Good advice Matthew. Most people are so excited to put fish into their displays they forget about the lives of the fish they are potentially endangering by doing so. I have been guilty of that in the past & that’s why I QT first.
Just used this guide to purchase my first quarantine! Felt crazy buying a 10 gallon after just waiting for my 25 gallon to cycle, but I want to do it right this time. Lost too many fish and coral doing it as a kid, trying to learn from prior mistakes
All great advice and insights ! For filtration, we use an established sponge filter from another tank. We have some 10 gallon “non-show” tanks. So adding new sponge filter to the “ no show” tank and moving the cycled filter to the “hospital tank” is no bother. For those who wish to be extra careful, one can just move the filter’s sponge and replace it once the quarantine is over. Kudos one mentioning that the quarantine period begins once one is asymptomatic! This is hard but essential. When I was on the infectious disease service, I’d tell that to my human patients and sometimes receive major blow back. Thankfully fish, plants, and corals are less vocal patients. And yes, I said plants. One of our tanks got snails from eggs on a plant from a quality source. Quarantine everything, Jim
Everyone should have a quarantine tank to observe the fish but I believe every lfs should quarantine and medicate fish.when you go buy a a dog,cat etc you’re expecting to get a healthy pet ,why is fish any different.great video as always 👍
I’ve added about 20 fish over the last two years, quarantining everything. Just using it for observation with no treatment. I got through about 15 fish with no issues. The last set I was adding was my tangs. Well, one of the tangs had flukes and wiped the whole qt tank in a few days before I noticed it was flukes. Let me just say I’m glad I stuck with the quarantine. I would have been pretty heart broken after adding so many fish only to have the last batch kill them all. 20 bucks for a 20 gallon(keep watch for those dollar per gallon sales), a sponge filter/air stone and cheap heater goes a long way with frequent water changes.
Thanks to you, I'm about to set up a quarantine tank, as an addon to my first reef tank I just cycled. I only have one fish so far plus few snails, but I will be getting more fish soon. It will test my patience (since I have little of it anyway), but I will qt the fish regardless.
Check out our 5 Minute Saltwater Aquarium Guide series. While that series was focused on a 40 breeder aquarium, you could use all of the same advice and put it towards a 75. Some of the equipment would just be a little bigger. czcams.com/play/PLBaMLrfToJyxJ1PuJZwhkxvvdFP14eV_t.html
This just happened to me. Got lucky getting 12 amanos, a colony of cherry shrimp, a honey gourami and 6 galaxy rasbora established in a well-planted tank. Felt good about it but wanted to add more galexy rasbora a week ago. Straight from the pet store into the tank (after a floating acclimation period, and I didn't mix the water I fished them out with a net). Suddenly they started to die. Shrimp have been fine, but the rasboras were starting to look bad and die off 1 by 1. On day 3 after losing half of them (most of those being the more established fish) I set up a hospital tank and put all but the shrimp, gourami and 1 healthy looking rasbora in it (the 1 healthy rasbora was the last of the original 6, which I could tell by the coloraiton). The 4 rasbora that went into the hospital tank all died 1 by 1 as well. Did antibacterial + fungus treatment plus epson salt. It didn't really slow anything down and now I feel terrible not only for my fish that I had killed but also because I stressed the sh*t out of the remaining tank community (lots of water changes happened...). I still have no idea what it was. The only symptom was bloating and in their last few hours they would start swimming funny and get pulled around by the tank current. I do know that if I would have put them in a quarantine tank I would have saved 5 fish (maybe 7 if the Gourami and last Rasbora in the tank don't make it) and a lot of time, effort, pain and of least important but still relevant - money. The little 3 gallon quarantine/hospital tank took me 1 hour to set up because I had to go buy a heater. That's it. I already owned it from a previous venture. I will always be doing so in the future. Thanks for the content!
