Quarantine v heat increase for new fish?

[sallyjano]

I have been reading about quarantine tanks. It sounds logical but I am not keen on the extra work/maintenance. My local pet store told me not to bother, to just turn up the temperature a few degrees (to around 80) when I add new fish as they said that will kill any disease the new fish are bringing.

I am a new to this hobby - please help me figure out if that's good advice or not! Thank you.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

I am not a expert in the subject of disease but im pretty sure 80 degree water wont kill anything. The ich can be cured with minimum 84 degree water. I would say that is bad advice. I trired a QT and it was a pain. You need to keep an ammonia soure or the benificial bacteria will die and the fish will suffer when introduced.

 

[sallyjano]

Ok thanks. I just looked it up and you need to heat the water to 86, slowly 2 degrees per hour.

 

[DragonFish71]

Turning up the heat can work for some diseases while making others run rampant.

QT is really the best choice if you don't want to risk losing your stock and can be done quite easily.

Have a spare tank tucked away somewhere. Have a spare filter on your main tank so that it's always ready to go. When you know you're going to be getting new fish, take some of the main tank water and fresh water to fill your QT tank, add your spare filter, go fish shopping. Add your new fish to the QT tank. Keep up on water changes, watch the fish for signs of disease, treat as needed. After at least 4 weeks if not longer, some things take longer to show and treat, move them to your main tank. Take off the filter, clean it, put it back on your main tank. tear down the QT tank, clean it, put it back in storage. You don't need gravel, plants or anything for a QT tank unless you want some fake plants and some flower pots for the fish to hide in.

Simple and cheap. Much better than risking losing all of your stock to a disease and having to replace everything.

 

[HeatherW]

bad advice! either risk your tank or get a qt tank. I finally broke down and did the QT tank. I have a 90 gallon tank and had all sorts of problems when I started out. the benefit of the qt tank is that you are treating a smaller tank. treating a 90 gallon tank can take a lot of meds! we are not just talking about ick here. ick is easy to treat with heat. your new fish can bring other things into your tank.

you don't have to have a QT tank, but it is easier. I just keep mine with a few fish for fun, put a few shrimp in there, whatever you want just make them cheap so if you need your qt tank it is ready to go. that is what I did. I got a 16 gallon QT, put very few plants or decorations in there and you are good to go.

I have used my QT tank to treat sick fish. you can pull the sick guy out, treat with salt or meds or whatever is needed. the other fish you have in your qt tank can be treated as well - just less of a tank that you are treating

 

[sallyjano]

Awesome thanks so much. I had a feeling it wasn't great advice. I appreciate the help. If I opt to keep the QT tank on all the time with just a couple of shrimp will it need to be cleaned and water changed as often?

 

[Andy Sager]

As previously stated, that was really bad advice you were given. You'd be assuming that the fish store's tanks and stock are the most pristine and healthy. ( From my personal experience, I know that's not true in any fish store. Fish get sick or come in sick. ) If you are not planning on multiple purchases for a long period of time, I would use the QT tank then break it down once the fish are removed. The reason you QT fish is to make sure they are healthy over the long run. To do this, the tank needs to be in the best condition possible. Keeping it going with livestock ( such as shrimp) could harbor a parasite or disease which could infect the next fish you put in there. By setting up the tank new each time you add fish and using an established filter ( i.e. a cycled sponge filter) will increase your chances of the fish remaining healthy ( and also make less work for you when there are no new fish. )

Hope this helps

 

[sallyjano]

Ok that's great advice thanks! One question. If I do it that way (just setting up the qt when I need it) if I keep a second filter on the main tank and then move that to the qt tank when I need it won't it still need to cycle and so be stressful for the new fish?

 

[Andy Sager]

Ok that's great advice thanks! One question. If I do it that way (just setting up the qt when I need it) if I keep a second filter on the main tank and then move that to the qt tank when I need it won't it still need to cycle and so be stressful for the new fish?

No. It will be exposed to the nitrifying bacteria in the tank and they will colonize in the "spare" filter as well as long as it's running in the tank. And another benefit of using a filter that is from the main tank is that if there is some condition in your main tank, it will come over with the filter and if the new fish becomes sick or infected, a smaller QT can quickly be converted to a hospital tank and cheaper to medicate than the main tank.

 

[sallyjano]

Great! Thanks. I will do it that way. I really appreciate the help!

 

[mrvincent]

My first tank was a 10g lowtech. Now I use it as QT tank. When I don't QT I breed in it. When I don't breed in it, I put my girlfriend's betta in it to keep the cycle.

Temperature is a bit highter in this tank than my others when I QT. It's optimal for threating ick. I like to saltbath scales fish for two weeks when I buy them, so I can prevent lot of diseases.