quarantine tank

[DJB]

Fairly new to saltwater and am still trying to understand the need for quarantine a tank
To me if retailers are reputable and perform necessary acclimation processes, then fish purchased from them should be disease free
If the norm is to treat and quarantine fish caught in the wild for a period of time, then the buyer should expect that to be done.
To me a quarantine tank in my home is basically not trusting the retailers I purchase fish from, then why buy from those retailers
If the length of time quarantined by retailers is not sufficient then they should just quarantine longer before selling
DJB

 

[bonniewoodruff]

Hi, I love my LFS, and the guys are great, but I have way too much invested in my tank to trust that the fish are all healthy enough to put in one of my display tanks. It is so inexpensive to have a QT tank, and I like having it so if one of my fish does get sick I can take them out to treat(not spread the sickness)

 

[Phranque]

It's not only a matter of trust with the retailer..... If you look at many LFS systems, most of their tanks are all tied together into one central filtration system, or numerous tanks per system. If there is even one sick fish in there somewhere, unbeknownst to the retailer, it can still be contagious within the entire system. Quarantine allows you to isolate the individual fish from anything else and monitor/treat it.

 

[TheTodd]

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm not sure that the folks that catch the fish actually quarantine them and then treat them if anything shows up. Once a retailer gets them, they probably don't have most fish long enough to see if anything is going on, unless they arrive not looking right. I've never heard of a retailer quarantining all incoming fish prior to selling them to the public. They may treat them if they have signs of something, but most retailers put fish up for sale the day they arrive. Probably not cost effective to do it otherwise.

 

[DJB]

It's not only a matter of trust with the retailer..... If you look at many LFS systems, most of their tanks are all tied together into one central filtration system, or numerous tanks per system. If there is even one sick fish in there somewhere, unbeknownst to the retailer, it can still be contagious within the entire system. Quarantine allows you to isolate the individual fish from anything else and monitor/treat it.

I never thought of central filtration, thanks for the advise
Will get a QT before adding more fish
DJB

 

[Digger]

Besides, diseases are more prevalent than you think. Healthy fish are not as prone to the diseases that may be introduced or that they themselves may even carry.

Stress is a major cause as to why fish get sick. It inhibits their immune system from fending off the effects of diseases. Think that a fish that needs to be in a 125gal or larger tank is not stressed being in a 10 or 20 gallon tank at the LFS? Think again!

QT BEFORE DT!!!