Is this really a problem?

[OliveFish05]

Is 5 gallons enough to quarantine 5-7 small honey gourami? I could pull plants, sand, driftwood, and filter media from an established tank. I am seeing a lot of cheap 5 gallons on my local facebook marketplace

 

[Naughts]

Yes. Do you have a heater and filter for it?

 

[OliveFish05]

Yes. Do you have a heater and filter for it?

I am looking at what is available on my local facebook marketplace, so it would depend on what I was able to get. I would make sure I have a heater and filter before getting the fish.

 

[Colin_T]

If I were to get more honey gourami in two weeks could I quarantine for two weeks before introducing them, if I knew the LFS had them for 2 weeks?

You can but I prefer to quarantine fish for a month just to make sure they aren't carrying anything. Two weeks in quarantine is minimum as far as I am concerned, 4 is better.

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Is 5 gallons enough to quarantine 5-7 small honey gourami?

Probably yes, but if you get a 10 or 20 gallon tank, it will be better if you ever get bigger fish. A 2 foot long tank is a good size for quarantine purposes because it is big enough for most smallish fish (under 4 inches) for a short period of time.

You can use a plastic storage container for a quarantine tank in an emergency.

 

[OliveFish05]

You can but I prefer to quarantine fish for a month just to make sure they aren't carrying anything. Two weeks in quarantine is minimum as far as I am concerned, 4 is better.

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Probably yes, but if you get a 10 or 20 gallon tank, it will be better if you ever get bigger fish. A 2 foot long tank is a good size for quarantine purposes because it is big enough for most smallish fish (under 4 inches) for a short period of time.

You can use a plastic storage container for a quarantine tank in an emergency.

Ok. I am a bit limited on when I am able to go to my LFS and know I will be there in the next couple of days. If I could get a cheap 5 gallon from facebook marketplace I could use it for my betta who is in a 2 gallon bowl when I am done with it with the gouramis. I could get more honey gouramis this week and ask for some of the LFS's water to do a more gradual acclimation to my waters ph. I don't have the space for a 2 foot quarantine tank unfortunately, and shouldn't need one that large as for now I have all the tanks I am able to. Now if we move to a new house, things will change. If that day ever comes I can buy a larger quarantine tank.

 

[FishHobby99]

So on Saturday I bought 5 honey gourami, brought them home, acclimated them to the tank (which had just had a water change), and released them. One looked bad on Sunday morning, and I could not find it Sunday night. Monday morning I found it dead, and Monday night a second one died. My LFS has a 3 day health guarantee, so today I brought it in with a water sample, as required. Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates 10, Ph 7.5 (as always), and Phosphate 1. They said my PH was way too high and the nitrates were bad and that I had to bring in a water sample next time I wanted to buy fish. They also said to go home and do a water change, which I planned to do anyway (I couldn’t do a water change before I took the water sample if I wanted it to be accurate). In reality though is there anything wrong with my PH? This tank consistently has less than 5 ppm nitrates, I’m guessing that the dead fish caused a spike in ammonia, which was handled by the fact that the tank was cycled and just left more nitrates than the plants could handle in a short period of time. Right?

What does the phosphate mean? Is 1 too high? What can I do about it?

All sounds well to me. I’ve heard of shops selling bad stock. For months here Petsmart & another new Big Box store stopped selling fish for months because many were dying off.

A friend had a few fish die with good params & didn’t bother with the guarantee. He said they will always find something wrong with your water sample & try to sell you chemicals .

 

[OliveFish05]

All sounds well to me. I’ve heard of shops selling bad stock. For months here Petsmart & another new Big Box store stopped selling fish for months because many were dying off.

Goodness! That is crazy, but barely surprising.

A friend had a few fish die with good params & didn’t bother with the guarantee. He said they will always find something wrong with your water sample & try to sell you chemicals .

Probably very true. My last honey gourami is doing well, swimming around pecking at plants. If he is doing well by the time I make it to the LFS to get a refund, I will get 4 or 6 more and quarantine them altogether in a 5 gallon, so he isn't super lonely. After the others are acclimated to my PH of course.

 

[OliveFish05]

Ugh. So I can't get a 5 gallon. My mom says "no more tanks". I have a 10 gallon with 3 small baby koi I was going to grow out for the winter. She is saying "Put the koi babies in the pond. Quarantine your fish in the tank". Would the baby koi, who are probably 2 inches, do ok in the pond over the winter as opposed to a tiny ten gallon? I figured it would get too cold for them to do well, but would it be worth the risk for them to have the space? Should I just wait until spring to get my gourami?

 

[Colin_T]

If I could get a cheap 5 gallon from facebook marketplace I could use it for my betta who is in a 2 gallon bowl when I am done with it with the gouramis.

Yes that would be fine but wash the tank out completely before setting it up for the Betta.

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My mom says "no more tanks". I have a 10 gallon with 3 small baby koi I was going to grow out for the winter. She is saying "Put the koi babies in the pond. Quarantine your fish in the tank".

She could be right. Sorry, mums are right sometimes

If there are no big fish in the pond and the pond doesn't freeze over completely, they should ne fine in it during winter. If you have big fish in the pond, then keep the koi indoors until they are a bit bigger and the water warms up in spring.

 

[OliveFish05]

If there are no big fish in the pond and the pond doesn't freeze over completely, they should ne fine in it during winter. If you have big fish in the pond, then keep the koi indoors until they are a bit bigger and the water warms up in spring.

There are the larger adult koi. I say "large", but they aren't large for koi. Maybe 7 inches, with some only 4 inches? Still growing though. The babies are definitely larger than when I brought them inside, maybe two inches. They are starting to make the 10 gallon look small... My mom says "put them in the pond, if they die they die it is just what happens. We gave them plants and hides, thats all we can do".