.... that's juvenile as it proves nothing. But if you want to see some of my more successful ones, Frank Marini has a good book out featuring about 40 pics of my tanks and critters.

 

Sorry to all if you happened to see a confusing post before my last one. I thought I was sending a text message on my iPhone but I was posting on here!!!!

 

When I asked for pics, time spent and cost, it was not about who knows more, I've read lots of your threads and seen your tanks. I just wanted the average reefer that's reading some of this to see that there are different ways of going about this hobby and still be successful...if you want them to read your posts, you should be willing to provide this type of info to help them make decisions. Today I over heard a conversation between 2 customers in an LFS, I knew one of them was new by the questions he was asking the other....when he walked out the door after talking to the more experienced hobbiest I knew that was the last of his saltwater endevours. I met him in the parking lot and after talking to him he said "I'm a college student, I could barely afford the stuff for the main 55g tank I'm trying to setup, there is no way I'll be able to afford all the stuff that guy was telling me I needed, more over I don't have that kind of time to invest in the hobby"....this is the kind of stuff I don't like about our hobby, nothing personally against you or anyone else, but I've been in saltwater for about 12 yrs, the last 3 yrs reef (which I know is not a long time compared to others) and way too often new people get scared by what they hear or read and either never get into it or quit. I've never said don't QT, but you know you can't really medicate a fish in a QT (using any type of copper base med) and then put inverts in that QT, this is the type of QT system most average reefers use. Also some say a cheap 10 g QT with a HOB filter would do the trick, depending on the size of the fish I believe that does more bad than good. I have a 29g QT that I've used to treat some new fish by hypo and meds over the 12 yrs, I would never put any other livestock in that hospital tank, no matter how much I wash it. I take my chances with everything else and that's just my approach, don't expect every one to agree with it either. QTing has been debated for years and almost every thread I've seen over the years always end with mixed responses and I don't see a problem with that either. the bottom line QTing will always be a touchy subject, don't take it personal. It's like the rest of your life, if you worry about every little thing you wouldn't walk out your front door and enjoy life.

 

THAT'S a response that makes for good discussions! Don't you see how saying you're laughing at others opinions is kind of not constructive and impedes discussion?

I'll be the first to say a QT alone does not prevent Ich.... It just gives you an opportunity to see problems before they hit your display.

 

I almost had a heart attack when I introduced a Helfrichi firefish 3 days ago, and it's showing signs of ich. QT, or be cursed when adding fish or doing anything that might cause them the slightest bit of stress forever.

 

I understand where you're coming from, but personally for me that's a risk I'm OK with. The time, space and work required to QT corals, shrimp, snails, pods, etc, I'll continue taking my chances, fish that's another story, I go the QT route because it's hard getting a fish out of my main tank should the need arise. If I have to eat my words one day, so be it. I could go to sleep tonight and not wake up tomorrow, I could get hit by a bus if I go outside...I'm going to sleep tonight and definitely going outside tomorrow with no worries...hopefully you read this for what it is, just a joke.