Quarantine for marine?

[Def]

Hi all,

We're looking into getting a marine tank soon, just gathering info and costs etc. One question I've not seen answered anywhere is about quarantine. I have a 10g quarantine tank for my tropicals in case of disease or for new additions, but it seems to me to be much harder to set up a small quarantine marine tank.

How do you guys go about this? I guess the posts on nanoreefs are somewhat relevant, but this tank would be for short term fish only... Would another 10g be suitable for marine quarantine? What equipment would I need (bearing in mind I've been investigating a 60g marine tank, so this is the other end of the scale).

Oh, also, while I'm in here, does anyone have some good links/info on keeping seahorses? She wants seahorses and I want stars, and then we'll pick the fish later

Cheers

 

[ostrow]

There are many thoughts on QT. If you have a reef tank, getting a distressed fish out can be deadly to the fish, as you invariably are looking at chasing around, through, and under rock that can be sharp, etc. Generally speaking it is not an easy process to get a sick fish out of a reef tank.

As for new fish, that is where the debate hits. IMO using a QT adds another move and another round of stress to the fish. I don't QT. But I do acclimate over a minimum of an hour and for tangs 3-4 hrs with a slow drip process.

Certainly though if you decide to medicate a fish that has to be done outside the reef tank so you are either talking about a dip or a QT. 10G is probably fine, just need a small pump, a couple pieces of rubble rock for hiding, and maybe a small HOB skimmer.

 

[Def]

Okay, so from that I understand it's not a big problem to set up. What about to keep it running without fish? I'll have my tropical quarantine tank running all the time, even when there's no fish in it so it's ready and waiting "in case" - is that necessary for marines? In fact, how quick can you cycle a small 10g marine tank for quarantine?

Edit: Sorry, whats a "dip"?

 

[J-Money]

I've been thinking about getting a marine tank for a minute so in my vast wealth of knowledge ( ) I think I learned the freshwater dip is where you put your newly aquired saltwater fish in a thing of freshwater for a sec so that any parasites kickin' it on your new fish will die off.
http/www.bestfish.com/tips/052099.html

 

[Navarre]

A freshwater dip is where you place a fish into a tank of fresh water and leave it there for a short period of time. This is very good at removing parasites like marine ich (whitespot) etc. Leave the fish inm the water until it starts to show signs of discomfort then return it to the tank. However, I must strtess that i do not like using this method and if it has to be done then its as a last resort onnly and there is NO other option. This is by no means a cure, it simply a quick fix and the stress that is placed on the fish can kill it so you must be sure ot know what you are doing when attempting such a treatment. I prefer to use a UV as it give no extra stress to the fish.

 

[ostrow]

It depends on what you are treating. You can dip in very low salinity water, or super-high salinity. You have to know the disease you are treating to determine which method. Because we are normally guessing, this should be a last, last resort.

Some dip fish in regular saltwater with lugol's or other solutions to effect a parasite clean on a new addition.

I have had exactly one instance in which a QT may have helped one of my fishes and there is no way I could have caught him. Seems a wasteful option unless you are running many, many tanks with many hundreds of gallons of water when you know there is often going to be a need.

Of course, I haven't had a sick f/w fish in 14 months now so I have no need for a QT there either.

 

[Def]

Okay, so basically I don't need to worry about a quarantine tank for the marines, just dip new additions in regular saltwater with a treatment added.

As I understand it, you can't add fish treatments direct to the main reef tank because it will damage the corals etc. So how do you medicate a sick fish if you don't have a quarantine tank? Just dip them? Or leave them to sort themselves out?

 

[TBLightningFan]

My LFS said there are medications that are reef safe. I would imagine they are less effective than standard meds. Otherwise all meds would be reef safe.

I have never needed to treat my fish. But this is what info I have so far.

 

[ostrow]

Will kill corals, inverts, destroy sandbed, cause skimmer to go nuts. Most that claim to be "reef safe" are snake oils IME.

Yeah, leave it to sort itself out, which usually means dying. But for ick you can control by getting cleaner shrimp, cleaner gobies, cleaner wrasses. They all eat the parasites off affected fish quite effectively.

Other diseases are a problem. I don't dip. I buy only from reputable suppliers. Pricier, but worth it. A good store will tell you where the fish is coming from and how collected, and give you the option of selling you from the bag when it comes in so only one acclimation needed and isolated from store problems, or will QT it for you, med if needed, and get it to start feeding. Then when you buy, you watch it take food, examine closely, and you are good to go.

If the store won't do that, it isn't the one you want to use.

There are some tip-top online livestock retailers too.

 

[Def]

Excellent, thank you.

 

[Navarre]

Sound advice so far. Also consider a UV steriliser. I keep one for emergencies and swear by them. Some people dont think they are that effective but its worked for me each time. Its also worth having the back up as Im sure you will be kicking yourself if your stock died and you never had one available.

Be aware of the UVs limitations though, it will only kill pathogens that are swimming in the water, it cannot be effective against fish that are already effected