Hey Everyone, I have a 75 gallon tank and a 20 gallon quarantine tank below/growout fry tank. I was thinking when i purchase new fish and quarantine them should I add any medicine for preventive measure or simply just observe them for a month with out medications before adding to display? Also what medicines do you think I should purchase to have on hand always? I was thinking so far Prazipro, API Aquarium Salt and ICH X. Would this cover pretty much most diseases I would come across or should I add more?
Quarantine New Fish with Medicine? Also what are must have medicines?
- Thread starter Pazzoman
- Start date
A lot of people will tell you that Melafix and Pimafix are voodoo science remedies and maybe they are but I like having them around and my experience has been that they don't harm and they seem to do at least some good beyond coloring the water for aquarist psych effect.
If and when I quarantine I usually observe but don't preemptively medicate.
I don't add salt to my water though I do have a water conditioner on the system and it likely deposits at least a small amount of residual salt in the tank during every wc.
If and when I quarantine I usually observe but don't preemptively medicate.
I don't add salt to my water though I do have a water conditioner on the system and it likely deposits at least a small amount of residual salt in the tank during every wc.
Prazi and metro are a good bet. Internal issues you can't see.
Other infections you can monitor for. I wouldn't treat ich unless you see ich.
Other infections you can monitor for. I wouldn't treat ich unless you see ich.
I’d just quarantine for 2 months. See if anything starts to pop up and then decide to treat. Usually keep prazi and levamisole since i cont to buy wild caught fish. What fish are you planning to keep?
Same here.
Different meds are effective against certain pathogens, but not others, and many meds are in actuality, simply toxic substances in small doses,
so I see random treatment as something that could be counter productive over time, and wear on the the new fishes immune system..
As an example malachite is a somewhat toxic metal salt (even considered a carcinogen to humans), and might be effective against some protozoa, but may be a waste of time against an internal nematode condition.
Of course because where I live, I always end up with wild caught fish these days, a few parasites are almost guaranteed,
so observation in a controlled environment is needed.
But with some parasites, and/or viruses meds are completely useless.
The adults of the parasitic Lernaea above, are almost impervious to all legal or allowable over the counter meds these days, so physical removal was my only recourse.
Although its Larva were eliminated simply by using an elevated (and non-toxic) salinity.
As others have stated, best to QT new fish and monitor for several weeks. Unless one is buying fish from parts of the world that are known to have internal worms, such as flowerhorn from SE Asia. In the latter case start with a de-wormer such as Levamisole upon arrival.
As far as Melafix .....
Melafix Sudy - 2015 | MonsterFishKeepers.com
As far as Melafix .....
Melafix Sudy - 2015 | MonsterFishKeepers.com
People like Shane of the Planet Catfish use formalin baths to cleanse collected wild fish externally.
Ohio Fish Rescue use formalin-Malachite Green baths (Microbe Lift Broad Spectrum Disease Treatment) for external parasites and few bacteria.
Fish vendors used to treat new coming fish with CLOUT - a mix of three meds.
We use short salt bath 1%-3% and potassium permanganate bath for external.
If internal is suspected we administer prazi+metro+flubendazole/fenbendazole with feed if parasitic, or a wide spectrum gram negative antibiotic and a wide spectrum gram positive antibiotic. This last measure is rare and when reasonably guessed as needed.
Ohio Fish Rescue use formalin-Malachite Green baths (Microbe Lift Broad Spectrum Disease Treatment) for external parasites and few bacteria.
Fish vendors used to treat new coming fish with CLOUT - a mix of three meds.
We use short salt bath 1%-3% and potassium permanganate bath for external.
If internal is suspected we administer prazi+metro+flubendazole/fenbendazole with feed if parasitic, or a wide spectrum gram negative antibiotic and a wide spectrum gram positive antibiotic. This last measure is rare and when reasonably guessed as needed.
Hey Everyone I appreciate all the feedback, as fish wise. Im not entirely sure what I will be getting, but im thinking along the lines of Geos/Bichir/serverums/angelfish/bristle nose pleco (some kind of combination of them). All of the fish I will be getting will most likely be captive bred. I will grab some of the medicines listed, probably would be best to just wait for an issue to happen before buying medicine, but I dont like to not have anything on stand by.
With common captive bred species like this the only thing I would anticipate seeing is Ick, maybe fin rot, and ailments caused by a bad diet/over feed.
Personally I use aquarium salt, Epsom salt, peas, garlic, and raising the water temperature as my main cures depending on the illness. I had some fish get ick a while ago that just would not get better, and I used this stuff called "coppersafe" from petsmart which cured it so I have that on hand as well.
The peas actually cure a lot of stuff especially in fish who eat a fair bit of plant matter in the wild. Usually if a fish is swimming funny or bloated I use the peas first and that is often all it takes. Of course the large predatory species commonly kept here likely won't benefit much from peas, but your severum for example might benefit from it every now and then so just something to keep in mind.