do u know what really bugs me?

mr.clownfish

mr.clownfish

Active Member
every time i start a new tank and new fish, there is always that one fish with parasites and diseases. everytime i get a fish it has ich or some other infectious parasite. im tired of paying for medication! my corals have had enough i have one hospital tank now i need a second because i have 2 pairs of mated clowns = 4 fish all together. its just a waste of time and money and its stress full. i finally got all my live rock looking the way i wanted after like 3 years and now i have to tear it up to catch the fish.
which is a small pair of percula clownfish (hard to catch) a damsel (even harder to catch) and worst of all the hardest to catch a formosa wrasse that digs into the sand and hides.
 
srgvigil

srgvigil

Member
Kinda late now but maybe in your next run (sounds like youve had multiple) you should quarantine your new additions b4 adding them to the tank. You already have a hospital tank set up so if you ever go one another run its not another expense
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
I use copper (SeaChem Cupramine) on almost all fish and a de-wormer in QT. I haven't seen a parasite in any of my tanks in years.
 
locoyo386

locoyo386

Member
Originally Posted by SrgVigil
http:///forum/post/2905468
Kinda late now but maybe in your next run (sounds like youve had multiple) you should quarantine your new additions b4 adding them to the tank. You already have a hospital tank set up so if you ever go one another run its not another expense

Does putting fish in a quarantine tank (for the appropriate time, whatever that may be) before they are place inside the DT, garantees 100% that the fish will not get sick after they are placed inside the DT (after a short or long period of time)?
If not what is one to do than?
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by locoyo386
http:///forum/post/2906157
Does putting fish in a quarantine tank (for the appropriate time, whatever that may be) before they are place inside the DT, garantees 100% that the fish will not get sick after they are placed inside the DT (after a short or long period of time)?
If not what is one to do than?
I'm sure not intending to answer for SrgVigil ; but this post doesn't make sense to me.(SrgVigil post does.) Its like saying: "If I get a Flu shot; does that guarantee 100%, that sometime in the future I won't get gonorrhea?" No. of course not; but its probably a 99% guarantee that I won't get the flu strain I was immunized for.
 
gmann1139

gmann1139

Active Member
Originally Posted by locoyo386
http:///forum/post/2906157
Does putting fish in a quarantine tank (for the appropriate time, whatever that may be) before they are place inside the DT, garantees 100% that the fish will not get sick after they are placed inside the DT (after a short or long period of time)?
If not what is one to do than?
It prevents the situation Mr. Clownfish is in right now at least 99% of the time.
After you've had a tank wiped out by a new fish with a disease (for me it was ich), you realize that the cost of a QT is nothing compared to the cost of your livestock in your tank.
The reason is that most parasites have a fairly short (4 weeks or less) lifecycle, so the disease will appear the quarantine, allowing it to be treated on that one fish in a small, controlled setting that is minimally stressful for both you and the fish.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
With your particular bad luck with fish may I suggest as long as you are going to quarantine that you wait at least five weeks. My reasoning is the ick parasite has four stages to its life cycle. Free swimming after falling off fish 1 day, Encystment reproductive stage 3 to 28 days, free swimming looking for a host 1 to 2 days, parasitic stage (on the fish) 3 to 7 days. Patients in this hobby is essential alto one of the hardest things to have
 
hobrien

hobrien

Member
srfisher17:
How long do you keep them in the qt? Because if its 4 weeks then that is what is appropriate before you add another fish to a tank after the one previously added; correct so that makes perfect sense to do it that way even if it is 5 weeks.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by HOBrien
http:///forum/post/2907076
srfisher17:
How long do you keep them in the qt? Because if its 4 weeks then that is what is appropriate before you add another fish to a tank after the one previously added; correct so that makes perfect sense to do it that way even if it is 5 weeks.
I keep fish in QT for 5-6 weeks; seems like an eternity. !st week is acclimation & de-worming. Then 4 weeks of copper. IMO, there are plenty of diseases that are contracted by the stress of capture & shipping, etc. (other than parasites) that a fish can carry into the DT. If I need to treat a fish for something visible, or even if its going to die; I'd prefer that to happen in QT. I buy all my fish online and will never do it any other way, so if a fish is going to croak anyway, and that happens; it usually happens in DT (preferable within the guarantee period
). IMO & IME; if a fish gets through QT, I'm usually going to have it a long time. But fish still die occasionally without my ever knowing why. But; I do know it isn't from something that could have easily been prevented in QT.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by HOBrien
http:///forum/post/2908006
Thanks for that indepth answer. what do you use for de-worming?
I use Praziquantel ; PraziPro is one of the brands of this stuff. IMO, it does a great job on tapeworms and other internal parasites. Also, you can actually see flukes falling from the fish being treated sometimes. Great stuff; with no downside, IMO. The directions need to be followed to the letter (Duh!).
 
