Proactive quarantine

[hazyvonne]

Hi everyone, newbie here. Mods, I hope this is the correct sub-forum to post this in.

My 55g main tank and my 10g quarantine tank are both finally cycled. I'm giving the new plants in the main tank some time to establish themselves, but I'm pretty much ready for the exciting part: getting fish! I've been doing a lot of reading and researching and I know I will definitely quarantine my fish (yes, even the first ones) but I keep running into two schools of thought. First the one that quarantines the fish and if there's a problem medicates them (basically saying why stress them if it isn't necessary?). And the second school of thought that says you can just assume that fish from the fish store have some kind of problem so it's better to proactively quarantine them, aka dose them with meds from the get-go.

You guys have been super helpful with my cycling questions so I'd like to hear your opinions on the matter.

 

[DoubleDutch]

I'd only dose meds if their is an issue (exception is a (de)wormer maybe).
The mis and overuse of meds brings more bad than good.

 

[Essjay]

A lot of people do recommend that fish in quarantine should be treated for worms, as many fish are infected with them at the fish farms. Other than that, medication should only be used if there are signs of disease, and the treatment should be one specifically for that disease.

For worms, praziquantel to kill flat worms, then levamisole to kill round worms; or just flubendazole as that kills both.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'm a pre-emptive wormer now. Having battled camallanus worms in all of my tanks before, and knowing how easily worm eggs are transferred from tank to tank just by hands not being washed between tanks, or shared equipment like syphons and nets - I now prefer to worm fish while in quarantine.

I wouldn't use any other meds unless I saw an illness that needed them, but since worms can aren't always visible, are a high chance of being there, and it's a lot easier and cheaper to just worm the quarantine tank (and not share any equipment between the QT tank and your main tanks!) than it is to try to treat worms in your main tanks.

I know some places like Aquarium Co Op on youtube have a routine of meds they use on all fish that come in, and I'm not really against that, especially when they have fish coming in from all over the world. But since I'm not buying fish often, and I can personally quarantine for a month or so, a lot longer than a store can, worms are the only thing I think are worth preventatively treating, for me personally.

Exciting that you're cycled and ready for fish! Do you know what ones you want to start with? Hope you share pics as you get them!

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Honestly I don't use quarantine tanks with freshwater fish. It probably isn't the best way to do it but haven't had any real issues either (though this is more down to luck).

I always make sure I have the ability to be able to separate fish and treat them right away but have never had to use it.

I would always recommend quarentining and observing for a week or so but it is a "you should do as I say and not as I do" for me.

 

[Byron]

Quarantining new fish these days is wise. I did not do it for 20 or so years, from the 1980's through the first decade of this century. In 2010-12 I had two diseases introduced with new fish, internal protozoan, for which there is absolutely no external signs until the fish just dies. Both nearly wiped out a display tank, so I began QT. I have a fish room so it is easy to keep a QT running permanently, with sand, floating plants, and a chunk or two of wood. New fish go in this and it is like going into the established display tank. A bare QT is highly stressful and I would never use this.

As for meds, only the worming issue should be addressed. Apparently this is becoming much more of a problem these days, though I can't imagine why it should. My Corydoras for example were all wild caught fish acquired in the 1990's and early 2000's, and I never had worms or any other problem, except once gill flukes with C. fowleri. But Ian Fuller advises deworming with all wild caught cories, and he should know.

But as for other issues, never "medicate" unless you are certain the fish have "x". There is no general preventive medication. Ich is likely (hopefully) the only problem, and this is easily solved. The permanent QT I mentioned above has allowed my new fish to always deal with ich themselves, which is much more preferable that dumping in dangerous "treatments." All medications do affect fish negatively, adding more stress, so you need to know exactly what the issue is and deal with it as safely as possible. Ich is dealt with by increasing heat, nothing else, but I have never had to do this with the QT running as an established tank.

If the fish in QT start dying, with no external signs, it is likely some internal protozoan, and metronidazole added to the food is the most effective--and absolutely safe--treatment. I used this during my two protozoan issues, and saved most of my existing fish.

 

[hazyvonne]

I'm a pre-emptive wormer now. Having battled camallanus worms in all of my tanks before, and knowing how easily worm eggs are transferred from tank to tank just by hands not being washed between tanks, or shared equipment like syphons and nets - I now prefer to worm fish while in quarantine.

