The Quarantine Process

Hi All,

Not sure if there is a thread like this already, if there is maybe someone can point me to it and admins can close this.

I watch many videos where fish owners setup a medicated quarantine tank where ALL new fish go into. So i understand that fish have to be kept in quarantine for a period of time when first purchased, but should that quarantine / hospital tank always be medicated? whether fish are sick or not?

Maybe members can share their process of introducing new fish and if they do medicate their quarantine tank, what products/ meds do you use, and how long do you quarantine for?

also do you quarantine everything? including plants?

Ammar

 

Hi Ammar.

Here is the link to the Quarantine thread... https://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/threads/proper-use-of-quarantine-facility.6190/

Personally I feel that all new fish have to be quarantined but I only medicate if I come across any issues with the fish in question. I feel that the fish has already gone through enough stress from all the shipping and movement from tank to tank so medicating in some cases would just cause unnecessary stress to the fish.

I think that if a fish is wild caught then medication during quarantine is another topic on its own.

So my personal process is for new fish to go straight in to a quarantine tank and be observed in there over a month. I wait for a full month of no issues before I move the fish over to an existing tank.

As far as plants go I cannot comment on that as I've never tried it lol.

 

thank a mil, I need to brush up on my searching skills on the forum... for some reason i never get the right search results.

i'll read up thanks again for responding and advice

 

Certain medications can be used if there's common issues with certain fish, like deworming wild discus or antiparasitic medications for wild polypterus.

Unless there is a real need I would never use any medication without it being necessary. Otherwise we get resistant pathogens and we all suffer.

 

thinking of it now.. those shop those videos were about wild fish.. and both your comments have wild in them, so it does make sense that wild be treated. I have read @Marco thread, haven't seen any further comments on it, but not sure if that would be the process followed with any fish that you receive from LFS or just imported fish. very hectic process of quarantine he follows.

 

I think a strict quarantine procedure is warranted when you're on a Marco level operation. It's good to do so anyway.

 

would be nice to know where you can get all those meds... are they freely available at shops or do you need to order from specialized places?

 

Personally I agree that if you are buying the normal everyday captive bred popular fish, unless you suspect there is something wrong ( but then maybe you should not have taken the chance) there is no need to have medication in a quarantine tank

But you have certain types of fish that are prone and very sensitive to parasites like... discus for example and stingrays
You have fish that are wild caught which although the suppliers should have seen to it that they treated, there is a huge chance that they still carry parasites

You have fish that are captive bred but from wild caught stock which.. yes.. the breeder should have their stock treated but.. there is always a chance

Some fish that I believe should be treated for worms and parasites as the chances are 90% that they are wild caught.. Datnoids, Clown loaches, Flagtails, in @Hendre's case, the polys and a few others can probably be added to the list so if you suspect that they wild caught my opinion is that they should be done

Safe medications are readily available although some you might need to get a script for
I have however found that if your pharmacist knows that you keep fish, he will accommodate and help

The most difficult medication to get in its pure and safe form until a few months ago was Prazi
After discussions and care sheets emphasizing the need for it in SA were submitted to the Hikari agents, finally.... PRAZIPRO is available in SA
It is not the cheapest but its a life saver for some fish
You can also get pure Praziquantel powder but only from the Vet as all other Praziquantel tablets like Biltricide contain other products as well
The powder is a bit of a pain to dissolve but the Prazi in liquid form is a pleasure

 

Good Afternoon everyone,

On the note of quarantine tanks, Yesterday I got my first Arowana for my 6ft tank, Ive got two Oscars that are not even the same size as a R10 note and the arowana is about 18cms, The Oscars didnt think it was a good new addition and they attacked him quite bad, I immediately took him out and put him in another tank with water from the tank he was in, this morning he was curling up and swimming downwards, What are the things i can do to help him recover as i really dont want to lose him

Any help at all , I will appreciate greatly

 

@Chad03

You dont mention fiktration on the new tank. Is it possible that the filtration for the tank you moved him to is not proper, and that there now is ammonia build up?

