Live Feeder Fish and Quarantine Protocol

[SourAngelfish]

I went into this initially assuming I would find more information elsewhere on the forum. However, I would like to hear some opinions on my particular situation. I recently moved near a brackish pond, full of mollies, gambusia, tilapia, and silversides. Perfect for feeders right? My question is what protocol any one should take when prepping these fish as feeders. I figured since the resource is here, I may as well use it on occasion. I was thinking dropping the fish into pure fresh would kill off majority of external parasites while a round of prazi could wipe out the rest. Very unsure on the topic though. Thanks in advance!

 

[Midwater]

I use pond reared tilapia as feeders. High in protein, low in Thiaminase. Parasites do not seem to be an issue. I do like to treat for twenty four hours with Levamisole.

What are you going to feed the feeders to?

 

[jjohnwm]

I use live feeders very rarely; to my mind, the best quarantine is one that lasts at least a couple months and takes place in my chest freezer. Even that won't actually kill bacteria, probably not viruses, but at least it's a good way to likely eliminate multicellular parasites. Even when I have home-bred feeders like Rosy Reds or cichlid fry, I just don't see any benefit to using them live.

The rare exception would be those fish that require live moving foods to trigger a feeding response. Most predators take dead food items immediately and without hesitation. Of those few which will not...the vast majority can be easily and quickly trained to do so.