Ideal Quarantine length?

[FinObsessed]

Hey all,

So after finally getting the first 125 back on its feet I have been looking at my quarantine procedure and realized that things such as freshwater ich are a lot shorter lived in freshwater than the saltwater varieties I have been used to dealing with. Using a copper sulfate mix in the water what do you all recommend as an ideal time for freshwater fish? I know a lot forgo quarantine but were looking at this to house some more sensitive and also costly specimens so figure the added layer of quarantine would benefit things...plus after Velvet got into my reef a year ago both wife and I are paranoid about preventing any risk of outbreak. My current FW method was the following:

- Bare Bones 20L
- Water temp at 84 (Targeting Ich via temp method)
- Copper in water at .625 ppm for externals
- Sponge bio filter (rated 120g) for filtration fed via airline
- Once current fish is moved out, 2 weeks fallow (fishless) time before new fish are added/bought
- Aquarium salt at 2.5 Tbps per gallon
- Stress guard added in the event of observed stress
- Looking at 7 Day cycle since FW ich lifecycle is 6 days. May extend if other diseases could survive the above?

So far its been working well it seems as the test oscar I got has been fat, eating and happy in it, but I want to make sure I am not missing anything potentially that could survive past the quarantine period.

 

[sharkweek178]

4-6 weeks is long enough for any potential pathogens to run their course.

 

[Byron]

I agree on the 4-6 week normal period, but would mention it can vary (longer) depending upon the fish and their habits. For example, when I acquired Chilodus punctatus, I kept the group in the QT for close to 3 months. This was not for health issues, but to ensure they were feeding. This fish can initially be frightened by fish around it, and as it feeds from the substrate, and sometimes does not initially recognize pellets, disks, etc as "food" being wild caught, it is best to keep it on its own so you can ensure it is actually recognizing the food as food. Once introduced to the main tank, it knows where the food will appear, and what it is.

To the points in your (@FinObsessed) initial post, I would not advise using any medications/treatments with new fish unless you are certain there is a cause. Many will recommend a anti-wormer for Corydoras, but beyond this most of us do not recommend adding medications/treatments for no reason. These do stress fish, some much more than others, which only makes it more likely they will come down with something. As for salt, there is absolutely no benefit unless you are treating a specific issue for which salt is the most effective. It will not stop ich or velvet for example.

I also introduce new fish to a fully set-up established QT. I had a 20g permanently running with sand substrate, a couple chunks of wood (you can use artificial decor so it is easy to clean, doesn't matter) and plants, especially floating. This means the fish are going into an established tank immediately, and they will without doubt settle in faster with much less chance of trouble. It is less stressful than a bare tank which biologically is not at all calming.

Ich is the least of your worries these days. I had fish bring it now and then, but they dealt with it on their own, in the planted QT. Raising the heat to 30C/86F for two weeks is the only treatment for ich anyway, much safer than any drugs. Characins for example have a real problem with any and all medicines, and it is never safe to use these indiscriminately.

As for Stress Guard, I certainly would not use this or anything like it. I've never seen a need in 30 years.

 

[Colin_T]

Oscar cichlids get big and eat smaller fish. If you plan on keeping the Oscar, make sure its tank mates are big enough to live there and not become a snack.

The minimum period for quarantining fish is 2 weeks but 4 weeks (or longer) is better. And the quarantine period starts again if the fish get sick.
eg: fish in quarantine get sick and are treated and cured by 10 days. The 4 week quarantine period starts again at 10 days after they have been cured.

As Byron mentioned, if you want to treat white spot with heat, raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the white dots have gone. A temperature of 84F will only speed up the parasite's lifecycle and will not kill them.

Only use medications when they are needed. Anything that is added to the quarantine tank can be harmful to the fish. The only exception to this is deworming fish in quarantine. I recommend deworming all fish in quarantine so the main display tank stays free of them. Intestinal worms have become extremely common in freshwater fishes.

Section 3 of the following link has information on deworming fish.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

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SALT
Using Salt to Treat Fish Health Issues.
For some fish diseases you can use salt (sodium chloride) to treat the ailment rather than using a chemical based medication. Salt is relatively safe and is regularly used in the aquaculture industry to treat food fish for diseases. Salt has been successfully used to treat minor fungal and bacterial infections, as well as a number of external protozoan infections. Salt alone will not treat whitespot (Ichthyophthirius) or Velvet (Oodinium) but will treat most other types of external protozoan infections in freshwater fishes. Salt can treat early stages of hole in the head disease caused by Hexamita but it needs to be done in conjunction with cleaning up the tank. Salt can also be used to treat anchor worm (Lernaea), fish lice (Argulus), gill flukes (Dactylogyrus), skin flukes (Gyrodactylus), Epistylis, Microsporidian and Spironucleus infections.

You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 24 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 24 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.