To quarantine or not to quarantine . . .

[snorvich]

That is the question. To borrow and paraphrase from Hamlet:

To be, or not to be, that is the question—
Whether 'tis easier to suffer
The death of your fish by not quarantining,
Or to take Arms against these parasites,
And by quarantining end them? To die, to sleep—
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to by selling our tanks on Craig's list? 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished by some who do not quarantine.

Let's face it, this hobby dispenses "tough love" if you do not do it with best practices. Anyone who has watched a tank lose all of its fish to amyloodinium can testify it is not an experience they wish to replicate. Not quarantining is like playing Russian Roulette with 3 of the 6 chambers containing bullets. Noone wins the game, but some get to play a bit longer.

I have a quarantine protocol in my blog; read it for a relatively easy way to establish a quarantine protocol. Or you can roll the dice and I may buy your equipment off of craig's list.

I get really sad when I see people lose a tank of living animals.

[jformani]

Good question, I've done both and I've had better success just putting fish straight into my tanks. I believe the trick is this...purchase healthy fish and fish that have been at the fish store for over a month. So many times I see those beautiful powder blue's and other tangs arrive at lfs and gone in two days. Guess what, they get the fish home, its stressed, has ich, and dies. Now, it may be hard to find a nice powder blue that makes it a month at the lfs but I've done it before and it worked out great. They are eating, not stressed, ich free, etc, etc.

[MrTuskfish]

There is nothing hard about eliminating ich from a PBT in a QT.I keep several tangs, all bought online. Only one was infected with ich. He was treated and doing fine. The way most LFS run their water, from tank to tank, you have no idea if a fish is carrying a parasite or not. I have caught a few cases of
amyloodinium in my QT. The thought of this parasite getting into my DT system scares me more than the threat of being forced to take an entire Shakespeare course.

Good reminder, Steve. I've been in this hobby for 35+ years and have never heard a good a good reason NOT to quarantine. (A single anecdotal experience is not a good reason, IMO. ) I don't know how many problems on the disease forum could have been prevented by a sound QT protocol; but it has to be over half.

[ca1ore]

I have NEVER seen a substantial population of healthy fish, kept long-term by an aquarist who did not follow a sensible QT practice - not saying it isn't possible, just that I have NEVER seen such a tank (unless you can share a series of photos over a period of years, posting a photo doesn't count because it cannot convey longevity!). I couldn't do it, and I eschewed QT for a very long time. Once I installed a sensible QT process, all of a sudden I could keep a larger population of fish, even having success with fish categorized as 'expert only'.

[bellis31]

I could not imagine just dumping fish into my system without a first putting them through a quarantine procedure!!

[snorvich]

Unfortunately, the longer a fish is at the LFS, the higher the probability is that it will have inherent parasite infestation. Some LFS run a non-therapeutic dose of copper which will mask amyloodinium (and according to some, cryptocaryon irritans). And remember, ich especially does not have to present itself visibly to be present. As I said, some get to play the game longer without quarantining but in the long run, you will not win that particular game of chance.

And my apologies to those not wishing to sit through a Shakespeare soliloquy.

[Misled]

Shakespeare soliloquy.

The only reason I stayed was for the show. Very nicely put!!! :thumbsup:

[MrTuskfish]

The turnover rate in our hobby is tremendously high, well over 100%. There are lots or reasons, of course, many folks just don't know what they're getting into. But I'd bet the farm that the #1 reason is related directly not using a QT.

As to the Shakespeare soliloquy; I am fairly literate, my favorite classic genre ( a word used by celebrity-types to give the impression that their craft is meaningful) authors being (the late) Vince Flynn, John Le Carre, and the finest of the lot, Daniel Silva. I do remember a little high school Shakespeare, though. From Hamlet, I think. :

"TB or not TB
That's the congestion.
Consumption be done about it?
Of cough, of cough." (Contributed by my wife, Becky.)