Quarantine for how long?

[Bruce]

I don't mind overcrowding and doubling or tripling the water changes, but this quarantine thing is a pain. With the main tank, its just a matter of twisting levers and pressing switches and watches the colors intensify with measured doses of Jim Beam or Jose C. (for me, not the fish), but the quarantine tank is temporary and doesn't have any of the plumbing fixture amenities I've installed on the main tank. Hoses, buckets, and pumps are a real pain!

I've searched "quarantine" for the last 180 days and find it mentioned a lot, but with few recommendations as to time period. I sporadically see personal practices ranging from a few days to 8 weeks. I figure, 8 weeks ! Why not to adulthood? Where's the limit to a reasonable practice? What I'm looking for is anecdotal stories of personal experience of how a certain length of quarantine was insufficient, and led to a disaster. If several people indicate a quarantine period of 15 days still led to killing off the entire main tank, I'm going to either think that the disease started in the quarantine tank, and wasn't introduced by the new fish, or I'm going to give up on guarantining altogether. I'm on my 7th day and very uptight. I need some honest horror stories to maintain a motivation to continue this insane inconvenience.

Thanks folks.

(I hope I'm not starting another thread of controversy, but that's what they said about democracy and free speech: " . . but the dissension, the chaos! The peasants will start to think . . . and . . . ")

[Wolf]

At least 6 weeks . Observe the fish it could take a while to show. Once you are certain the fish are healthy, then add a cull from your main tank wait a week and see what happens. Or you could do like me drop them in the main tank and spend $80 on medication and more time doing water changes to save what you have left in the main tank. You may get away with it the first few times, I didn't. The first and last time I added fish without quarantining them was a disaster. Unfortunately, I usually have to learn about things the hard way but I'm trying to change that.

[lesley]

I don't know if this story is going to be a proof for quarantine or not, I hope not!!

Have five young fish that I purchased five weeks ago. Culled one last week that had not grown, had stopped eating and then started spitting out food. Yesterday one of the others went dark (almost black) and hid for the day.- is okay today but I am hoping I have not got a problem coming up.

If I do have a problem here, at least my other discus are okay, and while I am worried because I have got attached to these little guys, I am not as worried as I would be if they were all together.

[Paulio]

As a rule of thumb I go six weeks minimum. It just isnt worth losing fish over.

Paul

[brewmaster15]

Hi Bruce!


need some honest horror stories to maintain a motivation to continue this insane inconvenience.


here you go...

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=7798;sta rt=0

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=6269;st art=0

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=1025

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=9782;sta rt=0

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=3523;sta rt=0


and for your horror stories...
http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=21;action=display;threadid=1346;st art=0


QT is not fun. Its time consuming. Skip it at your fishes risk though
hth,
-al

[Dave C]

Quarantine for 4 weeks. Then if the new fish look healthy add one of your non-quarantined fish to the tank for another 2 weeks. I ended a quarantine after 10 days one time because the fish looked so healthy and I was impatient. Read here for details...

http://members.shaw.ca/dclubine/quarantine.htm

[Carol_Roberts]

Four to six weeks . . . . actually the bestest way it to have a new tank for them to live in the whole time they are growing up ;D

[Bruce]

I appreciate everyone's input, especially the post-links by Al (now, why couldn't I find those posts?).

The answer is what I was afraid of. Not only separate tank, but separate room, nets, hoses, buckets, pumps. My wife is about to ask for separate homes.

After considering what everyone has to offer, I've just placed the new fish into the main tank. 8 weeks of walking into 2 different rooms 3 times a day, and maintaining a 2nd storage tank to go under the quarantine tank. Its all just too much for me. I admit defeat and I yield to the overwhelming standards of the Discus Gods. I can't keep discus the right way. I'll just have to do it my way.
Quarantining in a separate room (oh-oh, the air travels through a central system, won't this still transmit the airborn pathogens people have mentioned?) for 8 weeks is the straw that broke my back.
If they all die, I'll bleach out the tank and throw in a few baby Oscars or try saltwater and chalk up the whole thing to a nice learning experience ["They were pretty while they lasted"]. I've made mistakes which cost me a lot more than what I've spent on these 20.

Thanks again, everyone. I am grateful for the help you've provided. I'll throw my dice and see what happens.