that I didnt quarantine first........but I've lost plenty, in qt.......
ok, let me clarify a moment. Losing meaning due to health issues and disease, not loss due to my own ignorance in not researching Red Bellied Pacu before I thought half a dozen would look nice in a 55, and I had to re-home, or lose them. Not that kind of loss, and not the kind where you wake up one day to find that your 10" Volitans Lionfish has become quite the meal to not one, but 2 of your morays. Or your Jd eating a tank full of tiger barbs out of boredom over the period of a few weeks. Or old age loss either..... Im talking about health and disease loss here...things that typically can wipe out an entire display, sometimes, very quickly and often with no solid diagnosis.
I'm not saying I've qt'ed every fish I've ever bought either. Quite the contrary. I've often gotten to the point of comfortability, as a hobbyist, where my patience gets the best of me and I skip the qt process altogether. Most times, all has been seemingly fine, but every now and again disaster strikes. I had a peaceful 90 gallon community setup for about 2 years when we decided to add a small school of cardinal tetras to the tank. They had been at the store we bought them from for over 2 weeks, so it seemed like we'd be ok just adding them. 2 weeks later, we had lost over 20 fish not including the 12 cardinals. No visable signs of anything. Just dead fish, one after the other regardless of what meds I through at the tank....total loss over a hand full of 2dollar fish by the end of it. I'm using that very tank as a qt tank, as I write this.....
Ever since then, I've stuck with the qt process and all my fish are seemingly healthy and happy. Not saying something hereditary or weird couldn't happen to any fish out of the blue. Unseen fights, tumors, things happen...fishkeeping is a constant learning process and at times it feels I learn more about my fish when in, qt ,then almost any other time. It's where I discover all my fishes habits and tendencies,likes dislkies, all without being picked on or chased in the display. Much easier to train on specific foods without competition and, lets face it, if you were chased around the room with a net, caught and thrown in a bag, maybe a plane flight or at the bare minimum a nice bumpy car ride, you might be a little bit stressed out too. You, probably, wouldn't mind having somewhere to decompress, before you got harassed and asked 20 questions about the ordeal from a tank full of strangers, whom several of which act like they........might, want to kill you. Why? Well you're not sure yet since technically you haven't been formally introduced...........more stress......perfect.
lol sorry.....I dont have a specific qt tank that stays setup a certain way either. I tend to setup a qt tank based around what I'm quarantining but, the basic idea is sand, wood(or rock) and a few plastic plants or pots to provide both cover, and, for the fish, a look at a much smaller version of the display tank itself. Lighting is usually subdued and the qt is always somewhere out of the way, like the garage or a spare bathroom somewhere I can photograph progress without the fish being too ware of my presence. No 2 periods of qt are ever really the same either. Our Midas took about 2 weeks seeing as he always been in a tank of some sort and he was used to the local water supply. One big puppy really. Our Freddy took about 2 months and the Festae in my avatar took 2 months the first trip and 2 the second lol. Yeah, I made the mistake of trying to introduce her to the big display too soon. She was stalked by a GT relentlessly...so bad in fact she developed ich, so she got fished out of the display and when back into hosp/qt for another 2 months.....till she had the size to hang, and, I found a home for the GT....both of which, eventually happened..... and now she's one of our favorite, and healthiest fish. The qt tank saved her the second time for sure.......Most all quarantinee's(sp?) get tankmates added at some point. Training wheels.......few small fish. Sometimes a divider and another larger fish. Really depends on the fish and how social or antisocial it becomes or is leaning. Once the fish seems comfortable and feeding I usually add a few small fish to bring them out even more.....although, "Mo" our freddy ate her first tankmate. I took that as a good sign though lol she hasnt been shy since.......
I really hate medicating my displays too. Salt is about the only thing that I'll go near my displays with. Every time I need to medicate for something salt wont handle, it's been during qt anyways(other than my festae which was my own fault). If a problem arises, I medicate the qt tank, which ends up costing alot less to treat than my displays. 20 gallons worth of meds is alot cheaper than 300 or so....
These are just my obsevations here , as I look at myself as a fishkeeper and the things that have helped me be a better one. It's not a rant, nor am I saying everyone can or should qt their fish, even though I've found it a very valuable tool for me. If you have breeding programs and or growout tanks, technically you have taken the qt process up a notch IMO. A qt tank with extra benefits if you will, but it still surprises me how many other hobbyists don't set up a small one. Usually because of space and or funds, and I get that. Fishkeeping can get expensive and running multiple tanks can be costly, but my 20 gallon cost about 20 bucks, cost about 2bucks a month to operate and can, and has been setup everywhere from a bathroom to a closet. Sterilite containers and styrofoam/plastic coolers make good substitutes too, as do 55 gallon plastic trash barrels for larger fish. But, a cheap hob and coleman cooler you were going to throw away is just about all you need, really. Or a big ole sponge filter if you really don't have any money.........
but in all honesty, I've never met a fishkeeper( myself included) that wasnt looking for an excuse to buy another tank..........I mean especially for something that can be justified to my wife, right?
lol Thanks for reading.....
ok, let me clarify a moment. Losing meaning due to health issues and disease, not loss due to my own ignorance in not researching Red Bellied Pacu before I thought half a dozen would look nice in a 55, and I had to re-home, or lose them. Not that kind of loss, and not the kind where you wake up one day to find that your 10" Volitans Lionfish has become quite the meal to not one, but 2 of your morays. Or your Jd eating a tank full of tiger barbs out of boredom over the period of a few weeks. Or old age loss either..... Im talking about health and disease loss here...things that typically can wipe out an entire display, sometimes, very quickly and often with no solid diagnosis.
