Is It Really Necessary To Use A Quarantine Tank?
Monday November 23, 2009
Some aquarists believe a QT is a waste of time and money, thinking that fish can stave off disease, parasites or infections on their own. Most experienced aquarists would disagree, having seen entire aquarium systems wiped out by the introduction of a new critter which brought a disease with it. You can decide for yourself if a QT is worth it.
More: Cheap, Easy DIY Quarantine Tanks. QT's don't need to be fancy or cost a lot of money, they just need to work.
Comments
Yes, i feel it is good to have a quarintine tank. Suppose you bring home a fish with a disease and you introduce it to your main tank? What an expense mistake. My rule is 7-10 days and I watch the newbies several times a day. I have had a few die with in that peiord of time.Ich or some type of flesh eating disease has shown up and I was thankful that I did use a QT. It could have cost me dearly.
I have had an anenome get caught in my return tubes or powerheads a few times. Usually I loase them after extracting them from certain death then leaving them in the main tank. Other fish will pick on them and tear them apart. The last two times this happend I used a razor blade to carefully cut away the damaged areas of the anenome and placed it in a QT where now other fish can bother it. Two weeks later it was still alive and healed! Since then if any fish gets injured or pick on I put it in the QT for a couple weeks give it a healthy diet that it doesnt’t have to share, then once it is better I move it back to the main tank. This has been very successful for me.
One third option to QT is to find a LFS like Marine Dreams in FL. They already QT’s their sale fish.
I have one and would not ever go without it! I leave my new fish in for at least 3-4 weeks, if your new fish gets sick it’s much easier to catch for a freshwater dip and you can also treat the tank if it comes very necessary. I’ve had several fish come up with a parasite that there was no possible cure for, unbelievable fast killing, also once a crustation parasite, if they would have gotten in the main tank my buddies would have surely died! Another thing I would suggest is after summer has gone I have found that you should turn up your heater a few degrees. The past 2 falls I have had an outbreak of ick for no apparent reason other than temp. Now that I have an electronic thermometer I can see that it goes down substancially in the fall. With all my fish sick I’ve had to pull all my live rock and treat my whole display tank, it takes months to get it back to normal, so this is one lesson I’ve learned well.
I don’t have one and won’t bother. One of my tangs recently had a fungus, which looked terrible. It was a hole right in his side. I added a little more variety to the diet by putting in seaweed for a week or so and voila the fungus is gone and there is barely a mark on him. I am not saying that this will always be the case although I would have to practically empty my tank to try to get the bugger out. Way to may hiding spots and he is quick. I did ask my LFS if I should worry and he is the one who suggested the diet change because the seaweed apparently has vitamins, which build their immune systems. Just my experience.
VERY VERY important from my experience !!!
Benny