This is awesome! I am in the process of rejuvenating my 120gal and have finally wised up to getting a QT tank. My question is, do you have a list of medications and treatments that you recommend to have on hand for treatment when necessary? Thanks in advance.
currently dealing with ich, im so scared i’ll lose all my fish right now since at least 3 have it :( it’s hard to treat the whole tank too so i might try to trap them and QT them to medicate with something stronger
If I build a quarantine fish tank, what should I do with the tank after each quarantine? Since there is mature filter material in the fish tank, can I just change 100% of the water to remove the residual drugs in the water? Thank you
What if you add Fritz turbo start. i have read that it can cycle a tank in 5 days with fish in it. I watch a youtube of a guy that added a fish with it and ammonia never got higher then 0.25. I never quarantined because I felt it was riskier for them to die in an uncycled tank! But I am buying 5 or 6 fish at once so scares the hell out of me. Do you know if most vendors quarantine now days? I just watched a 4 year old video and he said very few do! Also can you use something like seachem prime to keep ammonia and nitrates nitrates bound into some non toxic form also wouldnt you know b4 28 days if fish are sick?
Anyone know the name of those zoas at 1:51 ? They are my 1st LFS bought coral and they didnt knew the name :( they look abit like Utter chaos but they are not UC imo
Honestly if your gunna stay in the fish game it always nice to have fresh water tanks ect so that way if you do fail the saltwater tanks you have something to keep you motivated to keep trying. I have q love hate relationship with aquariums but I always have one because I love them even tho there money Pitts lol fish are friends not food ahahah
moving my fish from small to big tank, all are in the small tank for over one year , no diseases can I consider this as Quarantining?? like to use start new tank as a restet point. never had diseases just lot of pests I wan to have removed from system so i will QT corals later.
No matter if you quarantine or not every system will get ich at one point or another. I have friends that had systems running for 10 years then for no particular reason fish got ich. I have had over 20 aquariums out of those 20 about 4 got ich, only the strong survive I guess, if you buy stressed out fish that sat in lfs tanks for weeks then thats the worst purchase, I always buy right when my lfs gets shipment an purchase them still bagged. Always get the fish right when they are shipped thats the best outcome not when they get put in the tanks that are infested and have fish in an out constantly.
I never had ich in my freshwater tank. I had columnaris, velvet, wasting disease or internal parasites and one of my fish had swim bladder disease. Which I euthanized since I didn't know what to do ro treat it.
QT tank size mainly depends on what size fish you're going to QT. If you are going to QT larger tangs for a few weeks, a 75 might actually be a great option. If you're going to QT a couple clowns, I'd suggest saving some space and going smaller like a 10 or 20 gallon.
Ideally, there should be no ammonia present. Very low levels (less than 0.25 ppm) probably aren't going to cause fatalities in most cases, but still not ideal for the fish as it can burn their gills.
If you don't have the space, time, or desire to QT, there are a lot of great places out there that offer pre-quarantined fish. That may be a good option for you if the idea of a QT tank is unappealing.
Do quarantine procedures change at all for very small fish? For example, can very small and young clowns be treated with the same level of copper as full grown fish?
Yes. The therapeutic level doesn't change based on the size of the fish being treated. Some fish handle copper better than others, so best to research the fish that you're planning on treating before buying.
Mathew,I have a 49 Gallon take i'm setting up. I have a mature 11 Gallon Tank, if I took the water, Sand and filter medium and rocks from the 11 Gallon tank be enough to instantly make the 49 Gallon tank ok for fish straight away or is that to little a amount of mature water to mature 49 Gallon? Hope that makes sense. Regards Bill in England
Don't he like me! I watches this video when it came out two years ago. After I spend over thousand on fish. My last one was a yellow tang... and in few weeks it got symptoms of marine velvet. All my fish died within a week. Now my main display is fishless... and I just set up another tank as quarantine. This time will be smarter
Lost a six line, two cardinals, another six line, ruby red dragonet, 2 royal garmmas and an ocellaris clown. QUARANTINE everything you add! You’ll save yourself the heartbreak and the peace of mind once it’s said and done
Good advice Matthew. Most people are so excited to put fish into their displays they forget about the lives of the fish they are potentially endangering by doing so. I have been guilty of that in the past & that’s why I QT first.