I'm not saying I've qt'ed every fish I've ever bought either. Quite the contrary. I've often gotten to the point of comfortability, as a hobbyist, where my patience gets the best of me and I skip the qt process altogether. Most times, all has been seemingly fine, but every now and again disaster strikes. I had a peaceful 90 gallon community setup for about 2 years when we decided to add a small school of cardinal tetras to the tank. They had been at the store we bought them from for over 2 weeks, so it seemed like we'd be ok just adding them. 2 weeks later, we had lost over 20 fish not including the 12 cardinals. No visable signs of anything. Just dead fish, one after the other regardless of what meds I through at the tank....total loss over a hand full of 2dollar fish by the end of it. I'm using that very tank as a qt tank, as I write this.....
Ever since then, I've stuck with the qt process and all my fish are seemingly healthy and happy. Not saying something hereditary or weird couldn't happen to any fish out of the blue. Unseen fights, tumors, things happen...fishkeeping is a constant learning process and at times it feels I learn more about my fish when in, qt ,then almost any other time. It's where I discover all my fishes habits and tendencies,likes dislkies, all without being picked on or chased in the display. Much easier to train on specific foods without competition and, lets face it, if you were chased around the room with a net, caught and thrown in a bag, maybe a plane flight or at the bare minimum a nice bumpy car ride, you might be a little bit stressed out too. You, probably, wouldn't mind having somewhere to decompress, before you got harassed and asked 20 questions about the ordeal from a tank full of strangers, whom several of which act like they........might, want to kill you. Why? Well you're not sure yet since technically you haven't been formally introduced...........more stress......perfect.
lol sorry.....I dont have a specific qt tank that stays setup a certain way either. I tend to setup a qt tank based around what I'm quarantining but, the basic idea is sand, wood(or rock) and a few plastic plants or pots to provide both cover, and, for the fish, a look at a much smaller version of the display tank itself. Lighting is usually subdued and the qt is always somewhere out of the way, like the garage or a spare bathroom somewhere I can photograph progress without the fish being too ware of my presence. No 2 periods of qt are ever really the same either. Our Midas took about 2 weeks seeing as he always been in a tank of some sort and he was used to the local water supply. One big puppy really. Our Freddy took about 2 months and the Festae in my avatar took 2 months the first trip and 2 the second lol. Yeah, I made the mistake of trying to introduce her to the big display too soon. She was stalked by a GT relentlessly...so bad in fact she developed ich, so she got fished out of the display and when back into hosp/qt for another 2 months.....till she had the size to hang, and, I found a home for the GT....both of which, eventually happened..... and now she's one of our favorite, and healthiest fish. The qt tank saved her the second time for sure.......Most all quarantinee's(sp?) get tankmates added at some point. Training wheels.......few small fish. Sometimes a divider and another larger fish. Really depends on the fish and how social or antisocial it becomes or is leaning. Once the fish seems comfortable and feeding I usually add a few small fish to bring them out even more.....although, "Mo" our freddy ate her first tankmate. I took that as a good sign though lol she hasnt been shy since.......
I really hate medicating my displays too. Salt is about the only thing that I'll go near my displays with. Every time I need to medicate for something salt wont handle, it's been during qt anyways(other than my festae which was my own fault). If a problem arises, I medicate the qt tank, which ends up costing alot less to treat than my displays. 20 gallons worth of meds is alot cheaper than 300 or so....
These are just my obsevations here , as I look at myself as a fishkeeper and the things that have helped me be a better one. It's not a rant, nor am I saying everyone can or should qt their fish, even though I've found it a very valuable tool for me. If you have breeding programs and or growout tanks, technically you have taken the qt process up a notch IMO. A qt tank with extra benefits if you will, but it still surprises me how many other hobbyists don't set up a small one. Usually because of space and or funds, and I get that. Fishkeeping can get expensive and running multiple tanks can be costly, but my 20 gallon cost about 20 bucks, cost about 2bucks a month to operate and can, and has been setup everywhere from a bathroom to a closet. Sterilite containers and styrofoam/plastic coolers make good substitutes too, as do 55 gallon plastic trash barrels for larger fish. But, a cheap hob and coleman cooler you were going to throw away is just about all you need, really. Or a big ole sponge filter if you really don't have any money.........
but in all honesty, I've never met a fishkeeper( myself included) that wasnt looking for an excuse to buy another tank..........I mean especially for something that can be justified to my wife, right?
lol Thanks for reading.....
