Para Guard ? QT question

[breckco.ky]

I'm getting ready to restock my 125rr tank. Lost my only 3 fish to ich because I've never been a believer in qt'ing fish...plz dont give me a lecture because I've finally learned my lesson. Now with that being said I'm letting my 29 gallong qt cycle which Im assuming will take a week or so since I placed 2 baseball sized lr's out of my sump (the live rock was in the sump which probably has ich on it) into it and have been feeding it small amounts of pellet food. I set it up like Beth said in her post very simple tank but my question is this ...I want to assume EVERY fish I buy from my LFS has a parasite so I bought Seachem's Para Guard to put into the qt for every fish. I just want any feed back on this product and the does and donts or for a better way of doing the qt process with medications like this or copper. I'll be leaving my display fallow for 6 weeks and qt'ing my fish for 2 weeks but I've always thought that qting fish actually stressed them way to much so can you leave them in qt for less time if you treat them with these types of products?. Thanks in advance!

 

[florida joe]

Just two questions. Why do you think your qt will be able to cycle ammonia in two weeks. If you think your qt has ick introduced by your LR why not leave it fallow for 6 weeks

 

[breckco.ky]

I was guessing it would cycle that fast with the LR i put in there to answer your first question. Secondly I didnt think it would matter if the QT got infected from my LR out of the sump since I would be medicating with the purchased of the new fish. Just wonder how fast you can get the fish in and out of the qt with medications.

 

[beth]

Let the QT cycle for at least a month. Don't add meds unless you need it. While the fish is in the QT, you will observe it every day to check for signs of disease.
Hyposalinity and copper is the best treatment for ich. Preferably hypo, since it is safer for the fish.

 

[breckco.ky]

Gotcha on the cycling on the QT...but how long would you leave the fish in QT before introducing them to the DT? I would rather treat every fish for parasites when I buy them than to just watch for it in the QT. So is there anything wrong with using the copper/hypo without signs of disease also I thought it would speed the QT process up faster if you medicated them from day 1.

 

[peter1215]

I qt new fish for 4 weeks before going into the dt. If you notice any parasites during the qt period then the clock starts again. I also treat with prazi pro for a week just in case they have flukes.

 

[beth]

4 weeks is a good amt of time. When you get pretty familiar with signs and symptoms of disease, you can bump that to 3 weeks.

 

[florida joe]

If you are unlucky and cannot see inside a fishes gills IMO 3 weeks is to short of a time in QT to introduce your fish to your DT

 

[breckco.ky]

so you 2 dont prefer 2 treat with meds from day 1?

 

[al mc]

Originally Posted by BreckCo.KY
http:///forum/post/3046517
so you 2 dont prefer 2 treat with meds from day 1?
Correct. Most people prefer to not use chemicals prophylactically in QT. Just observe and treat as a problem is identified. Personally, I like to use the non chemical treatment of hyposalinity on all new fish arrivals. If you do this with live rock in the QT you will have microorganism (not 'good' bacteria) die off and the potential for an ammonia spike.

 

[breckco.ky]

So you do use hypo on all new purchases...just not chemicals

 

[al mc]

Originally Posted by BreckCo.KY
http:///forum/post/3047668
So you do use hypo on all new purchases...just not chemicals
Yes. Personal choice. Other people on this site do it also but I do admit that the majority of people that use a QT just use it to observe, then treat, if they see a problem

 

[richl]

I'm fairly new to the hobby, but I've had enough trouble with Ick that I now hypo all new fish in the QT. 3 days to get down to 1.009, 21 days at 1.009, 7 days to get SG back up to 1.024 and then 7 more days for a total of 5 1/2 weeks. If there's no sign of disease, that's a good time in QT and you won't be bringing Ick into your DT. There's also no messing with medication dosage and the QT keeps it's cycle. Hope this helps.

 

[datsun79]

My powder blue tang (pocoyo) is on hypo right now. My salinity is 1.009 but my ammonia is at 2.0 is this normal?
Please advice.....