Trusted online livestock sources

[Aaarrrggg]

Wow those are so scary stories Hydro! Thx I must admit I kinda needed them after the revelation that so many people here don't QT!

Definitely has a lot to do with tank size. Small tank = less fish = less risk... plus there's a good chance you could catch everything if the worst happened and you had to set up a hospital tank.

I only recently started QTing. I've been lucky before and never had a problem putting fish straight into the DT (55g for 3yrs and 20g for less than a yr.) But now I have a 144g with a large immovable aquascape so I don't want to take the chance anymore.

So far I've only added 5 fish. 4 were QTed in my nano (4+ weeks, observation only) and the latest was from DD and went straight in the DT. I'm setting up a 20g QT tank atm that I plan to start taking a more proactive approach with hypo and whatnot. Scary, but I doubt I could have stayed lucky forever!

[Aaarrrggg]

My 2c: it depends on the size of your tank. I have a small tanks with only a few fish, none of whom are expensive, so for me it doesn't make sense to set up a $50 QT for a $10-$20 fish, and I only have 5 fish and don't plan on adding more. I'd be upset if my tank got wiped out but it would cost maybe $50-70 to replace all my little guys. If I had a 150 or a 200 it would make more sense to have a QT. I've lost way more fish to jumping than to starvation or diseases - my Yasha Haze managed to go through the one little hole in the pico lid just last week...

Amazing what great aim some of these fish have, almost a death wish. I lost my mystery wrasse through the screens that sit on top of my 90g. Wouldn't have thought that was possible.

My Yasha managed to jump through the 1/4" mesh screen and fry himself under the lights. The annoying thing was I added the screen specifically so he wouldn't be able to jump out. If it hadn't been there he might have been ok. Stupid fish.

[+brian.srock]

I bought an ORA Mandarin from Frags and more who's a sponsor and in Texas. He even hooked me up with free shipping since I got a purple hammer and RBTA in the same order. It was all packaged nicely and double bagged and was delivered overnight so it arrived the very next day at 11am.

No QTing but it's been almost a month and I haven't lost my mandarin.

I did dip the hammer and RBTA real quick which is SOP.

[Timfish]

. . . you also have to be a smart fish purchaser as well . . .

I'm in full agreement with Hydro but Jake makes a good point which applies to inverts and corals as well. One of my suspicions is, and I want to emphasize it's a suspicion I haven't seen any research, some reef systems have enough corals actively feeding and capturing prey they may deal with ich problems with out any fish loss. Even if this is correct there are still so many things we don't know about fish pathogens I think it still imperative we quarintine fish.

And even if we do QT there are without doubt still pathogens that have incubation times beyond the typical 30 days reccommended. One example I had a while ago was 10 Naso Tangs that I got and QT then split them up between 9 different tanks. Then between weeks six and eight 9 of them died all while eating well and maintaining good body wieght. That scenario pretty much rules out the final tank as being the problem but it leaves the question as to what and when the fish got sick. Was it in my QT? Maybe, but other fish were cycled through (no Tangs) before and after did ok. My suppliers? Maybe. Thier collectors? Maybe.

Back to the original question of this thread, I don't know I get my fish from a wholesaler but would follow the recommendations posted here. I have on rare occasion gotten a specific fish from Aquadome and LiveAquaria and been happy with them.

[+Hydro]

Lol I was thinking the same thing. I read this topic because Im thinking about placing an order online for my live stock once the tank is cycled. However, the QT chatter has also made me rethink my "let em sit in the bag, drip...then release" mentality. Problem is, I dont really have room in my house for another tank, and not sure what all I would need to get a pretty bulletproof arrangement of chemicals to treat prior to DT placement. Stephen, maybe you could start a new thread on the strict QT practice you use for insurance. You may have already and I just missed it and also a list of where online you get most of your LS.

Sure Derrick, I would be happy to. To make the least expensive QT setup easiest to maintain would be a larger tank with less filtration. A larger tank would not need a skimmer if just keeping a couple of fish in it, and it wouldn't need to be cycled either. My suggestion is to get on craigslist and buy a used 55 gallon tank (no stand necessary), that is the most common size tank, they are easy to handle, and they are typically the best price per gallon since there are so many for sale. I think that you should be able to find a decent tank used for $50. I would also get a decent sized air pump that has a couple of outlets to run at least 2 large airstones. I would put a layer of arogonite in the bottom just to cover the glass and I would put some rocks for the fish to hide in or at least some PVC pipes (LR not needed). Need a test kit for amonia, nitrates, and copper. Also cupramine (copper), furan 2, and parzipro for meds. Should cost less than $150 for everything I mentioned. I know that $150 isn't cheap but its mostly a one time purchase. What would be great if members shared a QT tank and shared the cost of it....maybe someone would be willing to buy a setup and rent it or loan it, not sure if thats doable.

Place the QT in a quiet place in the house, on the floor works great. I cover the whole tank with towels for most of the first couple of days, then I cover just the top of the tank for the next few weeks. This keeps jumpers in the tank and it also keeps salt spray from the airstones from getting outside the tank. I also run the water level about 5" low for the same reasons.

I would fill the QT tank with DT water and use the new water to refill your DT. Obviously you don't want to pull out more than 25-30% of the water from the DT, if that isn't enough just add new saltwater to make up the difference. If using lots of new saltwater for the QT tank I would let it run for at least a day or two to make sure there is enough oxygen in the water to bring the PH up as high as it should be. With this amount of water you will need to do very few water changes during the QT process and a skimmer or a HOB filter wouldn't be necessary IMO saving the cost of those items. For water changes I would again take water from the DT and use that for the QT.

I would treat with furan 2 and cupramine together for the first 2 weeks, then do a large water change (80% or so with DT water) or run carbon to absorb most of the cupramine and furan 2. Then add prazipro and follow instructions, this is a week treatment. Unless there is another problem I would stop medication and just leave them in until you felt comfortable putting them in the DT.

Don't overfeed a QT, this can be a mistake. Just feed slowly to make sure they are eating everything you put it, I only feed the QT once a day usually with frozen mysid soaked in zoe and garlic, again not that much. Test the water parameters at least every few days to decide when to do water changes.

EDIT: Before treating any fish with any medication look up that particular fish and that treatment method to make sure it can handle it. Some fish are sensitive to copper treatment, although cupramine is less harsh than copper it still may be a problem for some fish.