Hello, imtai.
My thoughts on quarantine for new livestock?
Glad you asked because I'm currently on the fence on this one and I hope others will give their inputs too. I understand that this is debatable and would love to hear more of what others think about quarantine procedures, duration and best practices. At the moment, my take on this subject is, it's either you do a proper quarantine or you don't do it at all.
If I were to set up a basic quarantine tank, it will need to meet the following conditions (whether temporary or permanent setup).
- no substrate for easier cleaning (bare bottom)
- simple inert hardscape for the livestock to hide in (even the shrimp caves or shelters can work)
- dispensable plants to keep the nitrogen cycle going (floating plants will do)
- filter (sponge filter or HOB) with mature media
- good lighting (because it will be easier to observe the livestock and spot any parasites and etc. which you can't with poor lighting)
Which means, in the case of temporary setup, it will have to be ready in advance before the arrival of new livestock.
Any issues that needs to be fixed, will be done outside the quarantine tank. For example, if I need to give the livestock a salt bath another small tank will be used for this purpose. After treatment, the livestock are transferred back to the quarantine tank for more observation until I'm satisfied that they are ready for the main tank.
But, if I do not have the luxury of time and budget for a quarantine tank, I might as well put them into the main tank and hope for the best. I'm saying this because an improperly set up quarantine tank will give the livestock more stress and make them more sick than if I were to just add them to a properly set up and cycled main tank.
Do you agree with me?
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