18 Hours in an itty-bitty bag

[Brew12]

The only problem with this is if there are any meds in the water of the QT that the fish are going into since detoxifiers are not something you want mixed with some meds. She stated that her QT will have copper in it already ( i suggest against that) and that before that they will go into a Rally dip. The detoxifier wont even be needed if she just adjusts the salinity to match what they are shipped in so the fish don't need acclimation. Temp match and done

I learned the hard way not to add the water the fish came in to my QT. I drip acclimate into a separate container then dump all the water through a strainer and add the fish to the tank. You never know what is in the water the fish come in so I find it best to just get rid of it. I had a small school of firefish that looked great in my QT. Added some Prazi before going to bed. Woke up to a cloudy tank and dead fish. Called the fish store and they told me one of the chems they use isn't compatible with Prazi. Lesson learned.

 

[melypr1985]

I learned the hard way not to add the water the fish came in to my QT. I drip acclimate into a separate container then dump all the water through a strainer and add the fish to the tank. You never know what is in the water the fish come in so I find it best to just get rid of it. I had a small school of firefish that looked great in my QT. Added some Prazi before going to bed. Woke up to a cloudy tank and dead fish. Called the fish store and they told me one of the chems they use isn't compatible with Prazi. Lesson learned.

Very true! Good advice. The answer to that is float for temp match (making sure the salinity already matches of course) then net them out of the bag and put into QT. Or pour all the water out of the bag, along with the fish, through a net. Bag water goes away, fish goes in the tank. This is how we put fish into our system at the store.

 

[Humblefish]

Just to add: If you need to drip acclimate and use an ammonia reducer, double check with the vendor to make sure the bag water DOES NOT contain any copper.

You cannot mix copper + ammonia reducer under any circumstances, even for a brief drip acclimation period.

 

[dragon99]

The fish I received from Bluezoo a couple weeks ago came in 1.021 SG water. I had read before they arrived that 1.020 is what Bluezoo ships in, so my QT was set to that before they arrived.

 

[Empress]

Thanks everyone for all your help. I will get in touch with Blue Zoo and find out with the salinity is, if there's copper in the bag, and what exactly is in the syringe that comes with the package. [emoji227]

 

[Brew12]

So how did it go?

 

[Empress]

It went PERFECT! I'm so glad I followed the advice of Float & Release! I matched the salinity perfect to what BZ said (about 1.018) and started floating the bag for 30 minutes which in turn turned out to be much longer for the last fish (of course). I was so nervous. But I took my time and was careful pouring the fish out of the bag and into the net. I did it one fish at a time. I slowly released the cheapest fish in first and watched for almost 10 minutes before putting in the next fish and so on and so on (6 fish total).

All fish took the transition very well. I was expecting at least one of them to be laying on its side but none did. They all look awesome too. I see no signs of physical damage anywhere. Eyes are clear, skin clear, fins clear. No head twitching, scratching or anything ugly. It was Smooth Sailing.

The room was dark and warm. I had just the hob filter running for water flow (my powerhead would have been too much; I might plug it in in a couple days). Water temp was 75-76. Ammonia zero. The outside temperature was 37 but I was home for the delivery so the box of fish didn't have to sit outside. Packing was in a Styrofoam box with heating pads (still warm) taped to the inside top. Lots of paper packing. No leaks, no deaths. One bag was 4 layers thick. Least to say I am very pleased with this delivery. Thank you BZ if you're reading this.

Oh and about 16 hours before the fish arrived I put in 2 tbsp on Amquel Plus in the tank. I believe that helped a lot. So I didn't need to use the stuff they sent me. I'll hang onto it and add it when I do my first water change. Stress Guard can't be overdosed.

I had emailed BZ and told them that I'm a member of a very popular fish forum (didn't tell which one) and that their response to my email would be copied and pasted to the forum. Here it is. Notice the words "kept around." This is what they emailed me:

1. The fish system is kept around 1.018

2. We do not use copper in any main system of water so no copper is ever in the shipping water

3. The liquid is Seachem Stress Guard. This product reduces stress and ammonia toxicity when shipping fish as well as promoting healing for any abrasions caused the shipping process.

So now what? They look so healthy I don't want to add any medications. Can I just observe for 30-40 days? Also, 2 of them are eating. I put a drop of Selcon on the food BZ sent me. I'll feed again when I get home from work. Just a pinch at a time. I believe they will all be eating soon since none are hard to feed.

 

[melypr1985]

So now what? They look so healthy I don't want to add any medications. Can I just observe for 30-40 days? Also, 2 of them are eating. I put a drop of Selcon on the food BZ sent me. I'll feed again when I get home from work. Just a pinch at a time. I believe they will all be eating soon since none are hard to feed.

If you have the time to sit everyday and observe the fish and their behaviors then you can do an observation only QT. Spend some serious time observing though, not just a quick check or 5 minutes here and there. And be prepared to treat when needed.

