What are your thoughts on Quarantine?

[brewmaster15]

Looking for a discussion on Quarantine and bringing in potential carriers of diseases. What is your comfort level? Do you dread bringing new fish into your home because of fear of contamination? What about plants? Do you quarantine? How long do you quarantine new stock before you introduce them? Have you ever messed up bad and made a healthy tank of fish sick from a rushed introduction..? Ever get literally wiped out?

What do you think the chances are that something you bring in could be carrying a pathogen?

For me...I dread it. As much as I love getting new fish..I absolutely dread the risk associated with it. I take biosecurity here very seriously. I quarantine at least 6 weeks often much much longer. I trust no seller blindly as they may not even know what their fish are carrying. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable and passably experienced in pathology and biology... I guess thats why it terrifies me everytime I bring something new in here. I know there are some things that we can not treat.. viruses, cryptobia,fish tuberculosis, drug resistent bacterias.. I have alot of time and years into somethings here...losing them would be devastating to me.


How about you? Are you one of the lucky ones that hasnt yet brought a bug in to their tanks? Do you think the chances are so small of a problem that you dont worry about it? Theres no right answer to these questions..it ultimately comes down to where your comfort level is and
How much negative experience with new stock you have had. I think for alot of people their perception of the potential risk goes up significantly once they have experienced a disease issue.

Hope I can coax a bunch of you to post on this one. I think it could be a good discussion.

Al

[Vanman]

We are getting back into Discus after a three decade hiatus. The only tank I have with Discus is still under QT and will be for awhile. If I have only one tank of Discus, can it be considered under QT? We actually have six tanks, but only one contains fish. Some are used to age water and some are for future use. I really need to get a water storage/aging tank. There is a 500 gallon potable water tank at Lowes I would love to have. It is not in my budget at $850.

I am terrified of bringing in more Discus just like I was thirty years ago. We might add another one or two varieties. If so they will be under QT for six to eight weeks before I even think of mixing them with my current stock.

[solasis]

So for me, I always QT Discus! My main worry in freshwater is usually not parasites or worms, it is bacterial cross contamination which seems pretty unique to discus... But very common in that sphere, and something a seller can not prevent with your current stock AFAIK. What I do is just observe the fish in a separate tank for 3-4 weeks, if I notice any obvious signs of parasites, poor appetite, etc I will treat accordingly. After that period of time, if I believe the fish to be "clean" I mix the water by taking cups from my main tank and mixing it into the QT tank. Watch for a few days and then take water from the QT tank and dump it into the main tank. Observe for any issues.

I can not remember exactly who I learned this from, but it was a discus breeder who was discussing how he combats cross contamination instead of using the hero fish method. He compared it to "vaccinating" your fish, by exposing them to each other in small amounts. This method is definitely not perfect but it is what has worked for me so far (I have only been doing Discus for a year so take this with a grain of salt ;), it is just my personal procedure). QT is one of the worst parts of our hobby for sure, and a big reason I don't have more fish (besides cost!). But what is even worse is tank wipeouts from not quarantining! It can really take the fun out of buying new fish but it is a necessary evil.

[Willie]

It's a 6-week minimum for me. Have been burnt far too many times....

[jimmyjoe]

Well, I'm embarrassed to say I have been that person who was thinking my luck was gonna run out. I have lost all my fish in a single tank in 24 hours because of not QT a couple of different breeder fish, you would think I would have learned my lesson. It had happened again not thinking a small fish like a rummy nose or neon tetra's was the problem and at the time not enough tanks. I still don't have enough tanks but I have learned to not buy a lot of different fish from different breeder's without at least 6 weeks in QT. I still worry about cross contamination but now I write everything down even if I move fish from one tank to another and if and when QT started or ended. Today's fish are getting more expensive and there is no excuse not to QT, can you afford not too? Just my opinion Jim in Ohio