Just used this guide to purchase my first quarantine! Felt crazy buying a 10 gallon after just waiting for my 25 gallon to cycle, but I want to do it right this time. Lost too many fish and coral doing it as a kid, trying to learn from prior mistakes
One of my favourite ReefTubers Matthew. Excellent information. Entertaining. Classy. Thank you so much for the time you put into these videos!
You are too kind Ayla!
All great advice and insights !
For filtration, we use an established sponge filter from another tank. We have some 10 gallon “non-show” tanks. So adding new sponge filter to the “ no show” tank and moving the cycled filter to the “hospital tank” is no bother. For those who wish to be extra careful, one can just move the filter’s sponge and replace it once the quarantine is over.
Kudos one mentioning that the quarantine period begins once one is asymptomatic! This is hard but essential. When I was on the infectious disease service, I’d tell that to my human patients and sometimes receive major blow back. Thankfully fish, plants, and corals are less vocal patients.
And yes, I said plants. One of our tanks got snails from eggs on a plant from a quality source.
Quarantine everything,
Jim
This is great advice James!
Great job overall, and love the production value of this whole thing. Keep it up Matthew!
Everyone should have a quarantine tank to observe the fish but I believe every lfs should quarantine and medicate fish.when you go buy a a dog,cat etc you’re expecting to get a healthy pet ,why is fish any different.great video as always 👍
:-)
PERFECT VIDEO! Luck will run out eventually....many fish keepers say they never did QT for new fish, and then one day, it hits them.
Such good energy! Glad BRS is keeping a focus on the essentials for new reefers and great reminders for those of us that have gotten lazy.
He's my favorite from brs. So easy on the ears
Your videos are creative and enjoyable. Glad you are with BRS.
I have been cutting my own hair for at least 15 years… i cant imagine how much money i have saved lol. Great video, i need to set up my quarantine.
Looking good Forrest gump 👍
:-)
I’ve added about 20 fish over the last two years, quarantining everything. Just using it for observation with no treatment. I got through about 15 fish with no issues. The last set I was adding was my tangs. Well, one of the tangs had flukes and wiped the whole qt tank in a few days before I noticed it was flukes. Let me just say I’m glad I stuck with the quarantine. I would have been pretty heart broken after adding so many fish only to have the last batch kill them all. 20 bucks for a 20 gallon(keep watch for those dollar per gallon sales), a sponge filter/air stone and cheap heater goes a long way with frequent water changes.
Thanks to you, I'm about to set up a quarantine tank, as an addon to my first reef tank I just cycled. I only have one fish so far plus few snails, but I will be getting more fish soon. It will test my patience (since I have little of it anyway), but I will qt the fish regardless.
Great video Matthew
Great advice as always 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇬🇧
Yep exactly the same thing happen to me, lost all my fish in 3 weeks of a parasite attack. now I have a quarantine tank , expensive lesson learned.
Great video matthew !!
Would love to see other qt tanks you talked about.. the different meds to treat nems coral other inverts. And what fish don't need to be qt.
We'll have to add that to the list!
I second that... and maybe add what fish are good/not for what common meds as well.
Just caught uronema from Anthias. Was so happy it was only on my quarantine tank. I would have left the hobby if that got into my display.
Great content!
Can you do any tutorials for setting up a 75 gallon saltwater tank for beginners??
Check out our 5 Minute Saltwater Aquarium Guide series. While that series was focused on a 40 breeder aquarium, you could use all of the same advice and put it towards a 75. Some of the equipment would just be a little bigger.
czcams.com/play/PLBaMLrfToJyxJ1PuJZwhkxvvdFP14eV_t.html
Great video.. like that guy
I didn’t know we should be treating new nems with antibiotics. I hope you go over this in a future vid
I'll add that to the list. You don't have to do this, but I was having such a string of bad luck that I do now.