 

[Brew12]

It went PERFECT! I'm so glad I followed the advice of Float & Release! I matched the salinity perfect to what BZ said (about 1.018) and started floating the bag for 30 minutes which in turn turned out to be much longer for the last fish (of course). I was so nervous. But I took my time and was careful pouring the fish out of the bag and into the net. I did it one fish at a time. I slowly released the cheapest fish in first and watched for almost 10 minutes before putting in the next fish and so on and so on (6 fish total).

All fish took the transition very well. I was expecting at least one of them to be laying on its side but none did. They all look awesome too. I see no signs of physical damage anywhere. Eyes are clear, skin clear, fins clear. No head twitching, scratching or anything ugly. It was Smooth Sailing.

The room was dark and warm. I had just the hob filter running for water flow (my powerhead would have been too much; I might plug it in in a couple days). Water temp was 75-76. Ammonia zero. The outside temperature was 37 but I was home for the delivery so the box of fish didn't have to sit outside. Packing was in a Styrofoam box with heating pads (still warm) taped to the inside top. Lots of paper packing. No leaks, no deaths. One bag was 4 layers thick. Least to say I am very pleased with this delivery. Thank you BZ if you're reading this.

Oh and about 16 hours before the fish arrived I put in 2 tbsp on Amquel Plus in the tank. I believe that helped a lot. So I didn't need to use the stuff they sent me. I'll hang onto it and add it when I do my first water change. Stress Guard can't be overdosed.

I had emailed BZ and told them that I'm a member of a very popular fish forum (didn't tell which one) and that their response to my email would be copied and pasted to the forum. Here it is. Notice the words "kept around." This is what they emailed me:

1. The fish system is kept around 1.018

2. We do not use copper in any main system of water so no copper is ever in the shipping water

3. The liquid is Seachem Stress Guard. This product reduces stress and ammonia toxicity when shipping fish as well as promoting healing for any abrasions caused the shipping process.

So now what? They look so healthy I don't want to add any medications. Can I just observe for 30-40 days? Also, 2 of them are eating. I put a drop of Selcon on the food BZ sent me. I'll feed again when I get home from work. Just a pinch at a time. I believe they will all be eating soon since none are hard to feed.

I'm so glad that your fish did well! My one experience with BZ was also fantastic.

Just observing for 30-40 days is an option, if you can do a good job observing them during that time. The only drawback is that if you see a problem 3 weeks from now, you start your 30 day treatment at that point. If they came with a small number of ich parasites it could take 2 life cycles before the parasite population is high enough for your fish start showing obvious symptoms. To me, that is the biggest benefit of treating early. Start treating now, and you can be confident your fish will be ready in 40 days. Take a chance with observation, and it could be 70 days if a problem shows up in a few weeks.

 

[Humblefish]

If you have the time to sit everyday and observe the fish and their behaviors then you can do an observation only QT. Spend some serious time observing though, not just a quick check or 5 minutes here and there. And be prepared to treat when needed.

^^ This. And keep a very close eye on your ammonia. Ammonia is enemy #1 in QT.

 

[Empress]

^^ This. And keep a very close eye on your ammonia. Ammonia is enemy #1 in QT.

Yes. I've learned that the hard way! I have 2 badges And the API ammonia test kit.

 

[Empress]

I'm so glad that your fish did well! My one experience with BZ was also fantastic.

Just observing for 30-40 days is an option, if you can do a good job observing them during that time. The only drawback is that if you see a problem 3 weeks from now, you start your 30 day treatment at that point. If they came with a small number of ich parasites it could take 2 life cycles before the parasite population is high enough for your fish start showing obvious symptoms. To me, that is the biggest benefit of treating early. Start treating now, and you can be confident your fish will be ready in 40 days. Take a chance with observation, and it could be 70 days if a problem shows up in a few weeks.

So what would you do???? These babies are so small. Maybe I'll wait until they settle in and start eating. They're sooo cute.

 

[Empress]

If you have the time to sit everyday and observe the fish and their behaviors then you can do an observation only QT. Spend some serious time observing though, not just a quick check or 5 minutes here and there. And be prepared to treat when needed.

Oh I can spend lots of time. My husband is jealous. I pay more attention to the fish than I do to him. [emoji23] Thanks for all your expertise and for being here when we need you. You're awesome.

 

[bigroost]

It may have been covered as I just skimmed, but on the comment about not having enough water for a 5 gallon bucket. I like to keep an old ice cream bucket around for drip acclimating, the smaller volume usually leaves me enough bag water to cover frags or whatever.

 

[Brew12]

So what would you do???? These babies are so small. Maybe I'll wait until they settle in and start eating. They're sooo cute.

