Quarantine?

[sowhatifiamlazy]

I bought one fish yesterday (rasbora) and put her into the quarantine tank.
She's very nervous and afraid everytime I approach the aquarium - her harlequin part fades. That's very common for this fish when they are afraid of something.

She's young and looks healthy and eats normally. She's pale though, but that is definitely because she's frightened.

So I was wondering, do I really need to keep her in the quarantine tank in the first place? I mean, she's frightened because she's alone and in a new "cold" environment (just glass and a filter). So I don't think the Q tank is doing much job here - it could even produce the illness because of the stress.

What do you think or any advice?
10x.

[LMOUTHBASS]

a couple more to make her feel more comfortable , also how about giving the tank a plant or cave or something to keep her calm, the open space all by herself is probaly what is making her so upset

[thom336]

This is the one problem I have with quarentine. The fish come into the counry after a long flight (or at least that is true in UK) are then subject to temporary quarentining, before being transported to shops where, hopefully, they are quarenteened again, and are then moved into shop tanks, where they are sold. Then they are, supposedbly, quarenteened again before going into their final home. this is very stressful for the fish, and so when I get fish I make sure they are quarenteened before going on sale, and if so I dont bother with it at home. Find a good retailor who u know do this and you wont have to worry. Many would say this is bad practice, but I want to do whats best IMO for my fish.

Sounds to me like your quarentining is doing your fish more bad than good, so I would forget it.

[sowhatifiamlazy]

Well, I was thinking about that too.
I never had any problems with any fish bought at my LFS - I examined their tanks with Rasboras and all were in good condition. All their tanks are crystal clear and I never saw a medicine in the water.
I put this fish in the quarantine just because my main tank is fully estabilished and I wouldn't want to ruin that with possible fish disease.
But again, the rasbora is a schooling fish and Q tank just doesn't help much here.

[mogurnda]

I am torn, but an experience I had last year makes a good argument for qt. I had a nice little school of praecox rainbows in my planted tank, 4 adults plus a few that had been born in the tank. Decided to add a few to make a nicer school. The newbies went first, death by bloat and heavy breathing, followed by everyone else, one by one over the course of a few months. Perhaps I didn't treat aggressively enough, but I was worried about risking the other fish, the shrimp, and the plants. The non-rainbows survived, but I lost some beautiful fish, some of which I had raised from eggs.
Had the newcomers been in a qt tank, they may have died there, limiting the spread, or I would have felt a lot better about medicating the crap out of them.
I still don't have a qt tank, though.

[thom336]

Yea, I mean qt tanks are great (like that abbreviation - esspecially since I cant spell the word!), but they can have the opposite effect. It is difficult when buying one or two fish to add to a shoal, as it would mean either putting them straight in main tank or having them moping about unhappy and depressed (leading to decreased immune system etc...) in a qt tank. But the if there is a prob with fish and you do skip qt then you're gonna be kickin yourself. But if you ask me if the LFS has done its job and qt the fish already then you really shouldnt have probs. Find a good one and stick with them.

[thom336]

Of course, you will get flukes...but then thats a risk you take.

[RTR]

I would no more put a fish directly into my tanks than I would run it down the disposal alive. If I could not QT the fish, I will not buy it, period. I would not risk my eatablished fish or tanks no matter how "healthy" the new purchase seemed to be. I also have not have an infectious disease in my tanks since some years before we moved to this house. We have been here almost 18 years. I've run between 24 and 40 tanks at all times through that period. Direct introduction of new fish is IMHO just about one of the dumbest thing an aquarist can do. If that is offensive I am sorry, but that is my opinion.

If your QT tank is stressful, fix that. That is easy and does not risk your existing tanks or fish. A plastic or live plant or two, a rock or terra cotta pot or two is not a big deal. Don't kid yourself that you are doing the wrong thing for the new fish.

[brianfl]

I'm with RTR on this one. Spruce up your tank some. You should have something lying around. Fake plants will probably do the trick if nothing else. If it seems like home, it will be fine and make it home at least temporarily. I have quaranteed single fish many times that generally shoal and they do just fine. That is if they feel secure.

[anonapersona]

I've read that a Qtank should have the back and sides and bottom covered in black, as well as hiding places and fake plants.

[thom336]

Its not to do with the decoration, it is to do with the fish feeling insecure as it does not have the protection of the shoal around it. It is a problem when buying a fish to add to a shoal - and in this instance my view stands that it is just going to be too stressed in qt, which will weaken the immune.

I also think that qt is a stressful experiance for fish, I know it has many advantages, but there are nearly equal disadvantages. I prefer to get my fish settled down ASAP rather than dither aroud moving them here there and everywhere. I know many people have had disasterous conciquences of skipping qt, but its a risk you take. if fish were qt in the shop (like most good shops should) then there is no point in repeating the process again I feel.

