What is your fish quarantine procedure?

[MissMolly]

Hi, so I have a highly succesful and healthy system and I'm scared AF to add new members to the tank. How do I go about it? What is YOUR best quarantine procedure? How long, any preventative meds or?

My main fear is that I don't see any signs of disease and then after the quarantine period is over and fish is added to the tank, things start to develop and spred?

I have for years battled dif diseases in my freshwater tank and this has made me so extremely grateful for my healthy marine tank but also very cautious.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi, so I have a highly succesful and healthy system and I'm scared AF to add new members to the tank. How do I go about it? What is YOUR best quarantine procedure? How long, any preventative meds or?

My main fear is that I don't see any signs of disease and then after the quarantine period is over and fish is added to the tank, things start to develop and spred?

I have for years battled dif diseases in my freshwater tank and this has made me so extremely grateful for my healthy marine tank but also very cautious.

I keep our current quarantine protocol here:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

It works very well for most contagious parasitic diseases and with most marine fish. One issue is that it is designed with products and material available in the United States. Being in Denmark, you may have some difficulty acquiring the same products, so you would have to look for comparable ones in your area. One other exception is that it doesn't handle Brooklynella seen in wild caught clownfish - that requires formalin, which is toxic and difficult to acquire.

 

[MissMolly]

I keep our current quarantine protocol here:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

It works very well for most contagious parasitic diseases and with most marine fish. One issue is that it is designed with products and material available in the United States. Being in Denmark, you may have some difficulty acquiring the same products, so you would have to look for comparable ones in your area. One other exception is that it doesn't handle Brooklynella seen in wild caught clownfish - that requires formalin, which is toxic and difficult to acquire.

Okay that is a VERY helpful thread. Thank you so much!

Yeah so we can’t buy ANY sort of medication for fish in Denmark. All banned. So that will be quite a challenge to get hold of all off these.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Okay that is a VERY helpful thread. Thank you so much!

Yeah so we can’t buy ANY sort of medication for fish in Denmark. All banned. So that will be quite a challenge to get hold of all off these.

You can always run hyposalinity. That will cure ich and flukes, just not velvet:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2021 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[MissMolly]

You can always run hyposalinity. That will cure ich and flukes, just not velvet:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2021 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

That is a low hanging fruit. Will definitely incorporate hyposalinity.

Do you know if velvet can be cured with formalin / malachite green? Cause these are actually available for pond fish here. Or do I need the pro… can’t remember the name but saw it in your post.

Another question for you.

Let’s say that I keep the fish in quarantine for 2 months, no treatment and nothing shows up. They seem fine, eating well etc. Can they actually be carrying and passing disease without showing symptoms themselves?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

That is a low hanging fruit. Will definitely incorporate hyposalinity.

Do you know if velvet can be cured with formalin / malachite green? Cause these are actually available for pond fish here. Or do I need the pro… can’t remember the name but saw it in your post.

Another question for you.

Let’s say that I keep the fish in quarantine for 2 months, no treatment and nothing shows up. They seem fine, eating well etc. Can they actually be carrying and passing disease without showing symptoms themselves?

Formalin + malachite green is a freshwater medication. It is sold for use in marine tanks, but honestly, I've never seen it really work in that case. However, velvet is pretty rare, and I can't recall that I've tried it specifically on that.

Observational quarantine, as you describe is better than just adding new fish to an aquarium, but still is not as effective as a true proactive process. Flukes are the most common disease to "get through" an observation period like that. Velvet is less able to get through, but sometimes marine ich can be a "chronic" infection and can get through an observational period.