Well, I can tell you what I did, since I just took down 2 QT's and need to take down a 3rd.
For my very first purchase of fish I did the TTM method. Wanted them in the DT as quickly as possible. What a pain. I felt like all I was doing was tearing down and setting up QT's for 2 weeks. On the nights the tanks were drying I was making RODI and mixing salt. Lesson 1: Never try to do TTM with 10g+ tanks using HOB's. If I ever do it again I will use 5g tanks or smaller and air stones.

My second purchase of fish was a school of firefish. Decided to treat proactively (or prophylactically to borrow Humblfish's big college word). Fish were eating fine so on day 3 I dosed Prazipro before going to bed. Woke up to a cloudy tank and a dead school of firefish. Lesson 2: Never add the water the fish shipped in to the QT, you never know what is in it or how it will react to meds/copper. Lesson 3: Only start adding meds on mornings where you can observe fish and react to things going wrong.

3rd fish was was on week3 of QT at my LFS being treated for ich. Matched salinity and copper in my QT, added the fish for a week, transferred him to a clean QT, dosed with Prazi while observing for a week and into the DT. Lesson 4: It rocks if you have a LFS that follows proper quaranine practices and you have a chance to buy fish that are well on the road to recovery. Haven't been so lucky since.

Group 4 and 5 of fish went into 2 different QT's. One tank got Prazi on a Saturday morning, the other on Sunday morning since one group ate better than the other. Raised copper slowly over the next weekend and held for 30 days. Filtered the copper out, watched for another week, added to my DT. Lesson 5: Fish don't read instruction manuals on how they are supposed to behave. Flame angel took serious offense with Coral Beauty even though added at the same time. Took 2 days to catch the Beauty and put it in the refugium but by then it was so stressed it didn't make it.

Group 6 had velvet but I didn't catch it until after dosing Prazi. Looked great for 3 days. Showed symptoms day 4. Day 5 I understood what it was. Massive water change and added copper. Was able to save 1 of the 3. Lesson 6: All the effort proper QT takes is so worth it! Lesson 7: Do copper before Prazi in the future. From now on I will add copper early, set up a clean QT to get them out of the copper and dose Prazi during the last week of observation.

Group 7. Haven't figured out what that group will be yet, but my DT is finally full of life!

I know.. this was way more than you asked for. My thoughts are that you can use the lessons I learned and my reasoning. For instance, it may be no problem for you to have the time to keep taking down and setting up tanks for TTM.

 

[Empress]

Lots of groups and lots of lessons learned, but it all pays off in the long run. And the more you learn, the more you educate others and that says a lot about you! Isn't that why we're all here? I just hope that someday I'll have enough knowledge to help others too. Good luck with Group 7 and post a picture of your DT. [emoji886]

 

[Empress]

I’m back. Today is the 7th day of my 6 fish in QT. All fish are doing great. They’re all eating and swimming. No fighting going on. There’s no strange behaviors like scratching, head shaking, swimming in front of the powerhead. No upside-down swimming. No bloated bellies. The skin looks clear. No spots, dots, fuzzies, rips or tears. Eyes are clear and curious. So far all is happy and fish have settled in. So far so good. Knock on wood.

I haven’t done anything to the water yet except for topping off. There are no meds at all in the tank. No ammonia reducers either. The ammonia is still at zero. I will do a water change this Saturday.

I’ve read somewhere that 75% of all fish that are imported for this hobby will have worms.

Now I know that we cannot SEE ich/velvet/internal worms etc. So how do I know if I should treat with meds? I haven’t done a fresh water dip yet and wonder if I really need to since all that would tell me is if they have external flukes or not. Freshwater dip won’t tell me if they have internal worms. But, if I go ahead and treat Prazipro after the water change on Saturday that would eliminate any worms. I have turned on the powerhead and there’s plenty of oxygen in the water. The HOB filter only has sponge in it. No carbon or bio-balls.

Here’s my question: Should I dose Prazipro on Saturday after the water change? Can Prazipro cause bacterial infections or popeye? I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t cloud the water since there’s no copper or meds in the water. If I shouldn’t do Prazi, then what would be my next step?

By the way, this is my first time doing a real qt and I will do it right. I’m open for all suggestions.

Empress

 

[Humblefish]

I would at the very least treat with Prazipro 2x, 5-7 days apart. It is the least invasive medication we use.

 

[melypr1985]

Here’s my question: Should I dose Prazipro on Saturday after the water change? Can Prazipro cause bacterial infections or popeye? I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t cloud the water since there’s no copper or meds in the water. If I shouldn’t do Prazi, then what would be my next step?

Yes. I would absolutely use Prazipro. As humble said, it's the least harsh med we use and it's a good precaution against flukes. Prazi won't cause popeye or infections... parasites or injuries get infected and cause those things. You're right, it won't cloud the water with no other meds in the water.

 

[Empress]

Thanks HF and Mel. I will do Prazipro this Saturday when I do my water change. You guys are awesome. [emoji8]