quarantine?

[NONNA58]

I do not know how many people actually quarantine their fish before placing in the main display, but I for a fact have never done this but I do not really buy any more fish because of no availabe space in the tank for one. But I did add a fish to my seahorse tank and for some unknown reason I found my female seahorse dead this morning for no apparant reason. I have had her for just about a year now and was perfectly healthy and so are the other four horses in the tank. I am just praying that I do not lose any more this way.
I added a green madarin last week which has been doing fine with all of the horses. So if John at FAOIS reads this please let me know if you do quarantine all of your fish before selling them, which I think you do, and do we as a buyer still need to quarantine?
Sue

 

[david8956]

I don't see how any LFS can quarantine the fish they receive because a quarantine is typically for 30 days. I would think the most they could do was just a quick dip to remove some external parasites.

 

[NONNA58]

well then if it was dipped it could still proably pick up parasites from the tank it was placed in or from other fish? Not unless all of the fish were dipped?
I really don't think that my seahorse died from anything that the mandarin could have brought in with him.

 

[ichthyman]

Sue,

Sorry for your loss.

I quarantine certain disease prone or delicate fish and anyone who arrives in questionable condition for 2-4 weeks prior to sale. Dragonets are generally not isolated unless a problem is present. However, all fish are held for at least 24 hours or until they begin behaving, eating and swimming, normally. The fish you purchased was in with my seahorses for a couple of weeks and during that time I observed no deaths or disease symptoms in that tank. In fact, it is still trouble-free. While it is possible that a contagion was introduced I find it not probable given the history of the fish. Regardless of the previous care given, I recommend quarantining everything prior to introducing it to your aquarium.

 

[NONNA58]

Thanks for answering John. On the ocean rider site Pete G states that it could of been some type of acute bacterial infection. That is what usually takes a seahorse really quick. I really do not think that it was a pathogen or parasite that the mandarin brought with him but I will never know for sure.
I also asked him how I could of quarantined a mandarin fish in a tank without pods. I have two other tanks I could of used but he would of starved.
I am not going to buy any fish for the seahorse tank. I only decided to get the mandarin because I have so many pods in that tank and have always wanted a mandarin if it was possible to have enough food for him. I would only buy a fish from you and I knew that with him being in your seahorse tank that it was a safe thing to do.
I miss my first little seahorse girl so bad. My male looks lonely. I am hoping that the little offspring turns out to be a female, otherwise I will have three males and one female in the tank.
Thanks again John.
Sue

 

[BillyFSU]

I don't have the link saved but you might be able to find the article on QT tanks by Stephen Pro...he has some links for QTing fish with specific feeding requirements like mandarins. The one tip I remember offhand is to keep filterfloss or other highly porous media that can harbor large pod populations in your refuge and then transfer them to the QT as needed. GL

 

[robthorn]

alot of madarins will eat live brine if they can catch them. if you turn your pumps off during feeding it really helps matters. dragonets for the most part will eat alot more than pods it's normally a case of the food going right past them and it seems like they are just to darned lazy to go after it.
I turn my main pump off every time I feed the tank to prevent food from going straight to my filter sock. I do leave 1 tunze on so it doesn't sink straight to the bottom.

 

[oldsaint]

I don't have the link saved but you might be able to find the article on QT tanks by Stephen Pro

Is this the one.

 

[angelsil]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6785132#post6785132 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by robthorn
it seems like they are just to darned lazy to go after it.

Mine go diving after the frozen bloodworms. Especially the male, who as many of you saw is fat as can be. While they can move when they need to, Mandarins aren't really good swimmers so they can't compete with the faster fish when it comes to food. I do agree that most mandarins eventually take to some kind of prepared food but it seems many starve before they get onto frozen/prepared foods if they're put in pod-deficient environments.

I've had several conversations with various authors about quarantining mandarins and the general consensus is you should pull some live rock from your established tank or a clean tank of some kind and put it in the quarantine tank to provide a food source. Assuming no disease manifests itself, you won't need to medicate the QT anyway and, regardless, mandarins are extremely sensitive to medication. Most folks also recommend a shortened QT period of 2 weeks for these fish.

That said... I didn't quarantine mine. I know... I know...bad fish mommy.

 

[poknsnok]

this is not the way to do it... just what I do. I have never lost any fish due to NOT quarantining. I went through 4 scotts fairy wrasses during the qt period due to elevated ammonia levels in the qt tanks. I had a skimmer and an aged sponge filter from the sump of the main tank in the qt. also kept a constant supply of fresh saltwater available for water changes. I would vacuum the bare bottom and change 5 gal of water from the qt tank with 5 gal from the main display and add new water to main (90 gal). never could get ammonia to be undetectable, and lost several fish. I havent qt'd a fish since. I shop carefully, observe my purchases and fw dip all fish that can handle it. not the right way and I know Im rolling the dice but Im 4 anthias away from being done adding fish.

 

[david8956]

I had a skimmer and an aged sponge filter from the sump of the main tank in the qt. also kept a constant supply of fresh saltwater available for water changes. I would vacuum the bare bottom and change 5 gal of water from the qt tank with 5 gal from the main display and add new water to main (90 gal). never could get ammonia to be undetectable, and lost several fish.

How could you have had any ammonia at all in your QT tank doing all of that?

 

[poknsnok]

thats a good question... overfeeding?? I couldnt figure it out so i havent qt in a while... and it is a roll of the dice

 

[BLUE OASIS]

We always QT any new residence before we add them into our main tank for at least 3 weeks. Then we do a slow drip for an hour before he is allowed to play with the others in the tank.

We just added a sting ray and we all just love to hand feed him.. he is sooooo cool.

G & T

 

[poknsnok]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6794643#post6794643 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poknsnok
thats a good question... overfeeding?? I couldnt figure it out so i havent qt in a while... and it is a roll of the dice

I rolled the dice and lost. bought 4 nice anthias that looked fine and still show no outward signs of ick and now my regal is covered with it. never had it in 3 years. moral of the story is quarantine ALL your new additions.. No matter where you get it from. QT everything that is wet before you put it in your display, or youll be trying to catch a regal out of a 200 gal loaded with rock and coral. Been a rough week. saw red bugs on a coral and now this.. goes to show no matter the hastle its much better to be safe and quarantine. needlees to say my frag store is closed for repairs

 

[Steven Pro]

poknsok,

I was just curious, did you have the sponge filter running in your main display before going into the quarantine tank or simply sitting in the sump?

 

[poknsnok]

I believe it was running in the sump... i had it running in there just for when quarantine time rolled around. I also did daily water changes from main display and ammonia still spiked. that said the sponge may have just been sitting in there. are you implying the bacteria wont colonize the sponge nearly enough if it isnt running? because you can bet from now on I QT

 

[Steven Pro]

Yes, I would keep it running in the main display. That could have been part of the problem.