fish that do not require quarantine?

Are there any types of fish that should not be quarantined when first purchased? Either fish that react negatively to conditions in a QT, or fish that are not susceptible to disease that do not require quarantine? Just curious.

 

I know you already understand the importance of QT and why we do it. But if you setup your QT with water from your DT it would be like putting the fish into the DT anyways (provided you use the sponge filter method to bring bacteria over too). Just introducing something into a DT without QT is inviting disaster. You may get away for a while without problems but when they come, they'll come in waves.

I'm going to stop my rambling now

 

Thanks for your reply, Da Gopherboy, but I have to disagree with you about this. Of course, I understand the importance of QT both from my many other posts and from the reading I have done. Basically it gives the opportunity to monitor/treat disease.

However, it is NOT the same as the DT, even if the water is originally the same. First of all, the fish is alone rather than having the other fish's example to follow (which may help with feeding). It does not have live rock to graze on/hide in (and based on my experience so far, a PVC tube is just not the same). It does not have the same filtration capacity, nor does it have the same water movement/flow, or simply the swimming space. I often wonder whether the QT does more damage via stress - putting the fish in a small glass jar rather than a large tank which, in some small way, better simulates the ocean.

I understand that many of these things can be compensated for. But my original question here is whether there are fish that are resistant enough to disease that do not require quarantine, or fish that so require the presence of the parameters that a DT has that a QT does not have, that QT is not recommended for them. Just curious as to what people here think.

 

For example, I'd imagine you wouldn't quarantine a mandarin, since it would starve due to lack of pods in the QT? Sorry to rant like this...

 

When you use words like "require" you are inviting disagreement. I don't believe there is a species out there that "requires" QT.

I have never used a QT. IMO, you are merely adding another layer of stress to the fish making an outbreak all the more likely. The fish, in most cases, has already been captured, boated to shore, stored, rebagged, shipped cross country (cross-world), shipped through a distributor before arriving at the fish shore where you either have it captured and drive it home or you order it and have it shipped home.

That fish has been through enough. IMO, you need to get that fish into a stable environment and leave it there ASAP. That's your DT.

I'm sure there are a handful of exceptions to this.


I feel QT is more for after the fact when an existing fish or other creature in your DT becomes sick, but this is a HT (hospital tank and not a QT (po-tay-toe / po-tot-toe)). But, even in this case, you're just adding stress by having to capture and move it yet again.

It would have to be a rather extreme case for me to consider a QT.

I don't have one nor do I plan on ever adding one.



On another note JJK, I believe all gopher meant was that the water params should be matching (same SG, pH, etc.) as your DT. In this way, it's like putting it in your DT. Our reef tanks generally sit around 1.024-1.025 SG while the LFS usually sits around 1.022. So there's not an acclimation issue between DT and QT (or shouldn't be, rather).

So I agree w/Gopher on that detail. I, obviously, disagree about not using a QT inviting disaster - I feel it's the other way around.

Not too mention, I have enough maintenance to worry about on my main tank ;D Don't need another setup

 

I pretty much fully agree with peredhil on this. I never have and don't plan to either. Observe the fish at the store for a week before you buy it. Buy it from a good source. You won't have issues. But once you start moving the fish between all these different systems and what-not, that's when you are asking for trouble IMHO.

 

I am tending to agree with you guys. But tell me, those of you who do not quarantine before you put the fish in the DT - do you to a brief freshwater dip before you put them in? I realize it is stressful for them, but it should kill any parasites on them.

 

No.

OK, so what do I do?

I try to keep stress as low as possible. I feed a varied diet that includes garlic extract supplements and I keep my tank params as stable as possible.

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Like Pack said, if you're buying from an LFS, don't impulse buy. Monitor the fish for a week. If you offline, stick to reputable sites that have a name and image to maintain.

 

Yep. With Peredhil on this one too. And honestly, IMHE, freshwater dips are NOT an effective measure for external parasites. And treating a fish for something it might not even have is VERY stressful, SPECIALLY FW dips.
Even if the fish had something like ich, under good water conditions, and a healthy fish with a good diet, it should fight it off on its own without issues. Same goes for the other creatures in the tank. If the water is good, and they have a healthy diet, they should not contract it. The horror stories you hear about ich wiping out an entire system are due to poor diet and/or poor water, whether or not the keeper themselves is going to admit to either. Don't get me wrong, an HT/QT does have it's time and place for emergencies, but IMHO, right from the get-go is not one of them.

 

I also agree with Peredhil and Pack on the above. I've only bought my fish from reputible LFS (not the Petco variety - both of my LFS are truly "local" and specialize in saltwater). Yesterday, I added a dwarf angel and firefish. The first question I ask is how long have you had the fish - most of the time, the fish has been in the LFS for a few weeks, some longer. I also ask to see if they're eating okay (I watched the angel eat yesterday before buying it) and just look at the fish in general - torn fins would be a concern to me. I take them home, turn out the lights, and acclimate. I then put the fish in and leave the lights off for a few hours until they "adjust." I've never freshwater dipped. So far, I haven't had any problems doing this.

My QT is empty - I would use for a hospital tank if needed. Actually, I used it for some sick zoanthids that got stressed (and extremely cold) this winter when they didn't make it to my house before the heat packs quit working.