You need to address this.

Best regards

Marco

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@Marco

The tank i transferred him into had an internal filter but it was just for the night so the oscars didn't carry on attacking him, this morning I took him to the pet shop i bought him from to see if they couldn't assist as i am not home during the day

 

Hi Ammar

With time we as hobbyists should strive to improve our fishkeeping skills. This means we should find new and improved ways of doing things
As for Quarantine - the best quarantine practise is to place yourself under strict "Quarantine", and not allow any random purchases. Neither plants nor fish.
If you start out that way it reduces the need for much else.
Be considerate with every purchase, and try and establish a protocol which you trust.
If this is not done you will run into trouble sooner or later, and then no amount of chemicals will help.

As for how to do this is - its not easy.
Due to economical constraints, wholesalers seem to be scraping the barrels for the cheapest suppliers, and unfortunately this brings about low quality disease carrying fish.

Over the last few years I have imported and kept Discus from some of the most famous breeders in the world.
Because of this I can confidently say I will not keep Asian Discus again. I will rather quit as a discus keeper.
No amount of quarantine can solve this, as these fish carry chemically resistant bacteria and parasites, that will survive anything you throw at them, possibly even a nuclear disaster.
So from day 1 you are on the back-foot fighting a losing battle. Its just totally unpleasant and downright demotivating

As for Wild fish - bear in mind that the parasitic load inside rivers and water systems from which wild fish are collected, is much lower than what it is inside a fish tank or recirculating system.
This means the fish are exposed to far fewer parasites than what they are inside a fish tank, meaning they are generally much cleaner than most people believe.

Added to this is the reality that these parasites in the wild have never been exposed to the chemicals we use to eradicate them, and are therefore extremely sensitive to these chemicals
That means lower dosages are required to destroy them, and you have healthier stronger fish.

It is impossible to have a 1 - QT protocol for all fish. Some fish can for instance not handle salt in the water, whereas others do badly when exposed to Potassium Permangenate.
Key to healthy fish is to try and become as informed about the species which you wish to keep as possible, and then over time develop a QT system which works for you.

But remember - buying from a trusted, reliable source is your first step in the right direction

Regards

Marco

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Hi

Sorry I do not follow
If you took him back then what is the point of the question?

Regards

Marco

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Hi Marco

I took him to the pet shop so the could keep him for a few days so i can get my ducks in a row at home, the reason for my question is so i can get the right set up for when i get him back and I know that people on the forum 10 to 1 chances know a bit more than the people at the pet shops, so if someone give me advice i could go to the pet shop and do it

 

I can tell you a story about quarantining. I used to breed threadfin rainbowfish. I had a 4ft tank with over 200 in it. So one day I go to a LFS and found some psuedomugil gertruedae. I bought 10. Conditioned them to my 4ft tank with the threadfins. A month later I am down to about 30 threadfins and no gertrudae. I gave up breeding fish for about a year after that. So now everything I buy new goes into a quarantine tank for about 6 weeks before I am will to add it to my established fish.

 

Thanks @Marco, that makes a lot of sense, i agree with you about buying from reputable suppliers, although as you say most LFSs dont really care about the quality of their stock.

I would much rather be buying from a member that looks after his/her fish, and there is this idea that a home breeder should be cheaper than a shop, i completly disagree with that...

I must be honest i have not ever quarantined any fish, i got hit with white spot not so long ago, i learnt my lesson.

Setting up quarantine tank will be priority.

Thanks again



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Hi @Chad03 and welcome to the forum

I am sorry to hear about your arowana and i hope it recovers
If you dont mind, could i ask you to please start a thread of your own witha title relevant to your problem
By asking on someone else's thread that is totally off topic, you will get less help due to some of the people that can help not reading your question but we also high jacking another member's thread with a totally different topic

You need help and we all here to help where we can, so start a thread and we can discuss your problem in more detail