I learned a valuable lesson in quarantining fish

[Lauren]

As some of you know, Friday night I picked up a small angel, come Sunday he was too sick to be able to make it. He passed Sunday night. I was convinced that it was something to do with the pet store, or the breeder, and not my doing.

Well, I went back to the pet store today, to pick up some RO water, and a couple more otos. The tank I got my angel from had the light turned off, quarantined for illness. I got the otos for free, since the angel died, but honestly I think I'm VERY lucky. All of my other fish are showing no signs of illness. (should I still treat them?)

Then I came home and stuck the otos right in, because for some reason, I didn't get the lesson beat into me quite yet. But from now on, I'm all about quarantining my fish for a week before putting them in with my others. Wanting to see your pretty new fish swim around in your nice, well-kept tank is not worth it if your fish brings home disease with him/her.

A 5 gallon tank, a cheap heater, and a sponge filter is all it takes to keep your fish healthy. For a lot of us-- the cost of that is probably less than if we were to loose some/all of our fish.

 

[Harlock]

Quarantining is the way to go. Sorry you had to lose a fish. As for if you should treat the tank or not, what was the pet shop treatin for? Just watch the fish and be careful and see if you find any signs of illness.

Also, I wanted to just point out, if I could, that a week of quarantine is simply not enough. You want a whole month to observe the fish. For instance, Ich can be present long before you even see a visible sign on the fish. Also, if during that month the fish needs to be treated, you start the month over after he is treated. So, if three weeks into a quarantine you find Ich spots on the fishes exterior, you do the week or two of treatment, then the month starts over from there. Yes, it can be a pain, but as you already have decided that losing all of your fish would suck, I suggest an actual quarantine.

 

[Lauren]

alright, I'll keep that in mind. Now, I have an extra 10 gallon. I was thinking about epoxying in a solid divider and turning it into 2 5 gallon hospital tanks. Good idea, or should I just buy a 5?

 

[Harlock]

Er, why not just use the ten as a hospital tank? That's what I use for a Q-tank myself, actually. Most meds have directions per ten gallons dosing, which isn;t all that hard to divide, but if something said 2.5 mL/10 gallons then you have the fun of trying to find something o measure out 1.25 mL accurately. Also, I find the ten more acceptable for most species of fish. It can house a juvenille angel for a month, it can house and active fish like a molly or two for a month. The five is simply too limiting in my mind, and since you already have a ten, I figure why not?

 

[Raskolnikov]

The size of your quarantine tank is dictated by the types of fish that you keep and the types that you intend to keep. My quarantine tank is 30 gallons, b/c I tend either towards larger fish or larger groups of small fish. Right now I have 3 spotted pictus in quarantine before heading over to a main tank, which simply would not work in something as small as a 5 gallon or even a 10, imo. Consider that the fish will need to occupy this space comfortably for 1-2 months.

 

[JSchmidt]

I agree, longer (minimum 4-6 weeks) quarantine periods are really needed. Less than that, and you might as well not bother: you'll only identify fish that are in really bad health.

HTH,
Jim