My first quarantine log

805reef · Apr 22, 2016

This is the first time I have QTd any fish. I have been lucky in the past but want to do it right from now on. I just purchased an achilles tang, naso tang, blue jaw trigger and a file fish. They were all in the guys system for 2 weeks or longer.

I am using a 29 tall tank with an Aquaclear 70 HOB. I didnt have any seeded sponges so I put 3 capfuls of Seachem Stability as per the directions.

The fish were acclimated to the water and are now in the QT.

Here are some pics:

How did I do so far? My plan is to use the Stability every day as per directions and monitor them.

Duke4Life · Apr 22, 2016

Looks good! Keep an eye on your ammonia as I could see that being an issue possibly first few days to a week or more.

MCooper · Apr 22, 2016

Following along!

805reef · Apr 22, 2016

Duke4Life said:
Looks good! Keep an eye on your ammonia as I could see that being an issue possibly first few days to a week or more.

Thank you! I do have a seachem ammonia alert badge in there. First time using one of those.

Duke4Life · Apr 22, 2016

A good quarintine IMO is an invaluable investment of money and time.

Humblefish · Apr 22, 2016

That's a tight looking QT!

Do you plan to prophylactically treat with any medications or just observe? Once you start dosing meds, stop adding Stability. Most meds will kill nitrifying bacteria as soon as they hit the water; the bacteria had to be embedded in bio-media to survive.

805reef · Apr 22, 2016

Humblefish said:
That's a tight looking QT! Do you plan to prophylactically treat with any medications or just observe? Once you start dosing meds, stop adding Stability. Most meds will kill nitrifying bacteria as soon as they hit the water; the bacteria had to be embedded in bio-media to survive.

Thats a good question and one I havent completely decided on yet. I was reading through the How to Quarantine thread again and not sure. I have prazipro so I was thinking of using it.

melypr1985 · Apr 22, 2016

Very nice job! Have saltwater at the ready for water changes in the event the ammonia creeps up on you.

805reef · Apr 22, 2016

melypr1985 said:
Very nice job! Have saltwater at the ready for water changes in the event the ammonia creeps up on you.

Thanks for the reminder! I got a little low when filling the QT up. I'll go get a full batch going.

805reef · Apr 24, 2016

Day 3 and everything is doing well still. All fish are eating still and I have just been doing the stability and havent started doing prazi yet. I have a bunch of water now though so I might start it this week.

I did do a 5 gallon water change today... not sure if I am supposed to be doing them but I thought it couldnt hurt.

805reef · Apr 26, 2016

OK, so the ammonia alert badge started reading some ammonia yesterday. It was just in the light green section. So I did a 50% water change and added some prime but this morning it's still in the green.

cmcoker · Apr 26, 2016

805reef said:
OK, so the ammonia alert badge started reading some ammonia yesterday. It was just in the light green section. So I did a 50% water change and added some prime but this morning it's still in the green.

More water changes.. Not uncommon to do large daily water changes until the qt tank cycles.
Also make sure you siphon any detritus, left over food, poop, etc daily. You can use airline tubing so you aren't removing a ton of water every time you are trying to remove leftovers, I can usually siphon out leftovers from my 10g qt removing about a quart of water or so.

805reef · Apr 26, 2016

cmcoker said:
More water changes.. Not uncommon to do large daily water changes until the qt tank cycles.
Also make sure you siphon any detritus, left over food, poop, etc daily. You can use airline tubing so you aren't removing a ton of water every time you are trying to remove leftovers, I can usually siphon out leftovers from my 10g qt removing about a quart of water or so.

Thank you! I'll keep doing more water changes. I did siphon out most of the detritus but I'll make sure I move the pvc pieces around to get everything from now on.

fry_school101 · Apr 26, 2016

Looks good so far!

Lionfish Lair · Apr 26, 2016

I believe you'll get false-positive ammonia readings after using Prime. You may need to test it with a salicylate based kit to get true readings.

805reef · Apr 26, 2016

Lionfish Lair said:
I believe you'll get false-positive ammonia readings after using Prime. You may need to test it with a salicylate based kit to get true readings.

I also tested with a Salifert kit but I'm not sure if that is salicylate based.

melypr1985 · Apr 26, 2016

You'll also want to make sure your using a white light to view the ammonia badge. This is a common problem with these that they can appear to be light green, but when an actually white light is shown on it, it's yellow still. I had this problem as well, but I keep my living room dimly lit and that was my main problem.

805reef · May 3, 2016

So my achilles is laying on his side and not looking so well. Is there anything I could do? I am doing a big water change right now. I think the ammonia crept up too high

melypr1985 · May 3, 2016

Did you test your ammonia to confirm that? If you believe he's been exposed to ammonia then you can give him a bath in Methyline Blue to help heal him from the exposure.

Malachite Green/Methylene Blue: Treats ammonia burn, cuts, injuries.

How To Treat - Comes in both liquid and powder form, sometimes mixed in with another medication(s). So, follow the directions on the label. Best used as a 30 minute bath solution, but you also can treat with it in a quarantine tank. Aerate heavily. If you are using it in a bath solution, then it is also a good idea to treat the fish with nitrofurazone (active ingredient found in Furan-2 and Nitrofuracin Green Powder) once he is returned to the quarantine tank. Nitrofurazone is great for treating open wounds or sores.

Pros - Highly effective.

Cons/Side Effects - Depletes oxygen from the water. Malachite Green is considered “harsher” on fish than Methylene Blue.