Do I NEED To Quarantine Saltwater Fish?

There are a number of benefits when you quarantine saltwater fish, most of which are mentioned above. When you don't quarantine your fish, you risk illness like ich getting in to your aquarium. Let's say a new fish entering your tank has ich, but it's only in the fish's gills so you don't see it. When you add that new fish to your tank, the parasite falls off and multiplies. Before long, you may find that the entire aquarium breaks out in ich. Now you have 2 options, hope it goes away and try to keep it contained, or treat ALL of the fish in your tank.

We've all been there, adding fish without quarantine and trying to get them to eat in the main tank. Though this may work, eventually you will have an outbreak of something. Ich, velvet, or some other parasite or disease. I've been there, a few times actually. I thought ich, velvet, and other diseases were just a normal thing in saltwater aquariums. I was wrong.

I lost far too many pets in this process. Between the illness and stress, the fish suffered because of my mistake. Now I try to keep a space set aside just for quarantine and treating sick fish. Learn from my mistakes! Learn how to quarantine saltwater fish. Be patient. Do the right thing and give your fish the best chance to survive!

Do I need to Quarantine Invertebrates?

This one is tricky. It is always a good idea to quarantine anything you are adding to your saltwater fish tank. That being said, invertebrates are tricky. The reason is that they do not tend to show signs of illness. They also cannot be treated with nearly any medications. The medications used when learning how to quarantine saltwater fish contain chemicals that can kill invertebrates, such as shrimp, snails, crabs, and anemones.

If you have the ability, set up a second quarantine tank just for invertebrates. Though they are not as much of a concern as the fish, there is always a chance of illness or parasites hitchhiking on invertebrates.

Learn More about How to Quarantine Invertebrates

Do I need to Quarantine or Treat Coral?

You should most definitely treat and quarantine coral. It's both possible for parasites to attatch to the coral/frag plus, as well as other pests hitchhiking on the coral. Dipping coral is one of the most effective methods of prevention, however the only way to prevent parasites like ich from entering your tank with coral is to keep them in a fallow tank for 90 days. Invertebrates are okay in this tank, but no fish.

Learn More about How to Dip Coral

How to Set Up A Quarantine Tank

The fist step to quarantine saltwater fish is setting up a quarantine tank. This is much easier than setting up a display tank! You will only need a few things:

1. A Tank - A cheap 10 or 20 gallon aquarium will be sufficient. If you are quarantining large saltwater fish, I would lean toward the 20 gallon.
2. A Cheap Filter - A simple hang-on-back filter running filter floss (no carbon or other filtration) or even a sponge filter will suffice.
3. A Heater - Again, nothing crazy. a 50w or 100w heater is all you need to successfully quarantine saltwater fish.
4. An Air Pump, Air Stone, and Air Hose - The treatments used in quarantine can remove a lot of the oxygen from the water. A simple Air Pump and Air Stone will provide enough oxygen for your saltwater fish during this process.
5. Chemical Treatments - PraziPro and Copper Power (or other copper treatments) are the main two treatments needed to handle nearly all diseases when learning how to quarantine saltwater fish. These two medications will handle most diseases and parasites. Treating nearly everything you need to worry about. NOTE: These CANNOT be used in your display tank. They will kill invertebrates and coral!
6. Thermometer and Test Kits - You will need a simple thermometer, a hydrometer, a copper test kit, and an ammonia badge. Essentially just the bare essentials for making sure your fish are safe.
7. Cut Up PVC Tubes - A quick and simple way to let the fish hide and feel safe.
8. AmGuard or AmmoLock - Since these tanks are likely going to be over stocked for their size, and not as well handled, this chemical will help prevent ammonia buildup from hurting your saltwater fish.

Setting up the quarantine tank itself is simple. Just add the filter, heater thermometer, and air stones however you would like. Then add some cut up pvc pipes or other hiding places for the fish. Plug everything in and let the tank get to work! Your tank will need to cycle, unless you add some live rock and water from your main tank. This will save you a lot of time when doing the setup, as well as waiting for the water to hit the correct temperature.

Though there will be some minor discrepancies in our methods, here is a second opinion about setting up a saltwater quarantine tank, from Marine Depot! Don't worry, it's only 5 minutes!

Does a Saltwater Quarantine Tank Need to Be Cycled?

Yes, a quarantine tank should be cycled before use. That being said, often times we set up an additional quarantine tank as a hospital for sick fish or do a quick setup for new fish. Due to the quick setup time, you may not have the time needed to cycle the quarantine tank. The first option is to add a rock and water from your main tank. This way you will have all of the bacteria you need. Additionally, this is where the AmGuard or AmmoLock come in to play.

Since the tank is short term, we can handle most of the ammonia produced with ammonia de-toxifiers and water changes. However, you should really add a sponge to allow the tank to cycle. Ideally, cycling the quarantine tank for a couple weeks ahead of time will save you some headache. But seeing as many saltwater quarantine and hospital tanks are set up quickly, the ammonia detoxifier will be an asset to keep around, just in case.

