My quaranteen protocol? good or bad or paraniod?

[darkart82]

Ok . Here we go .

week 1.
drip accumate him day one for 1:30 to 2 hours. check sailinty of both water in tank and water in the bag. when it matches releases into qt.After 2 or 3 hours offer a little bit of food. watch it eat and swim. Do all the tricks I can to get them to eat asap.

week 2 .
do 10 to 20 percent water change and check the basics, nit.,amonia ,ect.
treat for ick and velvet. even if they show no signs treat them as if they are sick.

repeat same steps as week 2. for two more weeks or 3 weeks or as medication suggests.


Ok guys don't grill me to bad . Please? Here is a doozy?

Ok one question. My qt is 20 gallon , I wanted a pair of clownfish. Is it ok if I go ahead and buy one more clown and put him in now?
I have one clown in their now.Just thought I should have my pair at the same time.

 

[btkrausen]

I personally don't treat fish for something they don't have, meaning I don't use copper or other meds unless the fish is showing signs of a disease. The only medication I will use proactively is PraziPro. I know other people on here won't release a fish unless its been through many different medications, so its up to you.

I don't take aspirin if I don't have a headache

 

[darkart82]

good piont . I just thought I'd post it though.

 

[tcmfish]

A headache is different than a life threatening disease. Its more like whether or not to get vaccinated.

 

[btkrausen]

Copper doesn't "vaccinate" the fish from ich, it merely cures the current infection. It won't prevent future outbreaks.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Copper doesn't "vaccinate" the fish from ich, it merely cures the current infection. It won't prevent future outbreaks.

It will, if used on all new fish from day one; or starting with a parasite-free tank.

To the OP: Prophylactic treatment is a tough decision; I hope you don't make this decision based on a poll. If you are treating with copper, it works on both ich and velvet. (It may kill plenty of other uncommon parasites too).

 

[snorvich]

It will, if used on all new fish from day one; or starting with a parasite-free tank.

To the OP: Prophylactic treatment is a tough decision; I hope you don't make this decision based on a poll. If you are treating with copper, it works on both ich and velvet. (It may kill plenty of other uncommon parasites too).

This.

 

[SKurj]

Ok . Here we go .

Ok one question. My qt is 20 gallon , I wanted a pair of clownfish. Is it ok if I go ahead and buy one more clown and put him in now?
I have one clown in their now.Just thought I should have my pair at the same time.

If you add a second fish to the QT, the QT timeline then really should reset back to day 1 no matter how long the first clown has been in there. So both fish now will spend the next 4+ weeks in QT.

 

[ilikefish34]

I voted "yes" based on the fact that you have a quarantine protocol to begin with. And with the suggestions you get here (after sifting through the different methodologies) it will get even better. +1 on the prazipro. I do like the idea of using copper even when parasites are not obvious, however, I would be cautious when treating small angels and other copper sensitive fish (always do your homework first). Ich may not stand out well on certain color fish, large fish if they Ich population is low and most importantly, if it's in their gills or gill rakers. Also, the size of your qt is small (relatively speaking), but if you don't plan on having large fish or treating multiple fish at time, then this is a non-issue. I have seen where aquarist have used 20 gallon qt for large angels and had success but IMO this adds an unnecessary stress to the fish during an already stressful time. Don't forget to test that qt along the way and make sure you are aware of how the medications you are using affect the tests themselves.

Great post and I look forward to seeing the responses and learning something myself.

 

[darkart82]

good stuff very touchy subject and I now , no longer feel stupid for posting this.I do need good advice on meds to use and if its gonna mess up my test results all help is needed.

 

[tcmfish]

I know the vaccine comparison is a bit off, but it applies IMO.

We (humans and wild fish) live in an open environment. Constant exposure to disease, and other threats. In our tank we can prevent that. If you QT your new stock (by treating prophylactically) then as long as you don't introduce the disease at a later date you will be okay.

The aspirin headache argument doesn't hold up, because since there is constant exposure or potential cause for a headache you would be taking aspirin constantly or at least at certain intervals to constantly prevent them, which would be bad to be a drugs constantly. The fish get an exposure to drugs and then they are off them.

Now such a strict QT protocol isn't for everyone. I'm sure everyone has the animals best interest at heart, but due to other situations in life it isn't always feasible to have multiple tanks up and running to QT fish and then QT tanks for corals and inverts as well... The cost and also things like moving and all that may steer people to not treat so aggressively. It is still a good idea to observe the fish alone for a while before introducing it to the pack, whether through acclimation box or QT tank (the latter being ideal).

If you are in a stable situation and the tank is a permanent fixture in the home, then I see no reason why not to QT new animals. As everyone will learn in this hobby. Its cheaper to spend more up front once, than to cut corners and buy two, three, or more times, whether its equipment or animal.

 

[geaux xman]

Might want to consider a couple of 45min-1hr formalin dips on the clownfish as that help treats brook.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brookyescuref.htm

I would add the 2nd clownfish and QT both at once.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

If you prophylactically treat all fish with copper in QT, make sure you properly QT everything else going into the tank. Rock and corals must go fallow in a tank without fish for 8 weeks before going into the tank.

This is why I don't treat all incoming fish with copper anymore. I did it for a while and still ended up with ich in the tank... Its not practical for me to QT every coral, every piece of rubble, and anything else wet for 8 weeks without fish. I've given up on an ich free tank.

 

[MrTuskfish]

If you prophylactically treat all fish with copper in QT, make sure you properly QT everything else going into the tank. Rock and corals must go fallow in a tank without fish for 8 weeks before going into the tank.

This is why I don't treat all incoming fish with copper anymore. I did it for a while and still ended up with ich in the tank... Its not practical for me to QT every coral, every piece of rubble, and anything else wet for 8 weeks without fish. I've given up on an ich free tank.

Doesn't giving up on an ich-free line conflict with your signature line?

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

No, actually what I meant was exactly in line with my sig line. Either do it right, or don't do it. Throw copper at every fish, and let everything else go fallow for 8 weeks, or dont bother throwing copper at every fish at all.

So for me I guess it falls in the category of "not worth doing."