Quarantine Tank, Diagnosis & Treatment

[Tank Sinatra]

This site is so addictive!

After more research on this forum, I've realised I will also need a quarantine tank. I have gone for a small 25 litre tank, that comes with the heater and filter. I'm going to collect it tomorrow from my local fish shop.

When my new fish are in quarantine, should I be treating them for anything? Or just keeping an eye out for disease/fatalities?

Is there a useful website or book that I can read on fish diseases? I'd like to get an idea on what the diseases may look like, so that I know what to look for myself.

 

[Slaphppy7]

This site is so addictive!

After more research on this forum, I've realised I will also need a quarantine tank. I have gone for a small 25 litre tank, that comes with the heater and filter. I'm going to collect it tomorrow from my local fish shop.

When my new fish are in quarantine, should I be treating them for anything? Or just keeping an eye out for disease/fatalities?

Is there a useful website or book that I can read on fish diseases? I'd like to get an idea on what the diseases may look like, so that I know what to look for myself.

I always treat new fish (prophylactically) with Prazipro while they are in QT

 

[Malawif@n]

When in quarantine just keep and close eye on the fish just to make sure it’s perfectly healthy before introducing it to the main display tank however if during quarantine you see that the fish has an illness then you can treat in the quarantine tank rather that treat the main display tank . There are many books on fish diseases have a look online a lot of different options and if you get stuck the people on here are very helpful.

 

[Essjay]

There is a school of thought which says most of the fish bred in Asia have parasitic worms, and so should be treated for worms in the quarantine tank.

If you wish to do this, you need praziquantel for flat worm (that's in the prazipro that Slaphppy mentioned); levamisole for round worms or flubendazole for both. If using praziquentel and levamisole, you need two separate meds; use one first then the other.

As you are in the UK, look for -
levamisole - eSHa ndx
praziquantel - eSHa gdex
flubendazole - NT Labs Anti Fluke & Wormer or Maidenhead Aquatics own brand AquaCare Anti Fluke & Wormer.

 

[Tank Sinatra]

Thank you all. I'll get the treatments on order.

 

[Tank Sinatra]

Sorry folk, one more question regarding quarantine.

As I'm putting medication in the tank, will I have to clean out the tank and filter after the temporary hosts have moved into the main tank?

 

[Essjay]

That depends. If the fish in the quarantine tank have been fit and healthy throughout their stay, you can move the media back to the main tank. But if they've been sick, it's safer to throw the media away and put new in the main tank ready for the next time you set up the QT.
However - if you treat the fish in the QT with medication and you have shrimps or snails in the main tank, I would throw the media away simply because so many meds kill inverts and I wouldn't take the risk of transferring a med to the main tank.

 

[Tank Sinatra]

Sorry, I think I'm a little confused.

Should I be using the filter media that's in my main tank, in the quarantine tank as well?

I hadn't planned on moving the filter media between tanks. I meant specifically the filter media within the quarantine tank, will this need replacing each time I buy and treat new fish? And the tank water emptying?

 

[Fishfaced]

Is it even necessary to quarantine your first lot of fish as your main tank is empty?
Isn't your main tank basically just a quarantine tank at this point?
That might sound daft but also makes sense.

 

[Tank Sinatra]

Is it even necessary to quarantine your first lot of fish as your main tank is empty?
Isn't your main tank basically just a quarantine tank at this point?
That might sound daft but also makes sense.

That makes complete sense. But then surely any nasty bugs will then be in the main tank, even after quarantine no?

That's assuming these bugs that we treat the new fish for, don't exclusively live in/on the fish themselves. So many questions haha!

 

[Fishfaced]

That makes complete sense. But then surely any nasty bugs will then be in the main tank, even after quarantine no?

That's assuming these bugs that we treat the new fish for, don't exclusively live in/on the fish themselves. So many questions haha!

True yea, makes sense.
I just thought you could medicate the main tank and once done dona water change and bit ofna clean up.
I think I end up confusing myself sometimes. Best to just keep it simple and follow experienced advice lol

 

[Essjay]

Should I be using the filter media that's in my main tank, in the quarantine tank as well?

Sorry, I should explain better.

Do you intend leaving the QT running all the time, or putting it away when you don't have fish in quarantine?

If it's being set up full time, you will need to cycle the QT before putting fish in it. You would have to keep the media in there or replace it and recycle it before putting more fish in the QT. If it is to be heavily planted, you won't need to cycle the tank first, just make sure the plants are big and healthy. With a lot of live plants you won't need filter media, just filter wool (filter floss) to catch any bits of debris.

But if it's going to be put away between use, you would have to cycle the media every time you set it up. Most people steal media from the main tank so they don't have to cycle it, then put it back in the main tank when the QT is put away.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Is it even necessary to quarantine your first lot of fish as your main tank is empty?
Isn't your main tank basically just a quarantine tank at this point?
That might sound daft but also makes sense.

Nope.
First fish in a new tank, tank is the QT.

 

[Essjay]

The very first fish are usually just put straight in the main tank - that's their quarantine tank. If they get sick, they are treated to kill the bugs so there's nothing for the next fish to catch.
But any fish bought after the first fish do need to be quarantined and treated if the get sick in the quarantine tank before they go in the main tank.


Edit - SlapHppy posted as I was typing

 

[Tank Sinatra]

Ok, that's great. I fully understand now.

Yes, I was planning on leaving the QT running all the time. It will be heavily planted like the main tank. I guess over time, once the main tank is stocked that I will close it down and then just use the main tanks media if I need to set it up again.

Thanks for clearing that up!