Quarantining

[fishlover500]

What is the point of quarantining a fish in a seperate tank?
If they are sick I buy meds anyway. Maybe it's because other
fish can catch it? But then you can just treat the whole tank?

 

[kubora666]

What is the point of quarantining a fish in a seperate tank?
If they are sick I buy meds anyway. Maybe it's because other
fish can catch it? But then you can just treat the whole tank?

i do the same thing. never have had one.

myab eits incase 1 of them gets beaten up etc

 

[WILDER]

Desease to stop it spreading.
From anthing for columnaris, external and internal parasites, fish tb.
Best to issolate new fish for up to six weeks so you can observe them,and make sure they don't have anything nasty that can wipe a tank out.

 

[bloatedguppy]

Its really a method if you a real fish specialist but I always believed in giving all my fish the meds as with most fish theres never one that is sick it more. It alos helps though if you have multiple tanks but I never did it.

 

[Bignose]

Let me first answer this question with a question: why do you stay home from school or work when you have the flu? You know why you quarantine.

Disease treatments are given in concentrations -- something like 5 mL per 10 L of tank water. If you only have to treat the small quarantine tank, that can be a lot cheaper than treating the large show tank.

If you spread the disease, you run the risk of losing a lot more fish than you otherwise would have. Vice versa, by following good quarantining practices there is virtually zero reason that any disease should be introduced to your main tank. I haven't had a disease in my main tank in many, many years now -- I've lost a few fish in a quarantine tank because ich broke out and I had to leave town -- but there has never been ich in any of my main tanks ever. It is much easier to treat a small tank and a few fish than to treat a large tank and many fish. Some of the fish in the large tank (usually many different species) may react really negatively to the type of medicine you use. Some of the fish may react negatively to the change in oxygen levels or change in temperature that may be necessary to treat the disease faster. If there is only one or two species to treat in the q-tank, it is probably going to be easier to treat than many different species.

 

[Tolak]

There is also the situation of the fish in your established tank existing quite well with something, and not being affected by it due to a stronger immune response. Stress lowers a fish's immune response, making them susceptible to diseases. It is quite likely there are bacteria, protizoans, a whole host of things that your established, healthy, stress free fish are exposed to, and their strong immune response is keeping at bay.

Take your new purchases, stressed from being caught, bagged, transported, put in a tank with strange inhabitants & perhaps different water parameters, and you have stressed fish. How long before this stressful event they were exposed to the same thing when purchased by the shop is often unknown. You expose them to pathogens your healthy fish keep at bay with a strong immune response, and bam, sick new fish.

So your response is to med the whole tank, healthy fish as well as ill. The healthy fish have a strong natural immune response, the best medication nature can provide. You med them, making this strong immune response unnecessary. The natural immunity lessens, and the existing fish now are susceptible to a pathogen they previously fought off quite well, without any chemical intervention.

Which came first? Did the new fish make the existing fish sick? Or did the existing fish make the new fish sick, your efforts at a cure weakened the immune response of the healthy fish, and they in effect made themselves sick? How would you find out?

You would find out by dissecting a series of each fish, before exposure. You would do smears and stain slides, examine with a microscope, and compare. This would also give you a more definitive answer as to what medication to use for the problem.

Doesn't a small tank, filter, & heater sound easier?

 

[Corleone]

A more subtle point than the important ones already made, meds have to be dosed in X amount per Y gallons - one capful per 10 gallons, one packet per 5 gallons, one tablet per 20, whatever.

If I add fish without quarantining and end up with a bacterial infection in my 55 gallon tank, it costs me about $35 to do a full run of Maracyn or Maracyn-2 - 10 packets the first day and 5 for each of the next 5 days. If I put those new fish in a 10 gallon and they get infected, it takes 2 packets the first day and 1 for each of the next five days, and only costs $7.

No treatment has a 100% success rate. If the fish dies in the 10 gallon, I lose the new fish and I stop the medication, and keep it in a drawer if I need it later. If the fish dies in my 55, I lose the new fish, potentially take a hit to my water quality if it dies in the night or while I'm at work, and whatever killed it may spread to other fish, particularly if any of them pick at the body (I've had dead fish skeletonized in a few hours before I find them). I have to continue the expensive medication run to make sure, and run the risk of losing additional fish.

I've been stung bad putting perfectly healthy fish into my tanks, probably because the stress of bringing them home negates their former "perfectly healthy" status.

