Quarantine procedure for new fish

[Itsadeepbluesea]

Just curious what is everyone's quarantine procedure for new fish?

 

[outofwater]

You'll find 10 different answers from 10 different people.

I personally have decided that if I get fish from a chain store, I first go at least twice in a week, check the fish and tank they're in, and if the water is clean, the fish are healthy and there are no dead bodies, only then l buy them. Once I return home, I acclimate them for a couple of hours on their platic bag, then I fish them out of the bag into the tank, and do a water change.

Buying from local stores is a similar procedure, and the two I usually visit have my trust so I don't "scope" the fish for a few days, however I do the same water change upon arrival of the newcomers.

I avoid putting store water in my tanks as much as possible.

Perhaps other species, some that seem more prone to parasites (like platties and guppies around here) would warrant a proper quarantine period in a hospital tank, I've read posts where people put fish in said tanks for days or weeks. I don't have "expensive" fish, although I don't think that'd be a factor, I care as much for my $3 neons as I would for a $30 fish, although I know my wallet would hurt more for the latter if something happened to it. I guess if my fish were worth 100s of $$ I'd be more strict when I bring new ones in, but after 5 years of experience I've decided I like the hobby, but not that much as to sink hundreds in it. I'm happy with my 2 tanks and cheap, readily available fish.

In my humble opinion if your tank is established and healthy and you bring healthy new inhabitants (do your homework on that) a strict quarantine protocol is not necessary.

I'm curious as to the more experienced members opinions that will follow.

 

[GaryE]

I'm at the opposite extreme, though it's based on my having several tanks free at any given time. If I buy new fish from my local store, I know he never has wilds. His Singapore fish are very likely to carry diseases, so they will remain apart from wild caughts for life.

With other fish,, they go into a fully working tank with no other fish for three to six weeks. I figure most external parasites will show in a week. Internal problems and bacterial infections can take longer, so I'd rather be safe than sorry. If they look fantastic and I trust the source (ie - from a friend) I cut off at 3 weeks. One time though, I received some livebearers from a friend on the west coast, and they turned out to be rotten with Camallanus nematodes. She hadn't noticed the infestation, but it taught me a lesson.

So I'm cautious. Right now I have 2 tanks running as quarantine. I check closely every day. I know the fish are wild caught, so their 3 weeks will be up in 10 days. I'm getting some fish-farmed, aquacultured tetras next weekend, and they'll get at least a month is isolation.

I don't believe buckets or temporary containers are good for QT. The same for bare tanks. You want the fish to overcome any minor problems from shipping, and for you to spot any major issues. Fish in a healthy set up - cycled, with a few plants and space to swim will do far better than fish stuck in a bucket, where the QT itself can kill them.

 

[gwand]

I buy fish from the most reputable online sellers and from two local privately owned fish stores. But I still quarantine for 4-6 weeks. I posted recently that about 10% of the fish I buy die in quarantine. So for me a quarantine period is a must.

 

[Innesfan]

I'm with @GaryE and @gwand on this one. I would never put newly acquired fish from even the most reliable source into anything but a quarantine tank for 3-6 weeks depending on the fish, the source and how they look and behave in the first weeks of quarantine. I also use fully cycled planted tanks for quarantine.

 

[Colin_T]

Minimum 4 weeks in quarantine that has separate nets, buckets, hoses, etc.
The new fish in quarantine are fed after you feed you other fish to prevent cross contamination.
If a fish dies in quarantine, the 4 week period starts over.
If a fish gets sick in quarantine, the 4 week period starts after all the fish have recovered.
You want the fish to be completely healthy before adding them to an existing aquarium.

You can treat fish in quarantine for intestinal worms and gill flukes. Most fish carry these and it's worth doing a treatment while the fish are quarantined. Deworming medications are quite safe and about the only thing I recommend doing to fish in quarantine as a preventative measure.

 

[seangee]

Last time I bought fish I never had a spare tank so I bought a cheapie one and used filter media from another tank plus lots of plants.
Liked it so much I kept it as a species tank for the new fish and they are still in there.

There may be more efficient ways of doing it

 

[Innesfan]

Last time I bought fish I never had a spare tank so I bought a cheapie one and used filter media from another tank plus lots of plants.
Liked it so much I kept it as a species tank for the new fish and they are still in there.

There may be more efficient ways of doing it

I think that's a perfectly fine way to do it! And in a way it is entirely efficient.

 

[gwand]

For you folks who have been in the hobby for 50 plus years, was there ever a time when one did not need to quarantine?

 

[Innesfan]

For you folks who have been in the hobby for 50 plus years, was there ever a time when one did not need to quarantine?

The need was always there, in my opinion, but the advice to do so was slow to evolve. American fish farms were a larger share of the market and Asian fish farming wasn't as great a factor, so perhaps there was less of a threat of the now dreaded viruses coming out of the Asian farms, but wild fish were coming in as they do today so the precautions one would take with wild fish were mostly not taken.

 

[Colin_T]

Years ago most people didn't quarantine fish unless they were wild caught. Everyone thought farm raised fishes were cleaner. They were wrong. In my experience, wild caught fishes have fewer diseases and generally do better than fish from farms (especially the Asian fish farms). German fish farms (aquaculture facilities) generally had better quality fish than the Asian farms but even their fish could be iffy.

Even if you quarantine your new fish for a couple of months, there is no guarantee they won't be carrying Fish Tuberculosis (Fish TB). If that gets into your tanks, you end up losing everything. Fish TB is very common in Asian fish farms, importing facilities and pet shops.

 

[GaryE]

We all played Russian roulette with quarantine. But we needed it. It's shameful to say this, but fish were so much cheaper that unless you had rarer stuff, or pets, people just saw them as disposable. 11 cent zebra danios, neons at 10 for $1( when minimum wage was $2.65 here). If they died in what we now see as QT, you bought more.

That view persists. Most of the time though, we don't QT because we don't have space. As you stay with this longer, you tend to make a point of creating space.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

There are few people and one store where I may not Q new fish. For the most part I do Q and for locally (in the U. S.) bred fish it is 30 days and for wild fish it is 3 months. Of course that is continuous time without any issues.

I usually am getting new fish in groups or larger numbers. So I often put them into the firnalk tanks which have beed set up for this purpose. It is always nice if one doesn;t havve to disperse fish from a Q tank to other tanks one has. Mt most recent retail purchases were mostly handled this handled this way. he are in the same tanks today as they did their Q in.

 

[Itsadeepbluesea]

We all played Russian roulette with quarantine. But we needed it. It's shameful to say this, but fish were so much cheaper that unless you had rarer stuff, or pets, people just saw them as disposable. 11 cent zebra danios, neons at 10 for $1( when minimum wage was $2.65 here). If they died in what we now see as QT, you bought more.

That view persists. Most of the time though, we don't QT because we don't have space. As you stay with this longer, you tend to make a point of creating space.

It's funny you mention the prices, as the other day when I was buying fish the price differences amazed. Granted it has been decades since I started, I am still amazed at how much even "cheap" fish are these days.

 

[seangee]

Something I used to do (only stopped because I rarely buy fish these days) was when I wanted something specific and I saw a local store had them I would call and ask. Then I would tell them I was about to go away for a few weeks could I please reserve as many as I wanted and I would collect on a given date. That way I could evauluate the health of the fish after having been in the store for 3-4 weeks and for that period the risk was with the store. If I reserved 20 fish they would have to supply 20 fish that were alive, and mortality rates are the highest for the first few weeks after shipping..