what are your methods quarantine when purchasing a fish from a local store?

[esoxlucius]

I've done both in the past. The proper way, and the russian roulette way. And the correct and sensible way is certainly NOT the latter!

One thing to note regarding "trusted" LFS's though. Their fish may be wonderfully healthy and you think you're safe dumping them straight in your tank.

All it needs is for those wonderfully healthy fish to have a stressful time, which is usually the case, on the way home sloshing about in the bag in the car, and those fishes immune systems are then potentially compromised.

Throwing them into new surroundings adds to their turmoil and before you know it your wonderfully healthy fish have ich, as do the rest of your stock to boot!

And then to rub salt into your wounds, if you have a big tank you have to medicate the whole dam thing at mega cost!

 

[jjohnwm]

I remember back when we young folk were being cautioned about the dangers of unprotected sex; the standard catchphrase was something to the effect that if you partake in unprotected sex, it is the equivalent of having sex with every sexual partner your current partner has ever had...and all of their past partners!

This is exactly the same thing. Even the best, cleanest, most forward-thinking LFS still has an endless procession of fish passing through their tanks, and all at a time when they are at their worst in terms of stress and susceptibility. It's like a central warehouse and distribution center for fish diseases.

The longer you luck out and dodge the bullet...the more fish you will have when the bullet finally hits the bone, and the greater the potential losses can be. And when that happens...it isn't fair to blame the shop. You know precisely who is responsible.

 

[esoxlucius]

I remember back when we young folk were being cautioned about the dangers of unprotected sex; the standard catchphrase was something to the effect that if you partake in unprotected sex, it is the equivalent of having sex with every sexual partner your current partner has ever had...and all of their past partners!

Yes kids, don't have unprotected sex. Always, always place any prospective partners in quarantine for a good while, no matter where they came from!! Lol.

 

[M3AN ONE]

Best quarentine method is a smaller separate system from your main system that way if fish are sick you won’t have to treat your own tank and risk the nuclear fall out. I learned my lesson and am currently setting up a 4x4x2 quarantine tank. And 4 weeks is a minimum imo. Might be good to preventively treat new fish for known species related issues and run a UV after treatment is finished. This also help the fish get settled in and not be thrown into a tank where it can be bullied while having a compromised immune system making even a relatively healthy fish sick.

 

[loneshark]

I do a minimum of a week of quarantine.

just a small 15 gallon tank barebottom.
I always have a spare sponge filter in the main tank to use in the QT when needed.
I observe if the fish is eating and active within a week, if everything good then I add it to the main tank at the end of the week.
This way, I believe is best even if you're 100% sure the first is disease free because it gets the fish perfectly adjusted to the water, and then I directly put the fish from qt to the main tank without acclimatising, maintaining the qt temperature and as main tank.

even if the fish is perfectly healthy adding it to be water parameters in new tank is a bit too much and the fish may get bullied.

 

[dogofwar]

I always, always, always quarantine. Just put the new fish in a separate, comfortable tank and observe. As others have noted, not quarantining is a roll of the dice. Both for the existing fish and the new fish.

I just returned from South America with a bunch of new fish that I caught. All of the new fish got their own tanks and bins. I work really hard not to cross-contaminate tanks with new fish and tanks with existing fish. I have a bucket where I keep nets, siphons and other equipment in a solution of net soak and salt water. If I use a net or a siphon, it goes into the bucket. Sometimes less is more. My tanks are all on a drip system so I try not to fiddle with them beyond feeding and what I must do.

I feed all fish in quarantine food with Metro. It can't hurt. Any fish that develop disease are isolated and treated. Quarantine will last at least a month. Probably longer.

 

[duanes]

I QT for about 3 months.
A friend who ran the aquatic exhibit at a public zoo, would QT every fish for "no less" than 6 months before adding to a display tank.

I have found some really nasty diseases take at least 3 months to develop, and become obvious (to me).
So serious observation of the QT tank is needed, and any remote sign of distress, might increase QT to even more time.
Some of course appear faster, and can then be treated (if there is an effective medication available).

QT- is not just about what new fish can bring in though.
The fish already established in your tank may have built immunity to something , the new fish have not developed immunity to,
and if the new fish in the tank get infected, this can spread like an epidemic, so much so, it later compromises even the older fishes resistance.

So while I QT, I gradually add water from the established tanks, to prepare new fish, for the kind of microbiological biota they are eventually in for.

These days I only collect fish from nature, and parasites on wild caught fish are always expected,

 

[RD.]

Past discussion that might help you out .........

Can you reduce quarantine time with pre treatment? | MonsterFishKeepers.com

Lots of good reading material in that topic, including this...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22204059

Fish quarantine: current practices in public zoos and aquaria.
Hadfield CA1, Clayton LA.
Author information

Abstract
The primary goal of quarantine is to reduce the risk of introducing infectious diseases into established collections. Fish quarantine is inherently complex because of the variety of species, environmental requirements, and facilities. To examine current practices, questionnaires were submitted to 60 public zoos and aquaria, predominantly in North America. Questions reviewed system type (closed, flow-through), quarantine length, diagnostics, treatments, and cleaning and disinfection. Forty-two of the 60 institutions responded. Most institutions had separate quarantine protocols for freshwater teleosts, marine teleosts, and elasmobranchs. Ninety-five percent of institutions had a minimum quarantine period of 30 days or more. Sixty-four percent of institutions used isolated areas for some or all of their fish quarantine. Twenty-five percent had designated fish quarantine staff. All institutions used regular visual examinations to assess animal health. Fifty-four percent of the institutions carried out routine hands-on diagnostics on some fish; this was more common for elasmobranchs than teleosts. All institutions carried out necropsies on mortalities. Fifteen percent of institutions performed histopathology on almost all fresh mortalities; 54% percent performed histopathology on less than 10% of mortalities. Prophylactic treatments were common in closed systems, in particular, formalin immersion for teleosts, freshwater dips and copper sulfate immersion for marine teleosts, and praziquantel immersion for marine teleosts and elasmobranchs. Institutions using dips generally did so at the start or end of quarantine. Fenbendazole- and praziquantel-medicated foods were used commonly in teleosts, but dosages varied greatly. Cleaning and disinfection of systems and equipment increased in response to known pathogens. These results can be used to compare and discuss fish quarantine practices at display facilities in order to improve quarantine success.

 

[FJB]

My position is that if I buy fish from (anybody), mix it with my fish, and they get sick, I have just myself to blame. Where they are coming from does not matter one bit. They are coming from outside my system.
To me quarantine is a period of observation by me of the fish, and of acclimatizing of them to the conditions I offer. It may or not include medications, each case is separate.
I use 1 month as an absolute minimum. Any observed or suspected issues reset the start to zero.
I don't expect a month to be magic or to always be sufficient. But it allows me to make informed decisions.

 

[FINWIN]

You can set up a clear tote with a heater, sponge, airstone, and small hob (with bigger fish) with some silk plants for shelter. Keep the lid and angle it over the tub. I had an 18 gal tote I put my chocolate in during a quarantine like this.: