How do you QT (quarantine)?

[silentdeath5]

Fish QT is really not that complicated, but a complete game changer. I eventually refined my process to a 10 gallon AIO that sat dry until I needed it (and believe me, you will not need it much if you religiously QT fish, because you will stop buying fish). Key points:

• Copper Power. I like copper (over quinine products) because you can easily test to make sure you maintain a therapeutic concentration. In my experience, with careful acclimation, every kind of fish can easily make it through copper. And it's just 14 days once you hit therapeutic level. Don't overcomplicate it.
• Matrix media or sponge from your sump. The biggest killer in QT is ammonia, which can spike while you are asleep and wipe them. You need to import an established biofilter, more than you think. Just always have more in your sump than you need, put it in your QT as needed, and throw away when done. Also, water changes of the QT tank every few days.
• Oxygen depletion is second biggest killer. Especially if using prazipro (which I do, because it is easy). Put several powerheads in the QT, don't rely on the HOB or built in AIO circulation. You want that water moving, a LOT.

For me, anything other than the above is a nice to have, and probably overkill. Velvet will drive you from the hobby; eliminating that is the main goal here. Forewarning: if you like going to the LFS every month or so and buying new fish, know that you won't be doing that anymore after you implement the above. Fish don't die anymore. Like, you will go years without buying fish. Then you can focus on the truly hard part of the hobby: SPS!!!

The last part of this is so true. My fish are not getting wiped out every couple of years. And when you complete your list then that’s kinda it. But it’s great not to think about ick and velvet. More money to buy corals now and focus on that aspect of reefing

 

[silentdeath5]

I use a 60 cube to qt. I use copper power and bring it up slowly taking a week. Then I leave it alone for 30 days only needing to feed here and there. I use an ato and do not do any water changes. 30 days felt like forever the first few times but now it’s like nothing. Set and forget

 

[childers]

For me it depends on the fish. There is only one online vendor I trust and no LFS (I certainly have preferences). They all run low levels of copper to keep things in their dirty systems suppressed.

HTTM, 14 days in copper then transfer or 30 days In copper plus the other meds. Follow Humblefish's guides.

I like to keep a few cut up sponges the size of my HOB filters in my sump so I am always ready.

 

[siege]

So, I still haven't added fish, lol. Tank has had water in it 10 months... and now that I'm ready to add some, I'm waiting, twiddling my thumbs and hoping my LFS can find all three fish I want to add first sometime soon.

I'm wanting to start with a neon goby, a green clown goby, and a pink-streaked wrasse, as I should be able to QT them together, safely, and at least minimize the number of rounds of QT I have to do.

Fortunately, I have a full liter of Seachem Matrix in the tank, quite a lot of SeaChem De*Nitrate (which is more or less the same thing as Matrix anyway), half a box of MaxSpect biospheres (with the other half in reserve) and a BOATLOAD of rubble and rock fragments I could (and probably should) bag up and put in the filter that could also be used to seed a filter.

But, even (or perhaps especially) after starting this thread on R2R (for a contest) about "Why is QT still controversial" (that wound up running for 22 pages!), I definitely still plan to do a minimum 3-week observational QT with metro, focus and selcon (IIRC my plan correctly). I mostly believe a few of the folks in the thread who claim to be able to toss ich-infected fish into their display tank, and within days or so, the fish will have recovered and there is no impact in the rest of the livestock. But I don't have a tank that large, that mature, that well stocked... nor do I have the money to spare when it fails

Actually, Ryan - who many of us might recognize from his prior gig at BRS-TV, now at SeriousReefs.com - chimed in on the end of that thread with this link on their "Serious Reefs QT" method that I just found... but unfortunately the gift link to watch it free has long since expired. Guess I'll have to get a free trial or something. Anyway, has anyone else here looked at or tried that method and can report results?

 

[msporleder]

So, I still haven't added fish, lol. Tank has had water in it 10 months... and now that I'm ready to add some, I'm waiting, twiddling my thumbs and hoping my LFS can find all three fish I want to add first sometime soon.

I'm wanting to start with a neon goby, a green clown goby, and a pink-streaked wrasse, as I should be able to QT them together, safely, and at least minimize the number of rounds of QT I have to do.

Fortunately, I have a full liter of Seachem Matrix in the tank, quite a lot of SeaChem De*Nitrate (which is more or less the same thing as Matrix anyway), half a box of MaxSpect biospheres (with the other half in reserve) and a BOATLOAD of rubble and rock fragments I could (and probably should) bag up and put in the filter that could also be used to seed a filter.

