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Quarantine Procedure


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Just a quick question - I'm curious what people do as a porcedure when bringing home new fish. Do you just float it, and add it to the main tank? Do you have a seperate tank? Do you medicate the quarantine tank, or the main tank? Do you add salt? What's your routine?

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I only get my fish.from one store I float and dump in to a net and drop no.fish.store water. Gos in to my tank. If a slightly sensitive like a outo I'll add.some tank.water to the.bag. If fish is in bag for a hour or more I'll add tank water to.help prevent Ph shocks.

I have yet to lose fish.with my.method

PS I normally let the bag of fish.sit.on the couch for 5 min before I sit it in tank.

Plants.sometimes get a excel bath 5 mill in to 1 to 2 Gallons of water if I see pond.snails

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I tend to put fish in my 20g planted tank as a quarantine. It isn't a strict quarantine, it has a pair of breeder BN plecos and endlers in it, but it is much easier to treat disease in a small tank if a pathogen did happen to hitchhike - and I see ich in most stores, so I add salt to the tank even before I add the fish. This method did prevent callamus worms from entering my 90g, which would have been tougher to treat.

I let them cool their heels in there for about 2 weeks, ensuring their good health while letting them get used to my tap water and food without having to worry about other fish. Then I dump them into the tank I want them in.

Often, if I bought a group of 6-8 cichlid juvies hoping to get a pair, I quite often get my pair before the 2 weeks are up.

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My fish and plants don't mind a pinch of salt on a constant basis (keep evaporation in mind when adding salt). I do keep the salinity lower unless I quarantine fish.

But if I add new fish, I add 1tsp of salt per 5 g, especially if they came from a pet store. I slowly lower it with water changes so when the fish are ready to move, the tank water matches my other tanks.

I notice that my BNs tend to spawn when I start lowering the salinity with water changes. Maybe they think the rainy season came?

I know it isn't necessary to add extra salt on a constant basis, I just do it so that when I increase the salinity, it isn't such a shock to the resident fish.

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I QT all my fish I get from stores, unknown people or auctions in a separate 10-20g for 3-4 weeks. I've been burned by sick fish killing off my tanks so its worth it. I usually don't medicate unless they look sick. If they do get sick the QT extends for another 3 weeks after they are better. I feed all new fish NLS Thera A. Some might think its a bit paranoid to QT that long but I find it easier then dealing with sick fish in a main tank.

As for dealing with bagged fish. I just scoop and dump. I figure there could be things(contaminants, chemicals) on the outside of the bag so I don't float it. Plus floating for 5-10mins isn't really enough time for the temp inside the bag to change. There was also an old thread where RD talked about why it isn't good to add water to the bag. Here http://AlbertaAquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=32913&p=2238375

Never had a problem with the scoop and dump method, especially when just bringing them home from a store.

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My fish and plants don't mind a pinch of salt on a constant basis (keep evaporation in mind when adding salt). I do keep the salinity lower unless I quarantine fish.

But if I add new fish, I add 1tsp of salt per 5 g, especially if they came from a pet store. I slowly lower it with water changes so when the fish are ready to move, the tank water matches my other tanks.

I notice that my BNs tend to spawn when I start lowering the salinity with water changes. Maybe they think the rainy season came?

I know it isn't necessary to add extra salt on a constant basis, I just do it so that when I increase the salinity, it isn't such a shock to the resident fish.

You add 1tsp or 1TBSP per 5 G?

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I QT all my fish I get from stores, unknown people or auctions in a separate 10-20g for 3-4 weeks. I've been burned by sick fish killing off my tanks so its worth it. I usually don't medicate unless they look sick. If they do get sick the QT extends for another 3 weeks after they are better. I feed all new fish NLS Thera A. Some might think its a bit paranoid to QT that long but I find it easier then dealing with sick fish in a main tank.

As for dealing with bagged fish. I just scoop and dump. I figure there could be things(contaminants, chemicals) on the outside of the bag so I don't float it. Plus floating for 5-10mins isn't really enough time for the temp inside the bag to change. There was also an old thread where RD talked about why it isn't good to add water to the bag. Here http://AlbertaAquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=32913&p=2238375

Never had a problem with the scoop and dump method, especially when just bringing them home from a store.

I just ordered some of that NLS Thera A. I've always floated for 20+, then scoop and dump....but my 29G seems to prove a QT is needed...

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I have a 10g set up with a 50 watt heater, Aqua clear 20, plain hood with single light flour.no substrate.I like to have some structure in the tank to help fish feel safe few small rocks & some plastic plants.

I QT all fish 4-5 weeks,I like to be proactive while fish are in QT so I treat all fish to:

1st week let fish get use to a routine and feeding

2nd week treat with de-wormer (Lev.) wait 2 weeks de-worm again.

last week I like to treat with Seachem Paraquard.

When complete scoop and drop in what ever tank I like.

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