NOVICE150-quarantine question.

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daniel411

Guest
NOVICE150,
Are you able to quarantine any of the sharks you place in your tank? I know its probally just not possible. I'm wondering if I should get a large rubber maid tub or something, to qt some small sharks before I get them.
-Thanks
 

novice150

Member
Daniel411:
My apologies for the late reply. Long boating weekend! :D
I do not/have not quarantined any of my sharks. While it would be best if I did/could, there are several reasons I have not. The horn was the first shark in the tank, and was alone for over a month. I felt I had adequate time to monitor him. I was not worried about the bamboo, since I hatched it from an egg. I had already kept the leopard in another tank for six months, and knew he was ok. The black tip, well I simply didn't have the means to quarantine him. He needs a huge amount of swimming space, and after the stress of shipping, all I cared about was getting him in the tank.
Last but not least is the fact that sharks are so disease resistant. I visually check them for any parasites/obvious infections. If they look ok, I feel confident adding them to my display.
 

cincyreefer

Active Member
Novice- When your blacktip arrived, did you have to recessitate it, or was it in pretty decent condition? We have had to recessitate every one of the larger sharks that can drown, so I am just curious if you had to.
 
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daniel411

Guest
No worries, hope you had a great boating weekend!
I was a bit concerned if I'd need to pick up a larger qt tank to handle some leopards. I'll try just adding them first and than waiting.
If you added the sharks first, what did you do to prepare the filtration for such a sudden increase in waste? I know you have over 3x the water volume I will, so it might not have been as drastic.
 

novice150

Member
cincyreefer: The black tip arrived in fair shape at best. When I opened the box, I thought he was dead. No movement and on his side. After adding amquel, I opened the bag finding him alive. I placed a powerhead in front his mouth, and began acclimating him. The ph was VERY low, and I spent about 2.5 hours slowly raising it. The shark slowly came around, and began swimming around the box. When all was set, in he went. Within 15 minutes, his breathing was normal, and he ate the next day.
Daniel411: I did everything I could to establish adequate bio filtration before ever adding a shark. Once the tank was stable, I added the sharks one at a time, over the course of several months. This allowed the bio filters to catch up before the next shark was added.
 

cincyreefer

Active Member
The exact same thing every time we get one. I had been told that they are always like that when shipped but didnt know anyone else who had one to ask.
 

novice150

Member
As soon as you open the bag, and the water is exposed to air, the ammonia spikes, and the chemistry of the water changes. Amquel locks/neutralizes the ammonia.
 

novice150

Member
If by cleaners you mean inverts... Actually I have around 100 tiny hermits. They do relatively nothing in the means of clean up though. They're just fun to watch.:) I cant add much else (maybe some snails) or the sharks will eat them. The waste is taken care of naturally ... it's broken down by the bacteria/bio filters.
 
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