QT question

[mteel7237]

I'm looking to make a purchase from M. Beals later this month (5" to 6" in size). Most of my discus have come from Hans (very, very happy with him), but I'd like to add a few spotted ones. Here's my question, if M. Beals quarantines the fish for nearly a month, and I'm assuming that he is doing this to check for disease, how long should I quarantine for? It seems to me that any issues with the fish would already have arisen by the time I received them. Should dealing with a reputable dealer like Hans or Mike lesson the issues with illness.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[strawberryblonde]

Going with a reputable dealer does lessen problems with illness, but the main thing you have to QT for is cross contamination. Your current discus may harbor some pathogens that don't bother them, but would bother the new fish. Sorta like people with viruses and colds. If you've already got the antibodies, you won't get sick even if your neighbor does.

Same for the new fish, they might be carting something along with them that's going to make your current discus sick. The other problem is that sometimes just the stress of moving to a new home will lower their immune systems enough for them to get sick.

So definitely QT them for 2-4 weeks, and before adding them to the tank, put one of your discus in the QT that you can afford to lose if it should get sick. Most likely it won't, but it might.

[mteel7237]

Would adding water from the home aquarium to the QT give you the same results?

[strawberryblonde]

Yes and no. It will alert you if something in your main tank is going to sicken the new fish, but it won't tell you if something the new fish have is going to sicken your current fish.

[YSS]

QT, imo, is an art and not a science. You will hear tons of different opinions and methods and nothing will guarantee that fish from two different sources or same source for that matter when mixed will be fine. I am not a big believer in the hero fish method. I don't think it proves anything other than the fact that hero fish did or did not do well in the QT tank. I have read more than enough threads here that fish get sick all of sudden when nothing was added to the tank. Ask Mike about your situation and ask for his opinion. I would trust his opinion over 95% of the opinions you get on this forum.

[atitagain]

I like all the fish I have in my display.

I'll take my chances and move fish out of my QT when they get nice and thick.

I have found that moving them as a group to the main tank works out much better since the aggression gets spread around.