I wouldn't use any other meds unless I saw an illness that needed them, but since worms can aren't always visible, are a high chance of being there, and it's a lot easier and cheaper to just worm the quarantine tank (and not share any equipment between the QT tank and your main tanks!) than it is to try to treat worms in your main tanks.

I know some places like Aquarium Co Op on youtube have a routine of meds they use on all fish that come in, and I'm not really against that, especially when they have fish coming in from all over the world. But since I'm not buying fish often, and I can personally quarantine for a month or so, a lot longer than a store can, worms are the only thing I think are worth preventatively treating, for me personally.

Exciting that you're cycled and ready for fish! Do you know what ones you want to start with? Hope you share pics as you get them!

From what I've been reading and the answers I've been getting I think what I'll do is to proactively treat them for worms/parasites and then just observe them to see if anything else comes up.

Funny, you should mention Aquarium Co-Op because they are actually what led me to think about proactive treatment. I was reading this article (https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/quarantine-tank) and it just seemed to make sense to me - except one thing. They recommend dosing
with a trio of medicine and then not feeding your fish for a week. As I said, I'm new and never had fish before (only cats, dogs etc) so I have no idea what I'm talking about, but that just didn't seem like a good idea? So I came here for advice

I'm planning on a community tank and the fish I'm thinking about are (in no particular order): Congo Tetras, Honey Gourami, Celestial Pearl Danios, Peacock Gudgeons, Bolivian Rams. Maybe some type of shrimp. Some bladder snails already hitchhiked their way into the main tank via some plants I bought (even though I bleach dipped them! ) so I guess I'm stuck with those as well. I'll probably go with the CPDs or Congo Tetras first depending on availability.

 

[hazyvonne]

Quarantining new fish these days is wise. I did not do it for 20 or so years, from the 1980's through the first decade of this century. In 2020-12 I had two diseases introduced with new fish, internal protozoan, for which there is absolutely no external signs until the fish just dies. Both nearly wiped out a display tank, so I began QT. I have a fish room so it is easy to keep a QT running permanently, with sand, floating plants, and a chunk or two of wood. New fish go in this and it is like going into the established display tank. A bare QT is highly stressful and I would never use this.

As for meds, only the worming issue should be addressed. Apparently this is becoming much more of a problem these days, though I can't imagine why it should. My Corydoras for example were all wild caught fish acquired in the 1990's and early 2000's, and I never had worms or any other problem, except once gill flukes with C. fowleri. But Ian Fuller advises deworming with all wild caught cories, and he should know.

But as for other issues, never "medicate" unless you are certain the fish have "x". There is no general preventive medication. Ich is likely (hopefully) the only problem, and this is easily solved. The permanent QT I mentioned above has allowed my new fish to always deal with ich themselves, which is much more preferable that dumping in dangerous "treatments." All medications do affect fish negatively, adding more stress, so you need to know exactly what the issue is and deal with it as safely as possible. Ich is dealt with by increasing heat, nothing else, but I have never had to do this with the QT running as an established tank.

If the fish in QT start dying, with no external signs, it is likely some internal protozoan, and metronidazole added to the food is the most effective--and absolutely safe--treatment. I used this during my two protozoan issues, and saved most of my existing fish.

Thank you so much for that detailed reply! Very much appreciated. So far my plan is to get my first group of fish and stick them in my quarantine tank. The tank is cycled and I just ordered a cheap bundle of (admittedly ugly) fake plants/caves from the evil overlord amazon and I'll put those in there so they have places to hide. I'll probably give them a week to chill out, then treat them for worms/parasites. After that I'll keep them under watch for another month or so and treat them if/as necessary. After that they'll go into the main tank and the next group can go into the quarantine tank. Sound reasonable to you guys?

 

[Guest14017]

After having disease spread and wipe out an entire system even AFTER quarantine - I definitely stand by doing a rigorous quarantine. It is simply a good idea. If I do not see any signs of trouble after 30 days, I give it another week or two and go ahead and add the fish to the established system. I have fancy goldfish which are often imported and carry horrible diseases that are hard to diagnose and treat (requires microscopes and advanced treatments etc). Not worth risking multiple fish that cost $100+ over one fish.