Keeping fish seperate... how long?

[ttimmer10]

Was wondering how long to keep new fish bought from the lfs in a separate qt tank? i have had bad experiences with ich the last couple of times i added fish from the lfs!! do they need to the qt for a week, 2 weeks, a month??!??!
thanks

 

[Endgame319]

2 weeks should be enough time for ich to show up on a fish, but some people do more. I do 1-2 weeks for aquarium bred fish, and 3-4 weeks with wild ones.

 

[BrianNY]

This is really a great question ttimmer10! It depends entirely on the size of the fish and the species. The first thing you want to know is what diseases the species is prone to. Ich is but one reason to to quarintine.

Therefore, if you do a little research on fish diseases, you'll have an excellent idea of what to look for in the QT tank, and how long it takes an illness to surface.

HTH

 

[Christmasfish]

I do two weeks for my one lfs..
4 weeks from every other source.

But I am ultra paranoid on losing my large, peaceful mix. And I have plenty small(5&8gal) QT tanks anyway. I have one large Qt but I never get more than 3-5 fish.

 

[ttimmer10]

thanks... i'm gathering that about 2-4 weeks should be sufficient for ich, but maybe not for other diseases, what other specific diseases should i be looking for?

 

[QTOFFER]

I QT for three weeks (assuming I can summon up the willpower and patience). This should be more than enough time to notice signs of ich.

I think of ich as a 'gateway disease', meaning that it provides a gateway for other diseases to enter. Fish have pretty good immune defenses, particularly the slime coat and the skin. Anything that breaches these first-line defenses, like ich or rough handling leaves the fish vulnerable to other diseases.

The most common diseases, other than ich is probably columnaris (body fungus) and finrot. IME, these nasties make themselves at home in fish that suffered a particularly bad ich infestation.

 

[Allivymar]

Some good choices and suggestions here.

My guys get a minimum of 2 weeks if they are domestic fish, 3 if they are wild (wild fish tend to carry parasites and it can take a little longer to show). If they are ill, they get 2 weeks from when they are healed before they are allowed to move in with the others.

Some folks QT for up to 6 weeks. Its a better guarantee against bringing anything into your tanks; I just don't have that kind of patience LOL

 

[LAGlocker]

I Agree, I keep mine in qt about two weeks generally. Only keep them in longer if something shows up or I start to suspect something is wrong with the fish.