QT or add straight to display?

[Joander123]

So I've got a 120 gallon planted community set up, with 10 corys and 50 cardinals. All healthy, no casualties since its been set up (apprx. 3 months) .. tank is doing and looking great. Im looking to add a group of 5 or 6 adult wild discus (6+ inches each) ... I think this should be fine space wise and bioload wise as well.. the only thing im wondering is on QT?

The discus are coming from a very trusted sponsor, who I know will ship very healthy fish, and im sure they've already been wormed/treated, he's had them in stock a while.. so im not worried about unhealthy stock, im worried about my existing stock...

Im not sure what protocol usually is when adding discus to a tank already containing other fish? I realize when you add other fish to a tank containing discus you QT and possibly treat them to make sure they don't transfer anything to the discus.. but when adding discus to a tank with community fish, it doesn't seem to make much sense to QT the discus first? What would I gain by doing this?

Is the best practice to simply acclimate and add the discus to the display tank? Should I treat the display tank for the other fish before adding discus? Any help is appreciated..

[Skip]

you have been around the forum since 2007 and you have to ask about qt?!

sure dump them in.. the source is trusted and your community tank looks safe..:crazy:

[Altum Nut]

IMO I think that question should always be answered by the supplier of Discus.
You may get different opinions here that work for one but not for others.
The best source of info will come from the supplier.

...Ralph

[Joander123]

In fairness I had discus in 2007.. then stopped for years.. hence the low post count :).

Im very aware of typical quarantine procedures, im just not sure what the best course of action is in this particular situation... like what is quaranting these discus going to afford me really? I guess maybe reduce some.initial stress as they're in a tank on their own? But they're also wilds that wont feel most comfortable in a bare bottom no wood no plants tank.. so even that advantage might be null and void?

[Skip]

LOL! welcome back :)

i don't do wilds.... yet.. :)

but i do know that fish are immune to things that fish from another source are not.. thats the caution.. when you mix..

take pics when they come IN :)

[Joander123]

Yes, im aware of the risk of possible cross contamination when the discus and other fish are not from the same source, and im of course aware of the fact that the discus are far more sensitive to many things than the cardinals or corys would be.. im just trying to figure out my best course of action to try and reduce risk of disease, but also not induce unnecessary QT stress on the new fish.. thanks for the input

[Darrell Ward]

There is always risk when mixing fish from different sources. I would put the discus in a QT tank, let them settle for a few days, and then add water straight from the display to the QT tank. Keep doing this for a while. If nothing happens, you can be fairly certain that it's safe to add them. If they start getting ill, then at least they will be in a QT tank already, and easier to treat. In my experience, I've found that wilds are tougher fish in general than most domestics. However, like anything else, they are always variables.

[Joander123]

Good thought. I could do that fairly easily. For what its worth (in case it matters I guess) corys and cardinals are from snookn21, discus will be from Hans.

[Darrell Ward]

Good thought. I could do that fairly easily. For what its worth (in case it matters I guess) corys and cardinals are from snookn21, discus will be from Hans.

In all likelihood, you could probably get away with drop and plopping the discus in the display, since they are probably all wild fish anyway. I say this having been a very happy customer of both of these gentleman, but I won't "endorse such reckless behavior" on the forum. LOL! Only you should decide that one.

[Joander123]

Well that was my feeling as well, but I wanted to run it by others first... the idea of quarantining and adding water from the display to the quarantine does seem like a great idea however..

[discolicious]

Just want to second what Darrell said. In my early days, I "dumped" some beautiful and healthy discus into an established community tank that I knew was healthy. ALL the fish had bacterial infections within 3 days. Not knowing any better, I treated the whole tank with Amoxicillin, killing all the good bacteria, which then required recycling the whole tank. It was a mess. In the end though, I didn't lose a single fish, but definitely don't want to go that route again.

[Keith Perkins]

Well that was my feeling as well, but I wanted to run it by others first... the idea of quarantining and adding water from the display to the quarantine does seem like a great idea however..

I agree. Honestly, before reading this, as long as you weren't worried about losing your existing fish I would have suggested just dropping them in. Darrell is completely right though, is your existing fish are carrying anything it would be easier to treat the discus in a QT tank that they were already in. Dang good point Darrell.

[PAR23]

QT works both ways. It not only protects your current stock but it protects your new stock as well. All fish undergo some degree of stress during shipping. By placing them in their own QT, this allows them to settle in and regain their full immunity giving them a better chance to fight off any diseases they may encounter in your display tank.

[discuspaul]

There is always risk when mixing fish from different sources. I would put the discus in a QT tank, let them settle for a few days, and then add water straight from the display to the QT tank. Keep doing this for a while. If nothing happens, you can be fairly certain that it's safe to add them. If they start getting ill, then at least they will be in a QT tank already, and easier to treat. In my experience, I've found that wilds are tougher fish in general than most domestics. However, like anything else, they are always variables.

Certainly agree with Darrell's comments, to be on the safe side.
In any event, you're getting good stock from a reliable source and placing them in your healthy tank, so the risks of dropping & plopping are likely very small, as others have pointed out.

[Jhhnn]

I Agree with Darrell. Heck, I set up new tanks with sponge filters from existing tanks, figuring that newcomers will be exposed to potential pathogens in my existing tanks eventually. Even if I cycled new tanks from scratch, the bacteria in them would likely come from my existing tanks anyway via the atmosphere. Macro parasites, like flukes or worms are a different story, but apparently they don't exist in my tanks... their populations explode in aquarium environments, so if they were present, I'd know...

The biggest concern, for me, is that newcomers not introduce anything new & dangerous if I can avoid it, and that they be in a treatment environment should it be needed.

I don't keep fish other than discus in BB tanks- it just seems simpler and easier that way. Of the 3 groups I've acquired form Kenny, I haven't mixed 'em, anyway... although quarantine pretty much disappears after a couple of months.

[YSS]

Putting discus in a tank with cories and cardinals are not going to stress them. They probably will be less stressed in your display tank than in a QT tank with nothing in it. If it was me, I would just put the discus in the display tank, but that's just me.

[Cevoe]

There are a lot of good points that have been made for both ways of getting these new discus into your display tank.
If you are looking for votes of confidence, I would go with YSS in just putting them in the display tank.
They are going to end up there anyway.
If you are bringing these fish in then you are obviously not a rookie fish keeper and you know what may happen.
Chances are you will be camped out in front of the tank looking for every twitch or possible abnormality anyway no matter when you finally get them in there.
Dump those babies, let them acclimate then snap off some pictures.
You will have a tank full of good fish from good sources.
If anything hairy-scary pops up you can deal with it then.
Good luck on the new fish. They sound cool.