Malawi Mansion in the Making Journal

Hi Hawk,

I am afraid the first 3 (F1 and wild caught - post #47) 1 week quarantine would have been insufficient - they only started showing "symptoms" in week 3 and then the demise was rapid. I have heard from various sources that their breeder (lets call him Breeder A) has lost vast numbers of his fish - I know all his filtration was connected between the various stacked tank setups (saw with my own eyes)...

As for the last addition (post #58), I have made arrangements with the breeder (lets just call him Breeder B) that he quarantines on my behalf for 3 weeks, then I brought them home, did the introduction and simultaneously started a "pro-active" low dosage medication round to ensure that all is going well... So far so good - 1 week of med's to go...

I have checked the following daily since the latest intro of the fish mentioned in post #58:
- Nutrient-levels for spikes: that's clear so far
- Temperature: very stable since introduction of the chiller (yesterday was 39 degrees here, tanks sat very nicely on 24 degrees)
- Visible fish health: appears very good (no swimming in the spray bar / near outlet, no excessive sand scraping, no exaggerated breathing/yawning mouths and eating like "pack of hungry dogs")...

I am hopeful that this will be a good and positive introduction...

Time will tell if I adore :adore: or :reddy:the introduction of fish this time round... :bigsmile:

 

Question: UV Sterilizer - do any of the experienced tank owners use it on fresh water tanks? Please share you thoughts as I have been advised to get one and then also been told its not necessary...

:idea: please help here with your inputs

 

Where are the pics???

 

Glad to hear they have arrived in your tank in good condition. I did some reading last night and discovered that I quarantine for too short. I do it for a week but it is advised to do this for 3-4 weeks.

UV is good for green water and will strip/clean your water. The two trains of thought are that this is good as you protect your fish from nasties and the other thought is that you then potentially weaken your fish to any bugs that might be brought in by other fish. I'm of the opinion that like us, exposure to certain germs is beneficial as it builds up the immunity and makes them tougher.

 

@Hawk,

you are in the same uv-team as breeder B (previous post) - he is a well known malawi breeder and he says no, not healthy for fish...

The person that insisted on UV being essential is a marine aqaurium specialist...

So I opted to follow the other route of "pro-active" low dosage medication for a period of 10 days...

as for quarantine: Breeder B suggested if it is wild caught stock just landed in SA (from Asia / Africa) a quarantine period of 6 weeks... Some of the nasties are dormant for a long period and only brought to the fore by high levels of stress (and the associated high nutrient spikes)... Some fish will be carriers and never get sick...

So this whole quarantine period is also a preventative meassure rather than a certainty - in my humble laymens opinion...

 

Oh no...I don't want to quarantine for 6 weeks :frown:. Generally I use my 12l as my quarantine tank which becomes really cramped with just a few fish in it and to then subject them to 6 weeks of living like sardines. I shouldn't have given my 30l to my niece!

 

@Hawk,

quarentine is interesting indeed, now you understand more why I opted to go with breeder B as he can at least keep them for a period for me in quarantine - I order in advance and he understands my requirement for male show tank... This relationship / understanding works for me as his client and that is important for me...

 

Nice that you have that person/breeder that will do these things for you. My LFS takes new arrivals out of their bags and straight into their tanks. I am always hesitant when buying fish and will often rather leave them for a week or two to see how they settle in/survive before buying them. This often means that by the time I go back to the LFS they have sold them all :evil:

 

What a beautiful tank.
I Lived in Cape Maclear for 6 years and had the advantage of diving or snorkeling in lake Malawi when we wanted all the time and the difference in the species from rock to rock was just amazing. If you can make a trip up there just to see them in the wild. Breathtaking.

 

Hi polla

Any pics of the new fish aquired?