quarantine a fish????

[sduerk]

How do you go about quarantining fish before adding them into your tank? I would imagine that I need a completely separate tank to do this. Does this mean that I need all new equipment just for a small tank that I won't use all that often? I want to add a blue hippo and have read this several times in regard to this fish.

 

[puff(er) daddy]

If you set up a hospital tank you don't buy top of the line equipment just the essentials(sp). It shouldn't cost as much and it would be well worth it considering the other alternitive, Putting a sick or diseased fish in your display tank and he distroys everything. If you develop a close relationship with your lfs you get to know how they operate. Some lfs qurentine all of there livestock and you wouldn't have to. You should always have a emergency tank though.

 

[julie]

I highly recommend a quarentine tank. I started my fish set-up without one, several years ago and lost lots of fish do to ick being brought into my main tank. The quarentine helps prevent this. Leave them in quarentin for 2 weeks and if something appears, you can use cooper or whatever necessary, that you couldn't use with inverts. It'll save you lots of money. I also keep a damsel in the quarentine tank all the time to keep it cycled.