High Tide Aquatics

Quarantine

Are you medicating the fish at all?

If it’s just observation and they were put in a sterile tank, 2 weeks *should* be enough to show any symptoms, but it depends on a lot of different things. 30 days seems to be the standard time for QT procedures for fish. It’s different for snails, crabs, shrimp, coral, etc...
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
Then not even close. The life cycle of Ich for instance is 72 days, so most people properly QTing shoot for an 80 day QT period to be safe.
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Granted I haven’t been doing this very long, but I haven’t seen 80 days as a recommendation for fish. The life cycle of ich doesn’t really matter for that long of a QT. If there are fish, even 80 days in a tank that has ich in it won’t get rid of it. And assuming it was a clean QT to start off with, you’re really just waiting to see if the fish is going to show signs of ich or other diseases.

For other things, like snails, coral, hermit crabs, etc... the recommended 76 days is so that you can be sure that any encysted (I think that’s the right term) have had time to hatch and leave the shell. Without fish present, the ich will die, as they don’t have a fish to infect.
 
Cruz Mc5 said:
Granted I haven’t been doing this very long, but I haven’t seen 80 days as a recommendation for fish. The life cycle of ich doesn’t really matter for that long of a QT. If there are fish, even 80 days in a tank that has ich in it won’t get rid of it. And assuming it was a clean QT to start off with, you’re really just waiting to see if the fish is going to show signs of ich or other diseases.

For other things, like snails, coral, hermit crabs, etc... the recommended 76 days is so that you can be sure that any encysted (I think that’s the right term) have had time to hatch and leave the shell. Without fish present, the ich will die, as they don’t have a fish to infect.
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Not true at all. A fish infected with Ich doesn't always show symptoms at all. If you are QTing with the express purpose of keeping ich out of the DT you have to go 72+ days. If that's the goal your only other choice that's shorter would be a shorter QT to observe for other things and then doing TTM. Or not QTing at all for Ich and having a plan to handle in the DT knowing the risks.
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
Not true at all. A fish infected with Ich doesn't always show symptoms at all. If you are QTing with the express purpose of keeping ich out of the DT you have to go 72+ days. If that's the goal your only other choice that's shorter would be a shorter QT to observe for other things and then doing TTM. Or not QTing at all for Ich and having a plan to handle in the DT knowing the risks.
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But the life cycle doesn’t really matter at that point, either it’s infected or it’s not. 72 plus days isn’t going to make the fish Ich free. It may increase the chances of seeing signs if ich, but it still won’t cure it. You would need to either do the TTM or treat with copper for 14 days with a transfer to a clean tank, or 30 days without a clean tank to move them to (at least according to the R2R “experts”).

Edit: Again, my disclosure that I’ve been in this hobby for a very short time. QT is something that I’ve researched a ton, but don’t have first hand experience with.
 
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Bruce Spiegelman said:
Then not even close. The life cycle of Ich for instance is 72 days, so most people properly QTing shoot for an 80 day QT period to be safe.
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76 days is the time frame the Humblefish on R2R advises to run a tank fallow if you want to clear ich. This is not the period where you can observe a fish in QT for ich.

There is no advised amount of time of QT where you can be assured with high confidence that your fish aren’t carrying ich into your DT. There are some cases where fish can be silent carriers. But without treating with TTM or copper, most really bad diseases like velvet are usually detected within 2-3 weeks of quarantine, ich as well, if it is going to show.


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Cruz Mc5 said:
But the life cycle doesn’t really matter at that point, either it’s infected or it’s not. 72 plus days isn’t going to make the fish Ich free. It may increase the chances of seeing signs if ich, but it still won’t cure it. You would need to either do the TTM or treat with copper for 14 days with a transfer to a clean tank, or 30 days without a clean tank to move them to (at least according to the R2R “experts”).

Edit: Again, my disclosure that I’ve been in this hobby for a very short time. QT is something that I’ve researched a ton, but don’t have first hand experience with.
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Sorry -- I was assuming that the person QTing was also treating with copper (for fish.) This is not necessarily what I would do, but he asked a very specific question.
 
Yeah. I assumed it meant just observing the fish. We probably need a bit more information before anyone can say one way or another. Have I mentioned that I hate this part of the hobby yet. It’s enough to make your head spin.
 
Yeah. I’d observe for 2-3 weeks and if they’re eating and look healthy, transfer to the display tank. Unless you QT EVERYTHING then you’re running the risk of something else bringing it in.
 
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