Recommend an all-in-on for a QT if you can swing it. Saves you the cost of the filter and keeps things even simpler! Just a cheap Chinese return pump!
yeah, I love AIOs for qts!
This just happened to me. Got lucky getting 12 amanos, a colony of cherry shrimp, a honey gourami and 6 galaxy rasbora established in a well-planted tank.
Felt good about it but wanted to add more galexy rasbora a week ago. Straight from the pet store into the tank (after a floating acclimation period, and I didn't mix the water I fished them out with a net). Suddenly they started to die. Shrimp have been fine, but the rasboras were starting to look bad and die off 1 by 1. On day 3 after losing half of them (most of those being the more established fish) I set up a hospital tank and put all but the shrimp, gourami and 1 healthy looking rasbora in it (the 1 healthy rasbora was the last of the original 6, which I could tell by the coloraiton).
The 4 rasbora that went into the hospital tank all died 1 by 1 as well. Did antibacterial + fungus treatment plus epson salt. It didn't really slow anything down and now I feel terrible not only for my fish that I had killed but also because I stressed the sh*t out of the remaining tank community (lots of water changes happened...).
I still have no idea what it was. The only symptom was bloating and in their last few hours they would start swimming funny and get pulled around by the tank current. I do know that if I would have put them in a quarantine tank I would have saved 5 fish (maybe 7 if the Gourami and last Rasbora in the tank don't make it) and a lot of time, effort, pain and of least important but still relevant - money.
The little 3 gallon quarantine/hospital tank took me 1 hour to set up because I had to go buy a heater. That's it. I already owned it from a previous venture.
I will always be doing so in the future.
Thanks for the content!
I would kill to get to talk to this guy. He's like the Harrison Ford of fish keepers in my eyes
This is awesome! I am in the process of rejuvenating my 120gal and have finally wised up to getting a QT tank. My question is, do you have a list of medications and treatments that you recommend to have on hand for treatment when necessary? Thanks in advance.
Would a quarantine tank still be worth it if I only plan to buy 2 fish for my tank?
currently dealing with ich, im so scared i’ll lose all my fish right now since at least 3 have it :( it’s hard to treat the whole tank too so i might try to trap them and QT them to medicate with something stronger
Would love to see your method for an anemone QT.
Can speak on this i just lost everything to velvet. On my bday I got a wrasse and it brought it in…lost thousands because I didn’t do QT
If I build a quarantine fish tank, what should I do with the tank after each quarantine?
Since there is mature filter material in the fish tank, can I just change 100% of the water to remove the residual drugs in the water? Thank you
What if you add Fritz turbo start. i have read that it can cycle a tank in 5 days with fish in it. I watch a youtube of a guy that added a fish with it and ammonia never got higher then 0.25. I never quarantined because I felt it was riskier for them to die in an uncycled tank! But I am buying 5 or 6 fish at once so scares the hell out of me. Do you know if most vendors quarantine now days? I just watched a 4 year old video and he said very few do! Also can you use something like seachem prime to keep ammonia and nitrates nitrates bound into some non toxic form also wouldnt you know b4 28 days if fish are sick?
Can you use Prime in an uncycled QT tank to help avoid major water fluxes?
question: can I cycle the QT, then remove the biological filtration, treat the fish, and then clean the same tank properly and recycle for the future?
👍
Anyone know the name of those zoas at 1:51 ? They are my 1st LFS bought coral and they didnt knew the name :( they look abit like Utter chaos but they are not UC imo
Honestly if your gunna stay in the fish game it always nice to have fresh water tanks ect so that way if you do fail the saltwater tanks you have something to keep you motivated to keep trying. I have q love hate relationship with aquariums but I always have one because I love them even tho there money Pitts lol fish are friends not food ahahah
moving my fish from small to big tank, all are in the small tank for over one year , no diseases can I consider this as Quarantining??
like to use start new tank as a restet point. never had diseases just lot of pests I wan to have removed from system so i will QT corals later.