[sowhatifiamlazy]

Well, thanks people but I did what I have to do.
As thom336 said, it's not a decoration - it's because she's a shoaling fish and was frustrated because she was alone.
She was so nervous that she had some fast and irritable moves. I just couldn't watch that and put her into the main tank.
And guess what - in less than a minute she restored her colour back and was happily swimming with the rest of the gang.

[anonapersona]

A goldfish board I read recommends a salt dip for new fish, to remove parasites. Is this done with tropicals?

I've never done it, but as I might be adding new fish to existing tanks soon, I'm trying to decide what the best procedure would be.

[Tempest]

My quarantine tank has been transformed in to a heavily planted low light tank with some fish to keep it cycled. I haven't bought any new fish in quite a long while but if and when I need the tank as either a quarantine tank or even a hospital tank, it is easy to move those few fish to one of my larger tanks. Most of the plants in it are on driftwood which I can also move out if I need to medicate. I think the anubias is all I would move even then.

[cpr4cpu]

This thread is quite well timed. I broke my QT tank while cleaning it and thought "What the heck, I can skip using it this one time" and threw a couple Xiphophorus Variatus into my 125 gallon community tank. I now have the death toll at 65 fish, and thanks to the medications, most of my plants will probably die too.

I am plenty upset with myself and my lapse of better judgement. The parasites survived a salt bath, and two days of comprehensive treatment with Maroxy, Maracyn-Two and Malachite Green but unfortunately my fish did not.

My lesson is not as expensive as it could have been, it was a simple livebearer community and nothing exotic so I consider myself lucky. I broke my Cardinal Rule #1. You can bet the farm that I won't do that again. My new QT tank is set up jst like a mini version of my main tank with plants, a cave, wood (all epoxy coated so I can bleach and boil should I need to).

[tricksterpup]

Originally posted by RTR
I've run between 24 and 40 tanks at all times through that period.
RTR, Your a God among men.. ;)


Originally posted by RTR
Direct introduction of new fish is IMHO just about one of the dumbest thing an aquarist can do. If that is offensive I am sorry, but that is my opinion.

If your QT tank is stressful, fix that. That is easy and does not risk your existing tanks or fish. A plastic or live plant or two, a rock or terra cotta pot or two is not a big deal. Don't kid yourself that you are doing the wrong thing for the new fish.

This is so true.. I am 100% agreement with RTR on this.
About 99.9% LFS do not run QTanks at their locations, it is not cost effective. They will normally get the fish, un pack them and then place them in the tanks. If you don't believe me, go to your store and look around on shipment day. Most places do not keep that kinda room for QTanks, they would use those tanks and room for more fish to sell or display. I always have Qtanks on hand, either with live plants or plastic. But i always give the fish plenty of room to hide and feel comfortable. I would rather have one fish stressed than give an entire tank a parasite or illness. I have learned my lesson after loosing an entire reef tank of fish. This is something that many Oldtimers learn and many forget to do. But there are no short cuts in this hobby . I am not trying to sound elitist here but if you want to succeed in this hobby, you gotta follow the rules. We spout these rules for a reason to help you out. To help you reach your goal to having a healthy vibrant tank. There is nothing better than having a tank with fat colorful fish. :)
jim
CPR - there is no such thing as a simple livebearer. ;) Sorry to hear of you loss. Must've been an incredible tank before it happened.

[wetmanNY]

Of course I'm now surrounded here with 10-gallon tanks that were formerly Qtanks.

My quarantines double as plant nurseries for the kinds of plants that grow on wood or rocks or coconut shell. The plants move into a bowl by the window if plant-trashing medications are required.

A salt bath on the way into quarantine is always an excellent idea. Why would anyone omit this step? You predissolve the salt and add it to the mix of travelling water and tank water that you're going to net the new fish out of. The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago passes new freshwater arrivals through full-strength seawater in a temporary salt bath. Salting the water keeps you from being tempted to dump any travelling water into the tank.

And since praziquantel is so low in toxicity, and since flukes have dogged my steps off and on for years, prazi is now part of the "cleaning" regime newcomers have to pass through.

[tricksterpup]

Originally posted by wetmanNY
A salt bath on the way into quarantine is always an excellent idea. Why would anyone omit this step? You predissolve the salt and add it to the mix of travelling water and tank water that you're going to net the new fish out of. The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago passes new freshwater arrivals through full-strength seawater in a temporary salt bath. Salting the water keeps you from being tempted to dump any travelling water into the tank.
I have forgotten about this, I havent done this in some time. It is a very good practice, I am more used to doing this the other way around and doing freshwater baths for saltwater. But it is a very good practice.
jim