First fish in new QT tank...Now what?

[mrsixstrings12]

After thinking long and hard about quarantining new fish, I decided to go for it. I plopped down an old 10g, an old heater, an unused mp10, and some seeded filter floss, and filled it with new salt water. It sat there for about a week, due to the ammonia alert badge reading ammonia, and after actually testing to see that the badge was wrong, I changed the water anyway and finally got my first fish in there.

Now what? I decided against a tank transfer method, blindly treating with any meds, etc. I just want to watch for now. I plan on keeping him in there, at minimum, for 30 days. If nothing appears wrong with him and he is eating, I will put him in the display.

I bought a large bottle of Prime and a small bottle of Prazi-pro, just to have on hand. I am also very lucky to have a LFS within 10 minutes of my house that is open 7 days a week until 10pm, should the need for a different medication arise. The quarantine tank should receive light from my refugium between 11pm and 9am. Is this okay or should I shield it from that light and give it a light of its own?

Is there anything you folks do while the fish is in there that wouldn't be obvious? Im assuming I should not add any other fish while he is in there? Should I feed him anything special while in quarantine?

 

[THEUNION1]

Personally i think 30 days is too long. The fish won't be happy. If it is sick, you will see that a lot sooner.

If you aren't going to medicate, you can try and give him Dr. G's Caviar fish food (just in case) if he will take it. Mine wouldn't eat it.

You don't need a light. Ambient room light is fine.

FWIW,

Keep Prazi if you use that alone. But really if you decide to medicate and want a "cure all" type of approach i'd use ICH-X AND API General Cure.

When medicating for an already sick fish you'll want to do a daily water change. If its not sick and you're medicating "just in case", you'll just watch your water perms and just follow standard WC procedures.

You can read my last post if you'd like to see how i quarantined my sick fish with a successful outcome.

 

[sde1500]

I think at the very least you should use Prazi anyway. Yes it is medication, but in many cases since the parasite can be internal, you're observation won't see anything.

 

[homer1475]

i think at the very least you should use prazi anyway. Yes it is medication, but in many cases since the parasite can be internal, you're observation won't see anything.

+1

 

[oldhead]

I usually do 4 weeks and prazi one time at the beginning. My QT is a 40 breeder with a couple pvc fittings, heater, powerhead (hydor) and an hob aquaclear. After about a week at 1.019 (or whatever the lfs water was at time of purchase) I start using salt water in the top off until it gets to my DT tank level. I sit and watch them eat each day for the first week. After that they are usually good, but I do give them a good look over once a week.

 

[Uncle99]

I think your doing a great job.
30 is a bit long but provided he/she moves in the right direction as in hungry, eating, swimming and you see nothing on him/her....your QT is fine.

Keep a very careful watch on ammonia, regular water changes if not cycled are mandatory.

 

[AnnaCassandra]

Personally I think 30 days is an acceptable amount of time, I thought most people would say longer not shorter. I've had a fish that didn't show any symptoms until 3 weeks after it was added and proceeded to wipe out nearly everything else in my tank (this is where I learned my lesson). So for my own peace of mind I like to go as long as I can stand it. We don't have a dedicated full-time qt tank setup, just a 10gal "tank" (rubbermaid) on the counter that we set up as needed. I usually treat with prazipro no matter what, and do a formalin dip near the end, sooner if there are any noticeable symptoms of anything. Neither of these will treat for ich, but in all reality ich is not my primary concern and can come in on anything wet that goes into your tank. I'll treat for it if I see it, but I'm not going to 12 weeks of quarantine on everything I buy to try to avoid it.

 

[soulpatch]

I'll treat for it if I see it, but I'm not going to 12 weeks of quarantine on everything I buy to try to avoid it.

12 weeks is for fallow period in an infested tank. TTM is easily done on anything incoming and wanted to take care of ich.




My QT is always to go through TTM. Even if not showing signs I would rather ensure they are not carrying and infect my other fish who have also been through my QT procedure. During some of the cycles of TTM I dose Prazi. That takes me 2 weeks and hen I do a 2 week observation period to keep an eye out for brook, velvet, and others that I mgiht need to treat for. The only treatment I make though is prazi unless I see something since that is more for items I can NOT see...

 

[AnnaCassandra]

12 weeks is for fallow period in an infested tank. TTM is easily done on anything incoming and wanted to take care of ich.


My QT is always to go through TTM. Even if not showing signs I would rather ensure they are not carrying and infect my other fish who have also been through my QT procedure. During some of the cycles of TTM I dose Prazi. That takes me 2 weeks and hen I do a 2 week observation period to keep an eye out for brook, velvet, and others that I mgiht need to treat for. The only treatment I make though is prazi unless I see something since that is more for items I can NOT see...

TTM only works to rid fish of ich, it works because in the tomont stage ich is no longer attached to the fish and by removing the fish and placing it in a *new* *sterile* environment you break the life cycle, the reason for a number of transfers is because of the varying timing of the life cycle. However, ich can attach itself to coral or snails or almost anything else in the tomont or cyst stage and can remain in this stage for up to 72 days, so while you can get away with a shorter QT when adding new fish, if you were REALLY adamant about not introducing ich into your tank you would have to quarantine everything else for a minimum of 72 days.