locoyo386

locoyo386

Member
Hi there,
Originally Posted by gmann1139
http:///forum/post/2907019
It prevents the situation Mr. Clownfish is in right now at least 99% of the time.
After you've had a tank wiped out by a new fish with a disease (for me it was ich), you realize that the cost of a QT is nothing compared to the cost of your livestock in your tank.
The reason is that most parasites have a fairly short (4 weeks or less) lifecycle, so the disease will appear the quarantine, allowing it to be treated on that one fish in a small, controlled setting that is minimally stressful for both you and the fish.
Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the need for a QT. In the case of Ich, it does keep it from reaching the DT (with proper quarantine time, what ever that might be). I just wanted to point out that by placing a fish in a QT does not completely radicates all possible illnesses of a fish. I do not know the vast parasites that could possibly acompan a fish nor the viruses or bacteria for that matter. It is true, get a flu shot and most likely you will not get it. All I meant was that just cause you QT'n a fish, it does not make your DT 100% (in the case of ich I do believe it does) safe..
 
gmann1139

gmann1139

Active Member
Originally Posted by locoyo386
http:///forum/post/2909989
Hi there,
Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the need for a QT. In the case of Ich, it does keep it from reaching the DT (with proper quarantine time, what ever that might be). I just wanted to point out that by placing a fish in a QT does not completely radicates all possible illnesses of a fish. I do not know the vast parasites that could possibly acompan a fish nor the viruses or bacteria for that matter. It is true, get a flu shot and most likely you will not get it. All I meant was that just cause you QT'n a fish, it does not make your DT 100% (in the case of ich I do believe it does) safe..
I'm not sure what you're trying to prove here. Nothing is absolute in this hobby. Fish can die at any time. They are creatures, they do age, they do die. However, quarantining any new arrivals for 4-6 weeks does make your DT, and the thousands you've spent on it, a helluva lot more safe.
 
locoyo386

locoyo386

Member
Hi there,
Originally Posted by gmann1139
http:///forum/post/2910037
I'm not sure what you're trying to prove here. Nothing is absolute in this hobby. Fish can die at any time. They are creatures, they do age, they do die. However, quarantining any new arrivals for 4-6 weeks does make your DT, and the thousands you've spent on it, a helluva lot more safe.
Like I stated. I do not know all the bacteria, viruses or parasites (or anythin else for that matter) that may cause illness on marine fish. Thus it is hard for me to say that a QT is the solution to all the possible illneses that may come from putting a fish into the DT. Yes, I do agree with you in that the QT is a must n this hobby. For me to think that by having a QT, I will have an absolute healthy DT, is bogus. Yes, by having a QT I will be able to see if the new fish will develop anything visible during the time I do quarantine it for. If I knew that 4-6 weeks is enough time for all things that can make the fish sick or ill, than I could say with certainty that the new fish is healthy. When it comes to ich, their is a relatively know time that would eliminate it completly (with treatment, if ich is present).
I Would like you to quatify "helluva lot more safe". If you do, are you able to prove the percentage that you may come up with? My guess is NO. I don't think that anyone could, thus yes I do agree with you "Nothing is absolute in this hobby". We try to do the best we can with the methods that we have available to us. When I quaratine fish, I do not assume that I will have a perfectly healthy DT. I do know that I am improving my odds of having one though. How good are those odds? I do not know, but the odds are better than if I were to add fish without quaratining them.
 
hlcroghan

hlcroghan

Active Member
Locoyo,
I think the best thing to say is that if you do quarantine you are probably 99% more likely to get rid of any commom infectious diseases that marine fish tend to carry. Also you get a chance to see if they are coming down with any unusual ones before it is introduced to your DT and all the live rock and is impossibled to catch. Also you can treat in a smaller area and keep a better eye on the fish where it can't hide completely from your sight. another benefit is you can get it to start eating normally and introduce a wide range of food into it's diet, therfore insuring that it will have the best possible success rate in with your other animals.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
A QT without treatment guarantees you nothing. You just hope whatever cooties they are carrying will be noted in that close obervation period. This period in their life is also very stressfull... a perfect time for some infestations to show their ugly face.
A QT without treatment does not guard against introducing ich into your tank no matter how lengthy the QT period.
 
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