Bullhead QT

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divemaster99

divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
107
Pittsburgh, PA
Pretty sure I'll be picking up a brown bullhead for my 75 which is being converted to a catfish tank. I won't have room for it in the tank for another week or so. I'd be getting it from the owner of my local bait store who gets them in with fathead minnows from Arkansas or Minnesota so I'm slightly worried about disease. The fish would be about 2-3". I have two options for a QT: a 5 gallon bucket or a very small plastic tank I picked up off my friend that I'd never consider for an adult any kind of fish. Filtration for the 5 gallon would be a new sponge filter and seeded gravel, filtration for the plastic tank would be java moss with a small pump for aeration. Another option would be to put it straight into my tank if you guys think that it'd be disease free, I'm not sure of the health of feeders from those two states. so: 5 gallon, plastic tank, or no QT? Obviously I'd Also be changing 50% of the water daily to keep Params down.

plastic tank dimensions:
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PS, I'm aware it'll outgrow the 75. Eventually it will go into a 180.

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That's what I figured, could I just soak some shrimp pellets in general cure and aquarium salt to treat?
 
At the rate you are going, Dive, you need a dedicated QT tank anyway :) something like a 20 long...

QT procedures vary wildly, from nothing (except observation for a couple of months at least; longer is better; Public Aquaria QT is ~4-6 months for reference; one has to know what to look for in general and in particular for this fish / location) to an elaborate multi-step treatment.

In general, e.g., my friend, internet vendor Snookn21 (John Kreatsoulas) has no luxury of waiting for 4-6 months. He gets w/c fish from SA. He used to use some real smelly anti-parasitic med but it has been banned in the US. So nowadays, he uses only KMnO4 potassium permanganate bath, ~15 min according to general guidelines. It kills all external bacteria and parasites when done properly. Fish's ability to withstand this treatment varies. One has to be cautious. If a fish starts gulping air at the surface (it burns their gills), the permanganate should be immediately quenched with hydrogen peroxide. Perhaps a shorter bath and/or lower conc of KMnO4 is needed... or a different approach altogether.

I'd either do the long observation thing or the KMnO4 treatment for external plus simple Epsom salt MgSO4 hydrate (with food) treatment for internal.
 
^ thanks tbtb, I'm really just planning on a quick 1 or 2 week QT to check for basic physical and physiological condition and treat for parasites since a bullhead in a 5 bucket for two months will have put on to much size at that point IMO. I do plan on setting up a 20 Tall I have in my garage as a QT in the fall but I can't set up to many now since summer is coming and I'll be away fishing and diving a lot.
 
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