# quarantine?



## igot2gats (Aug 12, 2010)

Does anyone use a QT, and quarantine their fish before putting them in their DT? (Freshwater)


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## LizStreithorst (Jul 16, 2015)

I do. I QT in a different room and use separate equipment. Like most folks who are meticulous about QT I learned the hard way.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Sometimes I do sometimes I don't, depends on if I am making a species tank or adding to what I already have and who I got the fish from. Just about all my fish come from private breeders and all but one tank is species specific.


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## igot2gats (Aug 12, 2010)

What is your protocol for Ich, if you see it, in QT?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Treat right away.


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## LizStreithorst (Jul 16, 2015)

Also treat for a long time and do large WCs with aged water of the same temp in your QT tank. Don't mix equipment. From what I have read, the eggs that cause Ich hatch over a long peroid of time so I suggest that you vacuum the bottom with every WC.


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## clumsycarp (Jul 28, 2015)

since most of our tanks are species tanks it is rare to add fish to an already occupied tank , so QT isn't needed..new fish are observed for any issues....
at the first sign of ich or any other problem the tank is immediately treated....


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

QT tanks are usually bare, with no substrate. This is for easier treatment. I will add moss to mine. This is because it is fast enough growing I can toss it out if I have any real diseases to contend with. 

As for do I QT? Depends. With wild caught fish, most definitely. With fish from people I do not know? Absolutely. Fish from trusted breeders? No need to because I know their tanks.


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## LizStreithorst (Jul 16, 2015)

majerah1 said:


> QT tanks are usually bare, with no substrate. This is for easier treatment. I will add moss to mine. This is because it is fast enough growing I can toss it out if I have any real diseases to contend with.
> 
> As for do I QT? Depends. With wild caught fish, most definitely. With fish from people I do not know? Absolutely. Fish from trusted breeders? No need to because I know their tanks.


I trust some people to and feel no need to QT their fish. When I don't know the seller and his fish or the fish comes from the LFS I always QT in the kitchen, not in the fish room. The QT tank must be BB IMO. If a problem appears you cant treat in a tank with substrate for the nasties to hide in.


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

I qt my new bn pleco from my LFS since I have not been with them for long, but I do trust them.


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## igot2gats (Aug 12, 2010)

I guess I should've been more specific: when you treat in QT, what do you treat with, and what are the guidelines you follow?

I'm currently setting up a Community 20g planted, and it won't be 1 species dominated. I'm going to have all different species.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

There are different methods to use. And it would depend on the fish I am treating. Plecos and corie I usually treat with heat, raising the temps to 86 for 10 to 12 days. Other fish I would use something like ich cure, following directions. Always treating at least 10 days.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

When I QT, I do not treat unless an issue arises. I feel its like giving cough medicine to prevent a cough. If I see signs of ich, I treat for that. Velvet, parasites ect. 

Well, unless it is wild caught fish. Then I treat for internal parasites anyhow. I will QT in a 10 gallon, and treat proper doses of antiparasitic foods and meds.


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## LizStreithorst (Jul 16, 2015)

igot2gats said:


> I guess I should've been more specific: when you treat in QT, what do you treat with, and what are the guidelines you follow?
> 
> I'm currently setting up a Community 20g planted, and it won't be 1 species dominated. I'm going to have all different species.


If you're asking about my general protocol here you go: I set up the QT tank in the kitchen, away from the fish room. This is important because there is contamination through the humidity in the air if the fish are in the same room. As soon as the fish has settled in I add a poorer quality from my existing stock that I know is healthy. Then observe for 10 days. Most problems will show up in 3 or 4 days. After 10 days if all is well, I move the fish to the fish room. I don't treat for anything as a matter of course.

Other people have more strict protocols. Some folks don't QT at all.


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