quarintine and cycle?

[mujtba]

i heard when you get new livestock, u need to quarintine it for 2-4 weeks. whats with that?????
also i got a 55G tank, its got LR and LS in it. 5th day in cycle.
I didnt fill the tank to top with water yet. i got 26G of water in it.
Should i add the water rite now, or after cycle completes add it?
cuz i know your pose to change like 25% of water after cycle. but i guess if i wait till cycle completes, ill being doin more than 25%..
thoughts?

 

[pontius]

the quarantine is to make sure that new fish don't have any disease that they could bring to the main tank. and so that you can get them acclimated and eating right, etc etc.
I would probably go ahead and fill the tank, I'm not sure if it would hurt anything or not.

 

[mujtba]

ya i jus mean 2 weeks is a wile.. and fish will die if not in the main tank.. that would mean spend extra time on 2 tanks!

 

[pontius]

well, if you have 5 fish in your tank at about $20 each, and you bring in a new fish that has ich, it could kill all your fish. I don't think healthy fish will die if they are quarantined for a couple weeks. give them a hiding place, food, and not a lot of light so that can get comfortable.

 

[sharkbite]

I totally agree with the use of a isolation tank. An outbreak of Ich cost me 75% of my live stock - my first experience with Ich.

 

[jarice1978]

My experience has not been so well with a QT. Most of the fish that I have purchased have not made it through the QT period. Granted they have all died from some kind of disease, but I really think that the stress of being in the small QT tank makes it worse or increases their problems...
That's just been my experience...