Long quarantines work really well to expose nasty pathogens lurking in new arrivals. They work so well that you get jaded and lazy and eventually slip up on the quarantine procedure...at which time something rears up and bites you on the butt, reminding you why you spent all that time and effort quarantining for so long.
Don't ask how I know. My last departure from my own rigid quarantine protocol resulted in the death of virtually all the fish in the tank, both new arrivals and long-term residents. That was about 15 years ago, and it slapped me hard. Since then...no slip-ups, no cutting corners, everything goes into isolation for at least a couple months. The larger and more well-established the proposed permanent home is, the more hurtful it is when something happens due to laziness.
When I read about an aquarist buying some new fish today, which are plopped directly into his/her one and only aquarium with the fish that have lived there for months or years...my skin crawls.
Worse yet, we've got at least a couple members who mention going fishing for the day, schlepping some bait minnows around in a tiny, crowded, filthy bait bucket...and then if there are any left alive at day's end, they go right into the display tank, either as feeders or to add to the display. Don't even get me going on that..
Don't ask how I know. My last departure from my own rigid quarantine protocol resulted in the death of virtually all the fish in the tank, both new arrivals and long-term residents. That was about 15 years ago, and it slapped me hard. Since then...no slip-ups, no cutting corners, everything goes into isolation for at least a couple months. The larger and more well-established the proposed permanent home is, the more hurtful it is when something happens due to laziness.
When I read about an aquarist buying some new fish today, which are plopped directly into his/her one and only aquarium with the fish that have lived there for months or years...my skin crawls.
Worse yet, we've got at least a couple members who mention going fishing for the day, schlepping some bait minnows around in a tiny, crowded, filthy bait bucket...and then if there are any left alive at day's end, they go right into the display tank, either as feeders or to add to the display. Don't even get me going on that..