 

[drobbyb]

I just want to chime in to say that Tolak and Corleone are absolutely correct. It is vital to quarantine new fish. If you are wondering about how to filter your quarantine tank, just run a small sponge filter in your main tank. When you get your new fish simply pull it from the main tank and put it in your quarantine tank. Apply your meds as needed until your fish are well. (and this most importantly)** After you move your now healthy fish, drop the sponge filter in a bucket and add water and bleach to sterilize the filter. Do the same with the tank. **

 

[fishlover500]

Okay. I have quarantined before and am doing it now.

And I do it for malawi mbuna that go into 65 gallon I have a 170 gph hob that I pull off the 65 when I need it.
(The 65 has a 500gph filter too )

 

[pippoodle]

only had coldwater fish before and have never qurentined and always been lucky
purchased some platys and put them straight in the community tank with snails and shrimps
the platys (unbeknowned to me) had velvet and so to treat them i had to remove all the shrimps - unfortunately i couldn't find all the shrimplets so have lost quite a few and only ended up with 7 cherry shrimp , also had to remove snails
The velvet got really bad on my 3 year old male WCM and unfortunately i lost him yesterday he was a huge male the biggest minnow i have ever had with lovely deep red colouring . I think i may lose some platys or guppys before the velvet has all gone from the tank .
I feel so guilty for not having quarentined them first and have now set up a quarentine/hospital tank with filter running in shrimp/fry tank til needed .
I accept i was in the wrong for causing my fishes suffering and the death of my shrimplets and Burt but i wont be doing it again .

Burt - WCM

 

[minxfishy]

Unfortunately its usually the way, people do not believe in quarantining fish until they have a fish come in that brings something nasty and wipes out half or all their other fish.

You have to learn the hard way I guess

 

[tibby25731]

It's just a case of how highly you regard your fish i guess. I would not do anything to put my fish at risk and so i quarantine all new purchases. If some of my favourite old fish died just because I couldn't be bothered to quarantine, I would feel so guilty. I know not everyone has room/money for a quarantine but mine is just a £5 plastic tank with an £8 filter and a £5 heater - very basic. I steal a little filter sponge from one of my bigger tanks when I need it, and discard it when finished - the big tanks don't notice losing a small bit of foam which I replace.

 

[pippoodle]

It's just a case of how highly you regard your fish i guess. I would not do anything to put my fish at risk and so i quarantine all new purchases. If some of my favourite old fish died just because I couldn't be bothered to quarantine, I would feel so guilty. I know not everyone has room/money for a quarantine but mine is just a £5 plastic tank with an £8 filter and a £5 heater - very basic. I steal a little filter sponge from one of my bigger tanks when I need it, and discard it when finished - the big tanks don't notice losing a small bit of foam which I replace.

i've just never had any problems before only a bit of white spot but then again goldfish last quite a while (years lol) so you dont buy that many new ones

should have had a quarentine tank set up already but i just never thought - i do care for my fishes and thats why my goldfish went to live in a pond where they will have lots more room and hopefully be a even happier

 

[tibby25731]

Even if you don't buy many new fish, if you have a q tank and one of your fish is looking a bit odd, you can move them to the q tank and keep an eye on them without them putting your other fish at risk. Plus much cheaper to dose a small q tank than a large tank!

 

[kribensis12]

There is also the situation of the fish in your established tank existing quite well with something, and not being affected by it due to a stronger immune response. Stress lowers a fish's immune response, making them susceptible to diseases. It is quite likely there are bacteria, protizoans, a whole host of things that your established, healthy, stress free fish are exposed to, and their strong immune response is keeping at bay.

Take your new purchases, stressed from being caught, bagged, transported, put in a tank with strange inhabitants & perhaps different water parameters, and you have stressed fish. How long before this stressful event they were exposed to the same thing when purchased by the shop is often unknown. You expose them to pathogens your healthy fish keep at bay with a strong immune response, and bam, sick new fish.

So your response is to med the whole tank, healthy fish as well as ill. The healthy fish have a strong natural immune response, the best medication nature can provide. You med them, making this strong immune response unnecessary. The natural immunity lessens, and the existing fish now are susceptible to a pathogen they previously fought off quite well, without any chemical intervention.

Which came first? Did the new fish make the existing fish sick? Or did the existing fish make the new fish sick, your efforts at a cure weakened the immune response of the healthy fish, and they in effect made themselves sick? How would you find out?

You would find out by dissecting a series of each fish, before exposure. You would do smears and stain slides, examine with a microscope, and compare. This would also give you a more definitive answer as to what medication to use for the problem.

Doesn't a small tank, filter, & heater sound easier?

Tolak's post = WIN!