Any other input. This thread can't die this is an important topic!
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Well lets see I believe you wanted to know what quarantine procedures that different users use
This is what we do for any new fish that comes in:
The fish is immediately drip acclimated to the quarantine system that I posted above (post#2) for no less than 30 minutes to an hour. At all time during the acclimation process you should observe your fish for any signs of rapid breathing/stress as this could be a result of low dissolved oxygen. You might need to add an aerator to the container that the fish is being acclimated in (we use a large plastic salad bowl). For the drip acclimation we use a piece of airline tubing and a clip to regulate the drip rate. I usually just adjust it by eye to what I feel is not too fast or too slow. As the quarantine tank water is being mixed with the water that the fish arrived in, I remove water from the bowl so that as time goes on the water is primarily water from the quarantine tank. After no less than 30 mins, I pour the water and the fish into the quarantine tank and refill the tank with freshly mixed saltwater. The fish remains in the dark for the rest of the day. Ok so we have our fish acclimated and it's in the quarantine system. The next thing that we do is bring the fish to a hyposaline environment (specific gravity of 1.010) to take care of any
Cryptocaryon irritans infection.
We use a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity of the water throughout the duration of quarantine as this gives us a more accurate reading than a needle hydrometer (and it's easier). So we begin lowering the salinity by removing a gallon of the water from the quarantine tank and replacing with a gallon of freshwater. After this check the salinity. Remember this is in our 20 gallon quarantine system, so you will have to adjust the volume of water removed so that it scales to your system. We wait an hour and repeat the previous step. We continue removing water and replacing until the hyposaline environment is achieved. The next day is when we begin the use of formalin administered as a bath in the quarantine tank.
To perform the formalin bath, we use the following items:
-large rope bucket (~15 gallons) with premixed and heated saltwater at a 1.010 specific gravity
-graduated pipet or syringe
-100% formalin (37% formaldehyde)
-aerators
Two aerators are on at all times during this treatment since formalin lowers dissolved oxygen in the water. We remove the hang on the back filter and sponge and hang it on the side of the large rope bucket with our premixed and heated saltwater (1.010) and turn it on. I do this so as not to harm any of the bacteria on the sponge. Next we begin by adding 1 ml of formalin to the quarantine tank and proceed until we have added our desired amount (~15-20 ml in my case). The fish is allowed to sit in the formalin bath for 1 hour and is observed periodically throughout the treatment. If any stress is noticed, you make the decision to remove the fish to the freshly mixed saltwater. I have not had any problems yet with formalin baths. After the 1 hour is up, the fish is gently netted and transfered to the rope bucket. I then remove the heater and aerators from the quarantine tank and transfer them to the rope bucket as well. Now I clean the tank.
To clean the tank, I completely drain it and add ~5 gallons of freshly mixed saltwater (1.010 specific gravity). I add the heater back to the tank and allow the temperature to reach the desired temp (78 F in my case). I begin syphoning water from the rope bucket back into the quarantine tank. After I have ~15 gallons in the tank, I net the fish and transfer the fish back into the tank. After adding the remaining water from the rope bucket, I get all the equipment (HOB filter, aerators) hooked back up. Presto! 1 formalin bath down! I repeat the formalin baths anywhere from 5-7 consecutive days. This has worked for me in curing fish with
C. irritans.
I will not speak of copper since I have never had a need to use it as a treatment method. I'll leave that to someone else on Reef2Reef that has more experience with it. Though I think I remember from somewhere that copper and hyposalinity
do not mix. So don't quote me on that one.
So we've given our fish several consecutive formalin baths. We're confident that there are no visible signs of infection, but we still need to keep the fish at the hyposaline conditions for a total of 2 weeks. If we see indications of white spot (
C. irritans) then we need to repeat the formalin baths or seek out copper as a treatment. But ideally what we want is the fish to have no visible signs of infection for at least 2-3 weeks (up to 6 weeks). I then begin raising the salinity by removing a gallon of water from the tank and replacing it with freshly mixed saltwater (what your display tank is). I do this more gradually than when we drop to hyposaline conditions. I probably will do this every 3-5 hours until the normal display tank salinity is reached.
Ok so our fish is back at normal salinity. We don't move it just yet! We keep the fish in the quarantine tank for an additional 1-2 weeks and observe for any signs of disease. This should be sufficient time for them to present. If the fish presents with anything then you will need to continue quarantining and perhaps restart the procedures (I've not been this unfortunate... yet). If the fish doesn't present with any signs of disease then you may begin drip acclimating the fish to the water of the display tank (using the same steps as above). I net the fish and place it in the display tank.
Well that is our fish quarantine procedure in a nutshell. Hope this helps! I'll leave quarantining of live rock and corals to someone else