But, even (or perhaps especially) after starting this thread on R2R (for a contest) about "Why is QT still controversial" (that wound up running for 22 pages!), I definitely still plan to do a minimum 3-week observational QT with metro, focus and selcon (IIRC my plan correctly). I mostly believe a few of the folks in the thread who claim to be able to toss ich-infected fish into their display tank, and within days or so, the fish will have recovered and there is no impact in the rest of the livestock. But I don't have a tank that large, that mature, that well stocked... nor do I have the money to spare when it fails

Actually, Ryan - who many of us might recognize from his prior gig at BRS-TV, now at SeriousReefs.com - chimed in on the end of that thread with this link on their "Serious Reefs QT" method that I just found... but unfortunately the gift link to watch it free has long since expired. Guess I'll have to get a free trial or something. Anyway, has anyone else here looked at or tried that method and can report results?

Paul B's 50 year old reef tank is not like yours. If you are doing prophylactic with metro you might as well consider adding prazi (or juse general cure since it has both) with your observation cycle.

 

[childers]

I mostly believe a few of the folks in the thread who claim to be able to toss ich-infected fish into their display tank, and within days or so, the fish will have recovered and there is no impact in the rest of the livestock. But I don't have a tank that large, that mature, that well stocked... nor do I have the money to spare when it fails

Those tanks are living with ich. They are managing disease in their tanks. They are not eliminating them. There is a big difference. Things could be perfect for years then you experience a power outage and the tank gets a little cool. Fish stress. Ich will then show itself. That is just one example.

 

[siege]

Those tanks are living with ich. They are managing disease in their tanks. They are not eliminating them. There is a big difference. Things could be perfect for years then you experience a power outage and the tank gets a little cool. Fish stress. Ich will then show itself. That is just one example.

That was more or less my takeaway too... I believe (it's been a while since I started the thread and read every post in it) that some did claim to have tested water and not found any trophonts, etc., but that's still not terribly conclusive unless tested repeatedly over an extended period. In inclined to agree that they're managing it well with a healthy ecosystem and healthy fish, much as it would go in the wild... but, as you say, wild reefs don't experience the kinds of fluctuations ours might, and no, I don't have a generator hooked up yet, so yes, that could be all it takes.

Paul B's 50 year old reef tank is not like yours. If you are doing prophylactic with metro you might as well consider adding prazi (or juse general cure since it has both) with your observation cycle.

Yes, now that you mention it, General Cure may well be what I was searching for and can't remember. I've gone through a few threads on this (though not in the last 6 months... it's relevant because I'm trying to order fish now) and the Humblefish site, and also discussed extensively with @Adam back when... and General Cure is ringing a bell rather loudly. I'll have to find my notes.

But yeah, my tank is nothing close to Paul's, who takes stuff out of the river, lol, and whatever is ill and looking sad at his LFS. And, even if it were, I don't think my generally very low tolerance for risk would ever allow it. I really WANT to be able to do like he and CHSUB do... but. No.

Also, FYSA to anyone interested, Ryan came back and put up another free gift membership (a bundle of 10, actually... now 9, or less), so anyone who want access should go grab it from his link.

 

[silentdeath5]

Since you are starting out fresh I would encourage you to just fully qt and not even have to worry about ich/velvet. It’s easier to start the habit now with a new tank than try to manage it later if it gets in your system. I would choose the work of qt over work/stress of constantly managing later on.

 

[siege]

I wouldn't say I'm "just starting out", so much as "just adding the first fish to a year-old tank".

No, trust me, QT was never a question. Even if it had been, it wouldn't have been after that thread I started at R2R. But, after the issues I had with my very first reef tank back in 2007 especially, QT has been guaranteed for my reef tanks.

The only question has ever been, "which method(s) to employ for QT?"

I'd generally prefer to skip QT altogether () copper and instead go with time and observation to determine whether it's actually necessary... though I'm checking out Ryan's video above as I have time, and I might be willing to consider doing it as a matter of course if it can shorten the QT time and hassle as compared to a modified TTM with metro/general cure + focus + selcon. Especially because my QT tanks are 20 gallons, and that's a lot of saltwater to make and throw out every few days. (especially since the only spare 20-gallon containers I have are... my QT tanks, lol.

 

[childers]

I do two 20g longs. Transfers must be less than 72 hours apart. Keep an inkbird in a brute full of saltwater. When I do use copper. I use Copper Power. Slowly ramp up to 2.25ppm over a few days. I will also have brute full of 2.25ppm copper power saltwater so I can do water changes and not affect the copper levels. No ammonia binders in qt. A new seeded sponge goes into a hob filter each transfer. Sometimes I use matrix.

 

[siege]

Yeah... much to my dismay, it seems I'm going to need that 50-gallon white brute container that I wanted to use to make saltwater in... and never be able to use it for anything else thanks to copper contamination. Yay. But, it does seem to be the sensible thing to do, to mix the batch to the right concentration once, and leave it well enough alone.

 

[childers]

I use the same brute RODI bins when I make copper water.. Just scrub them good and sterilize for any possible contamination. They are food grade plastic. How much can they absorb and then leach back out? Also I just use gray. I don't think the color is important. Its the material they are composed of that matters.