QT question

[GoofyGarra]

last tuesday (10/31/23) i got a super red bristlenose pleco from my LFS. I have now had this guy in QT with no meds and he(she?) appears perfectly healthy and also is acting very healthy. Assuming nothing goes wrong,

how long should i keep this fish in QT? What's a safe area where any dormant diseases would be noticed?

Is there anything i should treat for now that might not be initially apparent?

[Lucyn]

I think the most common rule of thumb is 14 days. The longest I've EVER seen or heard of anything laying dormant is 13 days with Ich. Some extremist breeders say a month, but the odds of something being dormant for more than 14 days are insanely low, it's because you missed it and they got reinfected. That's why it's important to really pay attention, 2 little spots of ich can go away, then come back with 100's a week later once they're breeding cycle is back at the infection stage. Obviously the longer, the safer, but 14 days are more than good enough for me. I'd say. A lot of fish stores do 7 days because they need to get fish out on the floor and 99% of them never get sick after that 7 days, very subjective topic. And just to clarify, if they do get sick and you cured them, then that's when you'd start the 14 days after the first sign of being healthy again. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Lucyn

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/4/2023 at 5:52 PM, GoofyGarra said:

how long should i keep this fish in QT? What's a safe area where any dormant diseases would be noticed?

Is there anything i should treat for now that might not be initially apparent?

Iearned this from Dan and thought it was a cool little tidbit.

The practice of quarantine, as we know it, began during the 14th century in an effort to protect coastal cities from plague epidemics. Ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to sit at anchor for 40 days before landing. This practice, called quarantine, was derived from the Italian words quaranta giorni which mean 40 days.

I think 14 days minimum is probably a good idea. Best case is something like 30 days I would think.  Something like internal worms is usually a good idea to treat for and it takes ~3-4 doses to do so.