You got that right. You're old tank basically was your quarantine~
I have 30 gallon qt bare bottom pvc, etc how large a water do i need to do ? Thx you
No matter if you quarantine or not every system will get ich at one point or another. I have friends that had systems running for 10 years then for no particular reason fish got ich. I have had over 20 aquariums out of those 20 about 4 got ich, only the strong survive I guess, if you buy stressed out fish that sat in lfs tanks for weeks then thats the worst purchase, I always buy right when my lfs gets shipment an purchase them still bagged. Always get the fish right when they are shipped thats the best outcome not when they get put in the tanks that are infested and have fish in an out constantly.
I never had ich in my freshwater tank. I had columnaris, velvet, wasting disease or internal parasites and one of my fish had swim bladder disease. Which I euthanized since I didn't know what to do ro treat it.
Do I need a chiller for QT tank? I live in Thailand and it is HOTTTT! What is the best temperature to keep fish in QT tank?
You only do if the temperature gets to hot. You could buy one larger chiller and plumb it to cool both the qt and the display.
So question so I got a extra 75 gallon drill can I use it with a sump or should I get something smaller
QT tank size mainly depends on what size fish you're going to QT. If you are going to QT larger tangs for a few weeks, a 75 might actually be a great option. If you're going to QT a couple clowns, I'd suggest saving some space and going smaller like a 10 or 20 gallon.
I have to ask, where did you get the hoodie? I could not locate it on BRS
That one was given out to BRS employees, but we have a lot of awesome new swag scheduled to hit the website next month during the Black Friday sale!
Can’t Ich eggs or tomites can live on rock and invertebrates?
Definitely, but probably way less common than a sandbed. Still a great idea to qt all livestock.
what level amonia do you change water at with a api tester?
Ideally, there should be no ammonia present. Very low levels (less than 0.25 ppm) probably aren't going to cause fatalities in most cases, but still not ideal for the fish as it can burn their gills.
I buzz cut my hair too
so you're telling me if I want to start a nano reef tank I need to start 2 nano tanks because i need a quarantine ???
If you don't have the space, time, or desire to QT, there are a lot of great places out there that offer pre-quarantined fish. That may be a good option for you if the idea of a QT tank is unappealing.
Do quarantine procedures change at all for very small fish? For example, can very small and young clowns be treated with the same level of copper as full grown fish?
Yes. The therapeutic level doesn't change based on the size of the fish being treated. Some fish handle copper better than others, so best to research the fish that you're planning on treating before buying.
Thanks for replying! The clowns at my LFS were so small I was just worried about there being a higher risk of poisoning (like dosing meds to toddlers)
Tarantino?
What is he saying in the very beginning?? I’m pretty sure it’s not English?
Skip the light. Get a few meds instead.
I clicked this strictly to comment on your soyface thumbnails. They're absolutely unbearable.
Mathew,I have a 49 Gallon take i'm setting up. I have a mature 11 Gallon Tank, if I took the water, Sand and filter medium and rocks from the 11 Gallon tank be enough to instantly make the 49 Gallon tank ok for fish straight away or is that to little a amount of mature water to mature 49 Gallon? Hope that makes sense. Regards Bill in England
Don't he like me! I watches this video when it came out two years ago. After I spend over thousand on fish. My last one was a yellow tang... and in few weeks it got symptoms of marine velvet. All my fish died within a week. Now my main display is fishless... and I just set up another tank as quarantine. This time will be smarter
Lost a six line, two cardinals, another six line, ruby red dragonet, 2 royal garmmas and an ocellaris clown. QUARANTINE everything you add! You’ll save yourself the heartbreak and the peace of mind once it’s said and done