Quarantine

[mordor]

I have already learned that it's not a question if we should do that but how long and what else we should do. I got some general questions:

1) Usually hospital/quarantine tanks provide worse conditions than in final destination tanks. How long should we quarantine new fish?
2) How we make sure that fish fully recovers from the stress caused by transportation and change of water conditions? What preventive measures should we use (medicines, vitamins)?

 

[Matthew Clark]

I had some nasty stuff in my tanks before I started quarantining. I don't claim to be an expert, bt here's what's worked for me:

1. 5.5 gallon tank.
2. Bare except for a flowerpot or two.
3. Sponge filter/50 watt heater.
4. Inhabitants introduced into tap water(which is fairly close to that of my lfs)with 1 tbsp/5 gallons kosher salt.
5. Water gradually changed over to RO.
6. I do not typically use medication. However, I had one instance where I lost an angel in quarantine due to spironucleosis(probably mauled the spelling). I now feed a homemade medicated flake to all new angels and discus, and haven't had a problem yet. Apistos do not get this treatment.
7. Quarantine for 3 weeks. I had some bad luck with shorter quarantine periods.

Matthew Clark

 

[aspen]

i use a tank big enough to keep the fish healthy and happy for a month or more. if you have a problem it could even take longer to solve. i also treat all new fish for external parasites, regardless. as to how long to quarentine? well, that depends a lot on how precious the fish in your tanks are. i have tanks i will put new fish into after only 2 weeks, with a few tetras or a pleco or whatever. my 90 gal growout tank with the baby discus will not get tankmates at all, for fear of introducing something nasty. they are in 'quarentine' and will be so for at least the next 6 months. they are my most precious fish. any time you introduce new fish, even after quarentine, you are taking a chance, unless you are a vet and can do gill scrapings, fecal slides, and other tests to ensure they don't have even the basic diseases.

rick