Good info here, thanks for sharing. I have a QT tank that is basically a 50 gallon reef tank. I QT my fish there for 90 days while observing them. One reason I do it this way is to supply pods for things like pipe fish and a mandarin I currently have is QT. It has worked fairly well for me. I do lose some fish in QT, always within the first few days. It has kept problems out of my display. Because it has rocks, it is not the best for observing fish when they first arrive. I feel the more natural environment helps reduce stress. I also feed a medicated pellet food, but that is no help for pipe fish or mandarins.
I currently have 1 mandarin, 3 neon gobies, 2 pipe fish, 2 other small gobies, 4 cleaner shrimp and a few inverts in QT for 3 weeks now. I did not see 4 of the fish for their fist week in the tank. I am still not sure if both pipe fish are alive or not. I suspect only one is. When I get new fish I like get a few typical with in a few days so I can QT them together. Then add multiple fish to my display together to keep bulling down.
As most losses are within a day or two of purchase I am wondering if you can make recommendations on improving my system?
I am thinking I should get back in the habit of fresh water dipping fallowed by a second 45 minute dip in ruby reef rally. Then feeding foods soaked in seachem focus, ametroplex, kanaplex, furan 2, and vitachem for the first 14 days. What foods do you typically feed during QT.
So as far as an observational qt, I think you have a perfect system. How do you treat for things like ich, velvet and flukes? The medications you listed do not treat those parasites. Do you move the fish to a medicated qt if you do see any spots?
I do agree with the rocks reducing stress. Fish just do not seem to calm down in sterile, barebottom quarantine tanks with pvc to hide in.
I feed ALOT during qt. My tanks usually look horrible because of all the algae growth. Fish get PE mysis, rods, LRS fertility, clam on the half shell, nori, and spectrum pellets. I'll be doing a writeup on fish nutrition sometime soon
If you're losing fish within the first few days, I would try matching your qt salinity with the salinity the fish is coming from. I've noticed a much higher success rate this way. Usually your fish are going to come in at a lower salinity around 1.019. I've tried drip acclimation, cup acclimation, and just dump and pray. Matching my qt salinity beforehand has yielded the best results. I think fish need a much longer transition time when going from a lower to higher salinity.
I would give the fish a few days to acclimate to qt before the fw dip. It can be rough on them after being transported and moved around.
All in all it looks like you have a very good handle on your qt process! I'm always looking for a way to switch to a more naturalistic qt as it is easier on the fish. I look forward to more input from you and how your process evolves!