Transfer QT fish to DT wihtout Profalactic Treatment?

[CedzAquAddictio]

Team RC. I've got an advice question for you all.

I received an order from BlueZoo Aquatics about 5 weeks ago, and for the first time, I received a Tang that seems to NOT have ich and need treatment.

In the past, I've treated all of my fish whether they have showed signs of ich, or not, but didn't treat this current batch of new fish (Yellow Eye Kole Tang, 2 Dispar Anthias, and one female Mandarin dragonet) because all appeared to be extremely healthy, and were eating well.

I've just received a new order of fish from Bluezoo, and was about to transfer the old fish from QT to the DT, when I started to question myself in not treating the others since one of the fish in the order I received today (Naso Tang) appears to have the dreaded white spots.

This question has many answers from what I've read, but I just want to get a bearing from everyone. Is QT without medication enough if the fish show no signs of disease? I don't want to put the new fish in with my fish that are ready to come out of QT and possibly expose them to whatever the fish I received today may have...

Thanks Team RC!!!

 

[snorvich]

I advocate tank transfer treatment of all new fish. Always. Ideally followed by three weeks of observation, especially if the fish came from a system with copper. You will not see ich necessarily and unless you are very adept at reading fish behavior, it is easy to miss.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Hey Steve. I was hoping to hear from you...

I just went to my fish room where I keep an extra standby 20g QT tank on the ready, and tested the water parameters. Everything checked out. I may put my new fish in there after a week, or two of the TT treatment.

Now the question is: For my older fish that are already in QT, would it do any good to perform a TT treatment on them after having them for 5 weeks?

Thanks again!!!

 

[snorvich]

Hey Steve. I was hoping to hear from you...

I just went to my fish room where I keep an extra standby 20g QT tank on the ready, and tested the water parameters. Everything checked out. I may put my new fish in there after a week, or two of the TT treatment.

Now the question is: For my older fish that are already in QT, would it do any good to perform a TT treatment on them after having them for 5 weeks?

Thanks again!!!

Assuming that you have had them for five weeks, the odds are in your favor assuming no behavioral issues: flashing, reclusiveness, hanging near the overflows, etc. I am never courageous enough to not do tank transfer as the behavior can be pretty subtle some times.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

I ended up starting the TT method on all fish running the new fish and old fish separately. I have about 15 5g buckets left over from the times before I automated my water changes.

Thanks for the insight!!!

 

[woodnaquanut]

I'd also treat with PraziPro for internal beasties.

Your thoughts?

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

I've got Prazi and Cuppramine on hand. I thought about it while I was at work, and it's not worth risking my 225g DT. I'm going to go ahead and stick to what's been successful for me, and do a prophylactic treatment on all of these fish before moving them to my DT.

I'll do TT for a week, or two, and treat them all in my 55g QT tank just to be sure. All fish look healthy, and are extremely active with no signs of discomfort so far, but another couple of months to get them treated and fattened up is worth it. Every fish in my DT are disease free, and I plan on keeping it that way. I have far too many conditioned and hard to keep fish in my DT to risk it...

thanks John and Steve for your input!!!

 

[snorvich]

I'd also treat with PraziPro for internal beasties.

Your thoughts?

I agree.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

I've read that some big public aquariums do preventative hyposalinity. I am implementing this regiment right now with prazipro added on day 2 or 3 lasting 5-7 days. I am prepared to make adjustments in case of marine velvet or other parasites that hypo cannot cure. But that's a good, low maintenance starting point in my QT process.

 

[snorvich]

I've got Prazi and Cuppramine on hand. I thought about it while I was at work, and it's not worth risking my 225g DT. I'm going to go ahead and stick to what's been successful for me, and do a prophylactic treatment on all of these fish before moving them to my DT.

I'll do TT for a week, or two, and treat them all in my 55g QT tank just to be sure. All fish look healthy, and are extremely active with no signs of discomfort so far, but another couple of months to get them treated and fattened up is worth it. Every fish in my DT are disease free, and I plan on keeping it that way. I have far too many conditioned and hard to keep fish in my DT to risk it...

thanks John and Steve for your input!!!

A very good and effective quarantine protocol: eliminate the possibility of ich and guard against more serious issues.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Well, the Nason and a goby died today. Glad I pumped my brakes. All other fish are doing well.
3 wrasse 1 mole tang and 2 dispar anthias remain in QT/HT.

 

[woodnaquanut]

Well that's a real bummer!

Do you have any idea what the problem was? Hope the other fish remain healthy.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

No idea at all what the problem was, but all other fish remain healthy, and other fish that I acclimated from that shipment are all doing well (except a watchman goby that was pretty much dead in the bag upon receipt). The naso died so quickly, that I'm almost positive it had previous issues before I received it. It had some white spots on it when it arrived that were too large to be ich, so it was probably some type of bacterial infection. She was eating well, and everything. Possibly a pre-existing bacterial infection following by the stress of shipping was too much for her...

 

[snorvich]

No idea at all what the problem was, but all other fish remain healthy, and other fish that I acclimated from that shipment are all doing well (except a watchman goby that was pretty much dead in the bag upon receipt). The naso died so quickly, that I'm almost positive it had previous issues before I received it. It had some white spots on it when it arrived that were too large to be ich, so it was probably some type of bacterial infection. She was eating well, and everything. Possibly a pre-existing bacterial infection following by the stress of shipping was too much for her...

How did you acclimate this fish?

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

I normally don't do a drip acclimation for fish that are shipped overnight due to possible ammonia spikes, but I followed BlueZoo's acclimation guidelines. I did a drip acclimation with their stress guard after floating the bags for 25 minutes.

All other fish in this shipment did well after acclimation except this naso, and a watchman goby that was pretty much dead in the shipping bag...

 

[snorvich]

I normally don't do a drip acclimation for fish that are shipped overnight due to possible ammonia spikes, but I followed BlueZoo's acclimation guidelines. I did a drip acclimation with their stress guard after floating the bags for 25 minutes.

All other fish in this shipment did well after acclimation except this naso, and a watchman goby that was pretty much dead in the shipping bag...

My recommendation is always to temperature acclimate in a closed bag, then place the fish in quarantine with matching SG with no drip acclimation.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

That's the method I prefer, but since I had a few fish die from BlueZoo, I follow their acclimation so I don't have any issues with getting them to give store credit fish that don't make it through the guarantee period...

I normally follow exactly what you outlined (with much better success). I figured a slight PH swing won't hurt as much as the hell the fish go through when you open a bag that has been sealed with their excrement for 24 hours, then slowly adding clean water.