# UV sterilization vs quarantine



## pieces71 (Apr 21, 2010)

I have UV sterilizer in my tank and I bought some discus and went straight in my tank without any quarantining .Is UV would be enough kill all the parasites and micro org. the new fish carries or as good as quarantining the fish


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## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

In my experiences with discus it's always best to qt them for a few weeks first before adding them to your tanks. It will save you a world of pain. This way you can monitor them to see if they are eating and healthy. I have ran in to a few problems the past few months with not qt discus and adding them to my tank and runing in to a world of problems and heartache.


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## JUICE (Jan 4, 2020)

yup i agree with dave , although i dont keep discus i can imagine .. s

since i have adopted the qt practice , no problems (knocks on wood ) , and i keep loaches which are just as sensitive to problems that may arise .

i do run a 25 watt uv , but its just to risky to reley on that alone ..

just my 2 cents ..


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The UV is not going to kill any attached parasite, so if the fish touch each other, the parasites are still going to get transferred, so I agree with the others, quarantine (for any fish) is best. But if you can't for whatever reason, then the UV makes sense.


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## pieces71 (Apr 21, 2010)

I found this link....

http://aquadaily.com/2009/01/13/ultraviolet-sterilizers-and-discus/


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

nothing can compete with QT.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

You have the possible issue with internal parasites, UV wont have an effect on them. We de worm many of our wild fish with a cautionary medicated food, but quarantine is still the best course of action.


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## kookus (Apr 23, 2010)

I also believe you should quarantine fish. I've heard that ick is in all fish, it just comes out when the fish are stressed.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Rastapus said:


> You have the possible issue with internal parasites, UV wont have an effect on them. We de worm many of our wild fish with a cautionary medicated food, but quarantine is still the best course of action.


You've nailed it with this one.



kookus said:


> I also believe you should quarantine fish. I've heard that ick is in all fish, it just comes out when the fish are stressed.


That's just a bad myth that is floating around the internet, it's untrue.


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## pieces71 (Apr 21, 2010)

I knew it from the start,I never had any QT before and never had problems,but when I turned to discus which I did not though I will keep coz of high maintainance,but here I am face to face with this beautiful fish...,anyways QT is the best way to go for sure but just to justify of not having it and UV is already on hand..actually I am going to set one now for more discus!!


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## JUICE (Jan 4, 2020)

ya the one thing i find hard with the qt practice , is not having your new fish in your show tank .!!! sucks not to add them with the others ..lol , for a fish guy like me its like a child on christmas eve , trying to get to bed [email protected]!


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