Meadowlark
New member
Is it important to quarantine the first fish or just put them into the tank right away?
Quarantine First Fish?
- Thread starter Meadowlark
- Start date
Shagsbeard
New member
The next question is "Should you treat new fish for Ich, even if they show no signs of it?"
I'm still on the fence with this one. It would be nice to run an Ich free tank, and it's likely you're going to have to treat for ich eventually if you don't treat it early. It's less stressful for the fish to be treated when there are no symptoms. And a life free of itching is probably worth it.
I'm still on the fence with this one. It would be nice to run an Ich free tank, and it's likely you're going to have to treat for ich eventually if you don't treat it early. It's less stressful for the fish to be treated when there are no symptoms. And a life free of itching is probably worth it.
Aquarist007
New member
No----quarantine it and observe over the next 4 weeks--the key is to build up its immunity system by making sure it is feeding properly---I soak the food in Garlic Guard.
bureau13
New member
I personally treat every fish I quarantine with Cupramine. If watching a fish for xx weeks were sufficient, then only removing the visibly infected fish from your display when they get ich or velvet would also be acceptable, but conventional wisdom says you have to take all the fish out and leave the tank fishless for weeks for the parasites to die off. I can't prove that that's true either of course, but its got to be one way or the other, so choose the safest if possible.
jds
jds
Aquarist007
New member
your right--I believe it is six weeks and not everyone has the patience to wait that long.
Aquarist007
New member
good point to mention---your saline should be .019 or so to hypo treat the fish
In general slightly lowering the salinity level will reduce stress but if your using hypo to eliminate ich then a salinity level of 12-14 is your goal .. that would equate to an SG of approximately 1.009.
I have QT all fish with hyposalinity for the last 12+ yrs .. big fan and can attest it prevents/cures ich and the fish seem comfortable during the QT period.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html
Wett Hands
New member
Thanks for the info Kev. I think I will hypo all my new fish now when I QT them. :thumbsup:
I have a question. To hypo treat fish you must keep them in the qt for quite a while. But what if you are qting fish that have special needs. For instance if your fish require a DSB you should not qt it in a tank that does not have one for that long. And most people are told not to use lr and such in qt. So what do you do for these fish?
The reason for quarantine is not to cure the fish, it is to protect your tank against the accidental import of parasites like ich and the like, which have, like fleas, a life cycle that involves going into the sand and periodically reinfesting the tank. It's a pita to get it stopped.
My personal advice: yes, qt for a couple of weeks---no fish will die of that that was not already headed for trouble, and the stress will likely cause them to break out if they're carrying something. If you MUST have angels, tangs or clowns, give them the full 6 week quarantine.
Secondly: watch what you buy. Get mostly blennies and gobies [and corals if you're aiming at it] in your first tank's first year, stay well away from the popular tangs, angels and clowns, [and anemones] and by the time your tank ages enough to have real stability, then you can add those other fish---also YOU will be more skilled as a reefkeeper and won't have near the number of accidents with your water quality that will happen.
Thirdly, watch what you buy in terms of health: don't buy a thin fish, a sorry-looking or listless fish, or one with obvious spots, fuzz, or flaring gills. Pity-buying is for experts only, with a spare tank. Your tank is all you've got, and putting a sick fish in can kill everybody.
My personal advice: yes, qt for a couple of weeks---no fish will die of that that was not already headed for trouble, and the stress will likely cause them to break out if they're carrying something. If you MUST have angels, tangs or clowns, give them the full 6 week quarantine.
Secondly: watch what you buy. Get mostly blennies and gobies [and corals if you're aiming at it] in your first tank's first year, stay well away from the popular tangs, angels and clowns, [and anemones] and by the time your tank ages enough to have real stability, then you can add those other fish---also YOU will be more skilled as a reefkeeper and won't have near the number of accidents with your water quality that will happen.
Thirdly, watch what you buy in terms of health: don't buy a thin fish, a sorry-looking or listless fish, or one with obvious spots, fuzz, or flaring gills. Pity-buying is for experts only, with a spare tank. Your tank is all you've got, and putting a sick fish in can kill everybody.
Most fish are collected wild .. placed in crude sterile chambers with a zillion other fish .. transported to the USA where wholesalers keep them in sterile containers with a zillion other fish .. then they are sold to retailers who keep them in overcrowded tanks (sometimes with substrates .. sometimes without). In short .. your fish will do fine in a bare bottom QT for another 4 weeks.
Aquarist007
New member
If you keep your salinity that low will it affect the bacteria in the live rock and sand in your quarantine tank?
I have a 30 gal setup up with 30lbs live rock that I keep as a quarantine tank--when not being used I put frags in there, snails etc that I can easily remove but I have never ran it with salinity at 12 or 14
Reducing salinity does not have a material impact on a mature bio filter - especially if one reduces the salinity over a couple of days.
As previosly stated .. an SG of 1.019 may reduce stress but is not going to eliminate ich. Wholesalers transport fish using an SG of 1.019 .. thats to reduce stress .. we all know that many of the fish delivered by wholesalers have ich an other parasites.
If you want to use hypo to kill ich you need to reduce your SG to approximately 1.009.
Edit
You don't need to maintain a full time QT ... if you place some extra filter media in your sump (or tucked behind some LR in your show tank) that filter media will develop beneficial bacteria which can be placed into your QT mechanical filter to give you "instant cycled QT" I keep a number of those aqua clear sponges tucked in my sump for QT/Hospital tank emergencies .. I keep several because some medications will wipe out a mature bio filter.
Further ... I don't recommend using a substrate with a QT .. a bare bottom QT is easy to keep clean (makes a major difference in ammonia issues) and substrates may interfere with some medications.
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Aquarist007
New member
good point--will do that --but I think I am going to buy a cheap quarantine tank---the 30 gal has a deep sand bed plenty of live rock ---I don't want to destroy it
thanks for the advise
