QT procedures

[dvenson]

Just curious what people are doing as far as QTing fish and corals go.


1. what type of system do you use?
2. how long do you leave livestock in QT?
3. what type of filtration are you using?
4. how often are your doing W/C es?
5. if knowing fish are properly QTed are you willing to pay more $ for a fish or would you rather buy a fish the day it lands in Colorado and QT it yourself?
6. in what situations would you not QT?
7. do you QT your corals if so how and what type of system?




Although i have been a hobbyist for 4 years now i was ignorant to many of the techniques used by LFS or vendors to QT fish until starting work at Aquatic Art. over the past 10 months i have learned a great deal on what characteristics many types of parasites and viruses fish can carry in. Each day is a learning experience for me when it comes to fish husbandry.

For me I try to purchase fish that are eating healthy and have been QT even if it cost a few more dollars. when i bring home new corals i try to visually inspect them, then i dip in Coral RX and into my system it goes and hope for the best. many times this works great but there was a time when i got zoa eating Nudi`s and had to deal with that for to long.





If we keep repeating our mistakes and expecting a different result we are not learning from them and we are insane.


I would like to know your husbandry techniques and why you go about it that way.

 

[static reef]

in the new triangle i will be sticking to my same procedure. the qt tankruns the same water that the display tank has until we get a newbfish. when we do get a new one the water is shut off from the main tank, the koralias are turned on, and a small protein skimmer is turned on as well. atleast 4 weeks and preferably 6 for me. if the fish had to be treated than the water is completely drained dried for a few days and wiped down with bleach, dries for a few days and then the tank is reconnected to the display. corals are dipped and in qt for roughly 3weeks. polyps and acros stay a little longer. i prefer to buy my fish locally that have been qt and eating well for a few weeks. my local fish stores have no problem holding on to fish for me because right when i get one or two from them i order the next one. i also qt all inverts. due to their sensitivity i dont like them to die in my display tank, except for starfish. i also qt my newly cut frags fo obvious reason. sorry i forgot to mention that i have 2qt tanks that run independently from each other. pain in the butt but well worth it. i wouldn't say that i woulday more for a qt fish vs. a non qt fish but the stores that offer to hold the fish and make sure it is healthy do tend to earn my loyal business. hope this helps

 

[dvenson]

hope this helps

just trying to get a good thread going about husbandry and what works for different people.

 

[Smiley]

im not a big fan of fish, but any and every coral that goes into my system will be dipped with bayer advanced...

 

[ReefCheif]

Bayer advanced?

 

[static reef]

gotcha dvenson. sounds smart to me. i am always trying to better my techniques as well. hopefully i learn something too

 

[Haulin Oates]

Following... I'm starting the be-all end -all of qt/fragging system after my recent disaster.
For too long I've thought of a QT as a quickly set up tank if a fish looked questionable. Coral went straight in the tank, often without even dipping, unless it looked questionable. I now understand how wrong that was. My new thought is that of a human. You spend the first several days of your life in a hospital. Then you regularly make visits to ensure your overall health is good. And where do you go? A sterile, extremely clean and well thought out hospital. Corals and fish need the same. I well thought out, clean, sterile environment to come in to your tank and get fragged.
I'm going to think of my Display tank as just that; it will display what I want people to see.

 

[JuanGutz]

Following... I'm starting the be-all end -all of qt/fragging system after my recent disaster.
For too long I've thought of a QT as a quickly set up tank if a fish looked questionable. Coral went straight in the tank, often without even dipping, unless it looked questionable. I now understand how wrong that was. My new thought is that of a human. You spend the first several days of your life in a hospital. Then you regularly make visits to ensure your overall health is good. And where do you go? A sterile, extremely clean and well thought out hospital. Corals and fish need the same. I well thought out, clean, sterile environment to come in to your tank and get fragged.
I'm going to think of my Display tank as just that; it will display what I want people to see.

+1 I feel the same way.

 

[DyM]

I set up a 10 gallon QT tank when I get new corals, with one of those hang on penguin filter boxes with the carbon pad insert. There is a heater, a small maxijet for water movement, and a LED light at first, with later a 150W MH light. I put frags through a dip before putting them into the QT tank. The obvious thing to do is look at the coral, and water it's in, before taking it through the dip. I also look closely at the fag water in the dip. If I see any pests, I'll likely dip it again, then look closely and scrap off any eggs (if seen). Once in the QT, I inspect every day... sometime more than once since having new things really gets my attention – like a kid in a candy store. I've had to take off eggs again, but never seen any adult red bugs, AEFWs, flat worms, or Nudies after my dips. The general two dips are RX, the other is Tropic Martin Iodine. I can post later if anyone needs more specifics.

A good friend I met a year or so into the hobby drilled it into me to QT. He told me of his best friend that constantly battled pests, and that was led him to call it quits. I'm fortunate to have never had anything other than normal flat worms over 5 yrs ago. I read what folks are having to go through and that is so much effort..... but worth it, so if you have one of these pests... attack it, and get through it. Later, go through QT process so you don't have to go through it again. For newer folks, read and heed some of these recent threads.

 

[daverf]

wow, awesome thread. i'm learning volumes already from the helpful posts/responses. i've made big mistakes by being hasty in QT. i'm hoping the mistakes are behind me now. i won't fill up this thread with my QT wisdom (or lack thereof ) but will respond that i would willingly pay a premium to an LFS that will run a full quarantine and runs some preventive medication. from there i would hope to run a non-med QT of the fish to let it rest and let me observe.