Quarantine Procedure Questions?

[coryjac0b]

My new tank is currently cycling, running for about 2 weeks now. I haven't used a QT in the past and kind of just crossed my fingers and hoped that everything would work out. I would like to practice better husbandry this time around and prevent disease outbreak as much as possible.

I understand the basics of having a quarantine but wasn't sure on some of the details.

What medications are good to have on hand if needed?

Do you dose anything as preventative measure or just observe and react if the fish shows signs of disease?

How often and how much to change the water on the qt tank? Does it differ if dosing medication?


TIA
-Cory

 

[zoohouse]

Primary treatments I keep around are Praziquantel, melafix, and pimafix. I use more than just those but those are the main ones that tend to get used most. Salt is also good to use while qt'ing.

 

[zoohouse]

I try to always do a big water change before adding fish(not always possible when dealing with hospital fish). Really you should be changing the water depending on use, but at least once a month while sitting empty. I use prazi for parasites before anything goes in my main tanks and alot of times melafix just in case. Don't just treat randomly, know before you use.

 

[GamerChick5567]

I just had some fish in my quarantine since I went to the lfs recently. I usually only use salt as a treatment, since ich and a bit of fungus seems to be the things my new fish get, most likely from the stress of being moved (annoying agh). I also have some pimafix/melafix to use as a preventative which I add for like a day. I also have some liquid ich cure stuff if it is really bad, but I have found that to be very harsh on weaker fish so I rarely use it. It also will stain the sealant/decor. The filter on mine is just a ghetto looking azoo sponge filter I got online for 5 bucks. I also have a small heater to crank up the heat to 82-84 for 2 weeks in case it is ich.

The qt tank is 10 gallons, so I use about 10 tbsp of salt (the 1 tbps/gallon thing) dissolved in the tank water, half of that if it's just fungus or even less with scaleless fish. I just use plain kosher salt without iodine since it is cheaper than aquarium branded stuff. I then do a 25-50% change (I replace the 1 tbsp of salt per gallon for however many gallons are changed) to keep the nitrates and stuff down, every 2 days or each day depending on how many fish are in there. I only feed them a little until they look healthy. Make sure you watch them close. With regular medicine you should follow the instructions on the bottle.

You should quarantine for at least 2 weeks. More if you have the time and patience.

 

[duanes]

The quarantine process is not only used to protect the fish in your established tank, it also protects the new fish from pathogens already in you old tank, pathogens your established fish may have a resistance, or partial immunity to.
When I quarantine, I regularly add water from the established tank the new fish is to go in, a little at a time, over a long period of time.This may help build immunity in the new fish. And if the new fish does get sick, may help your established fish from acquiring a mega dose of disease they are not totally immune to if added to the tank prematurely.
Some people say a week or 2 is quarantine enough, but the longer you quarantine the better. Some diseases has incubation times of months, or take months to establish a pathogen population large enough to do damage.
A friend of mine who is curator of a zoo fish exhibit quarantines new arrivals for 3 months before adding them to the exhibit.
All it takes is one invisible pathogenic cell or protozoa to easily cause a tank pandemic, and wipe the tank out.