How to Quarantine Saltwater Fish

Now that you set up a saltwater quarantine tank, you have bought some fish and it's time to start quarantining!

Step 1 - Acclimate the Fish

The fist step is to acclimate the saltwater fish using drip acclimation. After acclimating the fish, I find it best to let the fish be for a day or two to settle in.

Step 2 - Get the Fish to Eat

Before medicating, it's important to get the fish to eat. Finding the type of food that the fish likes is important during this step as well. The best way to do this is generally by starting with the food the store you purchased the fish from is feeding. Then once they eat that, mix it with the food you feed your tank. Finally, making the switch entirely.

Once the fish is eating, you can continue down the steps. You can ween the fish on to the new food while treating, as long as they are eating. However the treatments can be stressful, so you want to ensure the fish are eating before treatment.

Step 3 - Copper Treatment

Now that the fish are settled in and eating, its time to start easing the fish in to the medication. Copper treats a majority of illnesses in fish so I find it best to start with that medication. My favorite copper treatment is Copper Power, however Seachem Cupramine will work as well.

Start by adding about 25% of the copper every 8 - 12 hours until you reach a full treatment. Make sure to measure the copper levels before adding any more copper to the quarantine tank. Make sure to dose to the levels indicated by the copper product you use because they all have different safe levels. Easing the copper up like this can help prevent stress related deaths as well as over dosing copper.

You will want to measure the copper levels in the quarantine tank every day or two and maintain it for at least 1 week, though 2 weeks is prefered. Cupramine precipitates out over time, where copper power does not precipitate as quickly. Make sure to maintain the level noted by the product for 1 to 2 weeks at a minimum.

Step 4 - Praziquantel Treatment

After the fish have been in the copper treatment for at least a week, and are still eating, you can start medicating them with a Praziquantel Treatment. Okay, so you may not find that name when looking for it, but you will want PraziPro. Prazi will treat a number of internal and external parasites that the copper may not have handled.

Make sure to follow the directions on the product. Though one treatment may suffice, I encourage you to do 2 full treatments of PraziPro to ensure the parasites are handled. I also encourage adding only half of the PraziPro dose, then adding the other half a couple hours later. Again, preventing stress. Prazi is also known to reduce the oxygen levels in the quarantine tank, so it is important to make sure you have an air stone running.

Step 4 - BONUS Hyposalinity Treatment

Though the above medication will generally handle most saltwater illnesses and parasites, sometimes the parasites develop immunity to certain treatments. If you want do do a full treatment to add extra certainty, hyposalinity is a great way to do this. Simply remove some saltwater and replace it with RO water every day to slowly decrease the salinity level to about 13ppt, or a specific gravity of 1.009. Do his over a period of 2 - 4 days to prevent stress.

Maintain this low salinity level for 15 - 30 (prefered) days to help kill off ich and flukes. Then slowly raise the salinity by topping of with saltwater until the salinity reaches the level of your main tank. You will want this to take a week or more to prevent shock as sudden raises in salinity can stress and kill fish.

How Long To Quarantine

You should quarantine saltwater fish for at least 14 - 28 days after the last sign of illness is seen. The minimum of two weeks is needed for all of the chemicals treatments to take effect. By monitoring the fish, you should be able to verify that there are no signs of Ich, Velvet or other visible illnesses in the fish. At this point, you should quarantine your fish for 2 weeks to ensure your fish are illness free!

Once your fish have gone 2 weeks without illness detected, your fish are ready to be acclimated to your display tank!

An additional note is that if your fish have gone through multiple 2 week quarantine cycles, the final cycle can be simply hyposalinity to ease them back out of the medicated water.

Be careful not to add the water from the quarantine tank to the main display, as these medications are known to kill coral and invertebrates.

How To Quarantine Saltwater Fish - Fish of Hex

Before you go, I want to give you another perspective. Fish of Hex is one of my favorite resources for saltwater fish success. I want to share with you his thoughts on how to quarantine saltwater fish.

Conclusion

Knowing how to quarantine saltwater fish is a key difference between preventing illnesses from happening, and trying to handle them as they show up. For fish that are prone to illness, such as tangs, this shouldn't even be a question. If you maintain a good quarantine routine from the beginning, its possible you never see illnesses or parasite show in your tank! Giving your fish a perfect environment to thrive!

Recommended Reading:

• How to Quarantine Invertebrates
• How to Dip Coral
• How to Acclimate a Fish - Drip Acclimation
• Guide to Flow for Reef Aquariums

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About the Author

John Krenzer

John is a Software Engineer with a passion for saltwater aquariums, as well as the founder and president of Reef Stable. He started in the aquarium hobby as a child with a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium. His interest in aquarium life grew and in 2008, John set up his first saltwater aquarium.

Today, John maintains a 120 gallon mixed reef aquarium as well as a 210 gallon aggressive species aquarium. These large tanks are contained within the same system, sharing a sump as a means to reduce total maintenance and increase total water volume.

John writes articles for the blog as a means to learn about more reef aquarium topics. These articles act as a reference for the readers as well as himself. John updates these articles frequently to provide additional information or make corrections as new information becomes available.

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