How to Quarantine

[dvp95]

Quick question. Sorry if I missed an answer in the 104 pages. I made an honest effort to go through it all. My question is simply when the 76 day count starts. I understand if you start with copper treatment then once it gets therapeutic then start from there. However, there were a couple posts mentioning to start with prazipro if the fish are healthy without any ill signs followed by copper due to tolerance/feeding habits. So does this mean the 76 days start when prazipro starts or not until copper gets therapeutic, meaning you lose time from the prazipro treatment? Thanks Very helpful post.

 

[UncleSalty]

I have 2 QT's up right now, I am setting up a 3rd to dose Copper for what I believe is Ich on a Regal. Typically, I use DT water as I know its clean. Do I still want/need Bio-Spira if I am going to be dosing Copper Powder in it?

 

[Big G]

I have 2 QT's up right now, I am setting up a 3rd to dose Copper for what I believe is Ich on a Regal. Typically, I use DT water as I know its clean. Do I still want/need Bio-Spira if I am going to be dosing Copper Powder in it?

The tank's good bacterial might not be enough. I do the same and use my tank water for QTs because I know my tank is parasite free. But here's the good stuff. I soak in my sump the HOB's foam filter and mesh bag of Fluval Biomax, and the foam pad from a bubble filter. I keep them in the sump 24/7. So when I need to setup a hospital or QT, I don't need biospira to "salt" the new tank.
So soaking your filter material would be a good idea. BioSpira works fast, but I like Seachem's Stability if I have longer time to soak the filter materials before use (a couple of days).

 

[UncleSalty]

I was thinking Copper would just kill off all the bacteria. Is that wrong? Do I leave the foam filter in the Copper tank and then throw it away AFTER copper?

 

[UncleSalty]

The tank's good bacterial might not be enough. I do the same and use my tank water for QTs because I know my tank is parasite free. But here's the good stuff. I soak in my sump the HOB's foam filter and mesh bag of Fluval Biomax, and the foam pad from a bubble filter. I keep them in the sump 24/7. So when I need to setup a hospital or QT, I don't need biospira to "salt" the new tank.
So soaking your filter material would be a good idea. BioSpira works fast, but I like Seachem's Stability if I have longer time to soak the filter materials before use (a couple of days).

I was thinking Copper would just kill off all the bacteria. Is that wrong? Do I leave the foam filter in the Copper tank and then throw it away AFTER copper?

 

[pecan2phat]

Fish will put ammonia into the water in just a few days, you need some kind of established bio-filtration unless you plan to do large water changes every 48 hours and readjust the copper level.

 

[Big G]

I was thinking Copper would just kill off all the bacteria. Is that wrong? Do I leave the foam filter in the Copper tank and then throw it away AFTER copper?

It doesn't kill all of the bacteria. Bacteria is amazingly resilient. You could soak/clean the filter with vinegar. It precipitates the copper into a harmless form. I usually bleach, rinse, rinse, rinse; then vinegar, rinse, rinse, rinse, and then if I was dealing with something especially nasty like Brook, uronema, gram negative bacterial infection, I treat everything with H2O2, rinse, rinse, rinse. I do though usually toss out the ceramic media.

 

[NYBumkin]

I'm a little confused about the timing of adding the Prazipro. I am using Copper Power and Metroplex. Do I wait until after the 30 days and the copper and Metroplex is removed with Carbon and standard water chages, then dose Prazipro? Or can it be added during the treatment with the Copper Power and Metroplex. Thank you Humble Fish!

 

[undermind]

Hello all, I’ve made a bit of a mistake.

I have a few fish that have completed a quarantine period in CP. As I went to add carbon to remove the CP, I found a bag of carbon already in the HOB filter .

As it turns out, I've apparently run my entire quarantine period with carbon. What is the best course of action now? Should I assume the CP is at zero now and add a full dose? Should I do a water change then re-dose? How much water should I change?

Thanks so much for the advice. Can't believe I've blundered that QT period.

 

[pecan2phat]

I believe carbon will take out CP rapidly so it's like never having added the medication at therapeutic levels.

 

[undermind]

I believe carbon will take out CP rapidly so it's like never having added the medication at therapeutic levels.

So would there be any concern in now adding a full dose of CP? My concern would be overdose.

Probably not a problem but I'd like to be cautious.

 

[pecan2phat]

I would do a 25% water change, run some new carbon for 24 hours, take out the carbon and then dose.

 

[undermind]

I would do a 25% water change, run some new carbon for 24 hours, take out the carbon and then dose.

Sounds great, thanks!

 

[BAPrince]

I only got through 56 outstanding pages out of 105... My brain hurts. So much good information... Thank you!

Question: Can the observation tank, that the fish go into after Day #14 (Tank #2), have sand and rock? Inverts? The wife is asking, hoping I don't make her keep TWO sterile "looking" tanks in the entryway.

 

[Kingston]

Just finished cycling my tank and planning on adding my first fish. My LFS tells me I don't need to worry about quarantining fish I buy from him. He apparently medicates them and keeps them for a few weeks before selling them. He recommends quarantining only if I get fish from others sources. Should I follow his recommendations?

 

[dvp95]

I only got through 56 outstanding pages out of 105... My brain hurts. So much good information... Thank you!

Question: Can the observation tank, that the fish go into after Day #14 (Tank #2), have sand and rock? Inverts? The wife is asking, hoping I don't make her keep TWO sterile "looking" tanks in the entryway.

You can but that is kind of iffy. If after treatment and they go to that observation tank and everything goes well then thats ok. But if ich or velvet shows up then that stuff needs to go fallow, sterilized, or thrown out or your next batch will get infected. If you plan on doing multiple batches of fish then I recommend bare minimum

 

[dvp95]

Just finished cycling my tank and planning on adding my first fish. My LFS tells me I don't need to worry about quarantining fish I buy from him. He apparently medicates them and keeps them for a few weeks before selling them. He recommends quarantining only if I get fish from others sources. Should I follow his recommendations?

Depends on your level of trust. Once you start quarantining you get more and more paranoid about cross contamination. Even at home I worry about cross contamination and I am the only one handling things. Now multiple that by however many workers. I do it all myself.

 

[NYBumkin]

Just finished cycling my tank and planning on adding my first fish. My LFS tells me I don't need to worry about quarantining fish I buy from him. He apparently medicates them and keeps them for a few weeks before selling them. He recommends quarantining only if I get fish from others sources. Should I follow his recommendations?

In my opinion its totally up to how you want to look at the issue if one presents itself. The LFS' fault (trust their quarantine) or your own (do your own quariantine). Prior to that, maybe consider what you feel gives you the best chance to not have the issue. Just weigh your risk vs reward and risk tolerance I suppose.

Great to even be considering these thoughts!

 

[Kingston]

In my opinion its totally up to how you want to look at the issue if one presents itself. The LFS' fault (trust their quarantine) or your own (do your own quariantine). Prior to that, maybe consider what you feel gives you the best chance to not have the issue. Just weigh your risk vs reward and risk tolerance I suppose.

Great to even be considering these thoughts!

Thanks. It's one of these one man LFS. The owner says he is a marine biologist by profession.

 

[NYBumkin]

Thanks. It's one of these one man LFS. The owner says he is a marine biologist by profession.

Relationships and understanding those relationships is one of the more important aspects of life I would think.

Marine Biologist... "Study of Marine Life" ... minus the degrees, I'd say anyone actively pursuing a quality Reef Tank would fall under this title

I'd love to see the fish you purchase and how you go about their introduction to your ecosystem. Keep posting!