Starting a QT.

[mr. tuna]

Hey,
I have a 92 reef with a:
Blue tang,
2 perc. clowns,
3 damsels,
1 mandarine goby,
1 sandswifting goby,
and 1 coral beauty.
The problem is.. is that i have not qt`d any one of those fish.
And i want to get 3 lyrtail anthias as my final 3 fish if i can.
And i will like to qt those. I want to start a qt, and i will appreciate if i will get the info on all what i need to know, and buy for a qt. And what size of a qt is reccomended.

 

[beth]

Tuna, glad to hear that you are joining the ranks of the QTed!
Have you read the info on QT in the FAQ thread ?

 

[mr. tuna]

i will go check that out.
Thanks!

 

[mr. tuna]

sorry beth.. but were is the f.a.q?

 

[beth]

When you enter the Disease Forum, it is in the top 2 threads.

 

[mr. tuna]

Oh ok. Thanks.

 

[mr. tuna]

I read through the post, and it was really a well typed out thread that explained me alot! But.. i was planning on getting a male, and 2 female lyrtail anthias for my 92, and i heard that they should all my introduced at once, and to QT 3 anthias i will need a huge QT. How should i solve this? Should i wait till i see diseases, then QT?
Thanks,
Adam

 

[beth]

What size QT were you planning on?

 

[mr. tuna]

A 10 gallon.
But i know that if i were to put 2 females in a 10, they
will fight. what would you reccomend?
( these anthias are the last fish i will add to my tank.)
But, is it always good to have a QT set uo just in case a fish i already have has a disease, though i have not seen any diseases with my fish, being that my latest fish added was about 2 months ago.
Thanks,
Adam

 

[beth]

I'd recommend getting a cheap QT setup. Rubbermaid containers and put each fish in their own space. Or, get a larger aquarium QT where you incert dividers.
Try to get juvenile fish that are pretty small is another option. Before they have developed hard-line territorial aggressons.

 

[mr. tuna]

By getting a larger QT, and putting dividers.. How big would you reccomend?
I was thinking of buying juveniles too, but what approximate size?
Thanks,
Adam

 

[mr. tuna]

oh ya, and what should i do with all the fish i currently have?
The latest addition being my sand swifting goby, i added about 2 months ago. None of the fish have any signs of diseases, and never have had a disease except for once when my blue tang had parasites and ich. Do you think when i set up the QT, i should first QT the blue tang, then buy the anthias and QT them?
Thanks,
Adam__

 

[mr. tuna]

If this helps:
I have had the blue tang for about 3-4 months,
And he is about 2.5''.

 

[beth]

So, how did you treat the tang that had ich?

 

[mr. tuna]

i added a some garlic in his food, and it went away the next day. So i never QT`d him.

 

[beth]

So since then you have not seen any signs of ich on your fish?

 

[mr. tuna]

nope. Thats why i think that they are good, so i dont know if i should QT any of my fish. Maby my Blue tang though. What would you suggest?

 

[beth]

Well, I guess you can risk it. Continue heavy garlic feedings on the fish in the tank and proceed with your plans to acquire new fish.

 

[mr. tuna]

ya, i think i will risk it and use garlic in the fish food for a while.
Also, if i were to QT the tang, tank would make it closterfobic, because 20 gallons is even way too small. If the blue tang is scratching himself against the rocks, does that mean that he is starting with parasites? ( He used to do that about once a week, then it goes away, then again, But he has not done that in the past 6 weeks or so.
Adam__

 

[beth]

Yes, scratching is a definate sign of ich. The worse case would be that you QT your new fish, put them in your display and your tang gets stressed out and the ich takes over. Ich on tang and in the water and now you have infected all the fish--including the ones you QTed! If you haven't read the FAQ Thread on ich, you may want to. It explains the life cycle of ich which will explain the "come and go" problem you are noticing with your tang.