Quarantine when starting a new tank?

[Anonymous]

No fish is worth risking the entire system. I've certainly had fish that didn't do well in q/t, but that absolutely doesn't mean that I think they should have, instead, been plopped into the display. There are certainly ways to help make a fish feel more comfortable, such as covering at least three, if not all four sides of the q/t container with black plastic (or similar), creating overhangs and areas where they feel they're under good cover.

Also, ich isn't the only problem hobbyists, et al, are ever faced with. And fish aren't the only specimens that ever go into someone's system that should be q/t'd.

My mantra is to absolutely always quarantine for a minimum of 30 days disease free. Always.

 

[bjoiner]

Hello All,

I'm somewhat new to this and had a number of questions about a QT tank. I've had a 20 gallon FOWLR that's been going for a couple of years now. I just purchased a 50 gallon with 30 gallon sump for the purpose of starting a reef tank. I've never really had much issue with diseases in the fish-only tank, but since I'm putting (quite a bit) more money into the bigger tank, I want to do things right.

1. Since it seems like you want your QT tank parameters to be as close to the display tank as possible, do you always keep your QT tank running and do water changes on it when you change your display tank? Or do you only set it up just before purchasing a new animal?

2. Is it worthwhile to medicate all new fish for the common diseases, like ich, just to be safe, or is this hard on the fish?

3. Say you have a fish that ended up with a disease in the QT tank, after the fish is cured (or dies) how do you clean out the QT tank so that the next fish doesn't catch the quarentined diseases? (Do you empty the QT tank or just continue doing normal water changes?)

Thanks in advance!

Ben