Is Quarantine Necessary? (with nano fish)

[Crabby]

Hey all.

So, I'm getting some cory cats in the near future, and I want to know if I need to quarantine them. I know a guy at my lfs really well, and I trust the store, so I might be able to get them to hold and quarantine them for me for a week. I'd prefer to just add them straight to the tank if it's possible though. If not, then I can sort a qt tank soon.

Thanks in advance

[jayc]

If they are the first inhabitants in a tank, then not needed.

Beyond that, it's difficult to answer as it is a personal choice.

we never value the quarantine process, until we REALLY need it, by the time we find out, it's too late. And we always wish we had quarantined.

If it was me, my thought process goes like this ...

i ask myself, do I already have inhabitants in the tank that are so rare and precious that I absolutely CANNOT loose due to disease? If the answer is Yes, than I quarantine any new tank inhabitants - fish or plants.

[sdlTBfanUK]

I agree with JayC and have N|EVER quarantined personally, but there is also something a little more to consider. My setups are small and simple/basic and don't have many fish  - all about 30L max!

If you have spent a lot of time and money setting up a beautiful tank, cycling it etc and then you introduce fish with some sort of disease or parasite you will need to TREAT the tank or may even have to re-setup the tank, if you put those sick fish in it so not only will you lose the fish you may have wasted a lot of time and money, and may have to completely start again from scratch, and never be 100% confident it/they won't recur. You may have to cycle etc again, buy new stuff depending on what the treatment was etc?

I would say if you have a small bare bottom tank with a spare filter WHY not quarantine for the peace of mind? I am aware of course that I  am being hypocritical in saying this..............................so just a thought!

Simon

[Crabby]

Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it!

As for the details, the tank is my 110L community, and while none of my fish are especially expensive or special, but I don’t want to lose any or have to rescape. The reason I was hoping to avoid qt is bc I don’t have a spare tank or filter atm. I think I will qt I think.

How long should I do it for, and do I need to cycle the tank very long?

[jayc]

9 hours ago, Crabclaw said:

How long should I do it for,

Usually a week or two should be enough with careful observation to see if any symptoms develop.

 

9 hours ago, Crabclaw said:

do I need to cycle the tank very long?

No. But it depends on the filtration. If you use a mature filter, then you don't need to cycle a quarantine tank for very long. I just use the water from my water change to fill a quarantine tank. And some old filter media floss from a mature filter in the quarantine tank's canister.

The quarantine tank is very basic, no decor, no substrate, nothing. Except maybe some lights to check for diseases after a week or two. You can get away with lights, and use a hand held torch even. 

Just a heater.

Edited December 15, 2019 by jayc

[Crabby]

Perfect. I've got a spare heater, can source a tank and filtration, have cycled media, and have a simple light if ambient light isn't enough. 

Pretty random question - are sponge filters super noisy? I've never used one with an air pump, and the qt tank would go in my bedroom; but only if I could actually sleep ?. Otherwise, is it cool to turn off a filter at night?

Cheers

[Zoidburg]

Sponge filters can be noisy if not set up properly.... one method of quieting some (depending on style) is to put an air stone at the base of the sponge filter, making smaller bubbles. Another method is to have the 'out-take' of the sponge filter just above the waters surface. It still makes noise, it's just quieter.

 

In the bird world, a minimum of 30 days is recommended for quarantine (which is hard for most people to do effectively), although up to 90 days can also be recommended. I know that one shrimp supplier does 30 day quarantine for new imported shrimp. I don't know if there's a standard set in the fish world.... but I have both quarantined fish and not quarantined fish. The fish I quarantined I struggled to keep alive, but not quarantining them didn't guarantee survival either... I only have shrimp tanks now, although I did add fish to one of those tanks, without quarantine. No other fish in there so no 'real' reason to quarantine, even though I did source the fish from two separate locations (just because first option only had 2 and they do better in groups). I *think* they are doing fine, but they are a species known for hiding and don't usually all come out at once so hard to say for sure.

[sdlTBfanUK]

If you can get one of these where you are it is probably the best all round for quietness and sufficient 'as it is' for your quarantine tank, there is a great video attached, you probably won't want the air line if you want quietness though! If you watch the video you may find you can replace the supplied sponge with an already used bacteria full sponge if you have one available, otherwise if you put the supplied new  sponge in an existing tank for a couple of weeks (just float it in the tank) to get bacteria into it? This will slightly delay getting the fish, assuming you haven't already got them........ You may be able to get one of these on your local ebay or amazon?

https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/internal-filters/2104-aquael-pat-mini-filter-5905546137997.html

Simon  

[Crabby]

Thanks for the help guys!

I’ll get the sponge soaking ASAP, and I might put a bag of cycled media in the tank to help out. Doesn’t rlly matter too much where the bacteria is if there’s water flowing past it, right?

I’m probably going to go with a simpler and more handy solution than the pat mini; I found a cheap air pump I can hang above my tank, that is easily powered by a regular phone charger. Comes with air stone, so will use to quieten the filter.

https://www.ebay.com.au/i/133235983143?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-139619-5960-0&mkcid=2&itemid=133235983143&targetid=677698376112&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=9071445&poi=&campaignid=7418917127&mkgroupid=84562536687&rlsatarget=aud-693796249881:pla-677698376112&abcId=1139436&merchantid=7364522&gclid=Cj0KCQiA89zvBRDoARIsAOIePbC4pTWIYe7sEHPWYsEMM9ZJLAsOweAJreSSQ7N7RmO-FK414LmFWIsaAhfKEALw_wcB
 

It is said to be very very quiet.

With luck, I should have my new fish before the new year, and in the display tank during Jan. 

Cheers all!

Edited December 17, 2019 by Crabby

[sdlTBfanUK]

You want to keep the tank as simple as possible in case you have to do any treatments so just use a thin layer of substrate and dump some spare plants in there if you have some should be sufficient. Usually quarantine tanks are bare bottom with nothing in but I would have thought that would stress any fish as it is so un-natural an environment, especially for an extended period, and you want the water parameters to be the same as the tank they will go into so use water from that tank as much as you can and again not too many things that will alter the water parameters, too much substrate may do that if it is the active type etc? 

Simon