New Fish

DoriShults · Aug 15, 2017

Okay so I'm full of questions each morning. We are receiving our first fish in a couple of days. They are all coming from the same place. We have no fish in the aquarium as of now. We don't have a quarantine tank as of yet. Can I put them in the aquarium together while I get a tank up and running for quarantine and hope for the best? I was hoping seeing that we have no fish to infect it would be okay. Also what do you use to treat ich should it show up? I'm so excited and worried at the same time. lol It's like having a new grand baby!

GHsaltie · Aug 15, 2017

If you don't have your QT up yet you can put them in the DT, however keep in mind that 1. it may be harder to get them out again, 2. you will need to let your DT go fallow for 76 days to ensure you have a clean slate. As for copper I personally use coppersafe, however there are some species that are sensitive to certain types of copper so it is good to be familiar with the various coppers. Here is a good chart that can help you pick the right treatment depending on the species of fish. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-and-treatment-guidelines-with-chart.283450/
Also a note for CP, chloroquine phosphate, if you choose to go that route here in the US the best source is through a vet prescription. There are ones such as on eBay that sell it however it's impure, don't trust any CP that is made out of the US.

nautical_nathaniel · Aug 15, 2017

Petco is having one of their dollar per gallon sales right now, you may be able to go and get a tank to use as temporary QT until you have time to set up a better one.

averytanky · Aug 15, 2017

pensacola-aquarist said:
Petco is having one of their dollar per gallon sales right now, you may be able to go and get a tank to use as temporary QT until you have time to set up a better one.

Omg thank u so much for this I went out and got a tank right away I never knew about the dollar per gallon deals!!

Saltybubbles288 · Aug 15, 2017

Ich isn't that hard to treat for on new arrivals, with a freshwater bath, it will stress out the fish, and you will have to acclimate them before hand. But will kill parasites. If you find they are infected when you get them it can be used has a temporary method until there is a functioning qt.

nautical_nathaniel · Aug 16, 2017

averytanky said:
Omg thank u so much for this I went out and got a tank right away I never knew about the dollar per gallon deals!!

Happy to help! I know the dollar per gallon sales have actually got a lot of folks in my area into the hobby haha

Saltybubbles288 · Aug 16, 2017

pensacola-aquarist said:
Happy to help! I know the dollar per gallon sales have actually got a lot of folks in my area into the hobby haha

How is the livestock at Petco? I live in Pensacola but I go to petland or sb reefs

nautical_nathaniel · Aug 16, 2017

Saltybubbles288 said:
How is the livestock at Petco? I live in Pensacola but I go to petland or sb reefs

They only have two columns of three tanks each with saltwater in them. They usually always have the staples (clownfish, yellow tangs, damsels, chromis, etc.) with a few more specific fish sometimes. Fish prices are pretty good and around Christmas last year they had assorted damsels for $2.50 each with some other deals on fish. They also have corals but I wouldn't buy any of them if you're going to SB Reefs (they almost always look on the verge of death). Lately though they've been having ich and fin rot issues so the tanks are "under observation" and they won't sell you any fish from that section. I almost exclusively go to Petco for my cat's food and betta fish stuff anymore but I still always swing by the saltwater stuff to see what they have in stock. Probably wouldn't buy anything though since the fish always look sick. My neon dottyback came from there though but I bought him like 4 months ago after they redid one section of the saltwater tanks and got in some healthy ORA dottybacks. I don't think SB or Petland will order ORA anymore...

averytanky · Aug 16, 2017

pensacola-aquarist said:
Happy to help! I know the dollar per gallon sales have actually got a lot of folks in my area into the hobby haha

I'm in Boca Raton Florida, so you know what dates the $ per gallon sale usually is? I went online and couldn't find anything and the sales people there were literally useless, told me to go look at their flyer

averytanky · Aug 16, 2017

averytanky said:
I'm in Boca Raton Florida, so you know what dates the $ per gallon sale usually is? I went online and couldn't find anything and the sales people there were literally useless, told me to go look at their flyer

(Meaning is it always this time in August?) or more than once a year?

RyanCSGO · Aug 16, 2017

averytanky said:
(Meaning is it always this time in August?) or more than once a year?

it seems to come around every few months, the petco close to my house (California) just finished one. If I'm not mistaken i think its a quarterly/overstock thing.

Saltybubbles288 · Aug 16, 2017

averytanky said:
(Meaning is it always this time in August?) or more than once a year?

To me it seems to be going on more than it isn't. It's quite frequent.

GHsaltie · Aug 16, 2017

When I was working at petco the $1/g was every 3 months. I don't know if that's changed or not since then.

Crashjack · Aug 16, 2017

I use clear Sterilite containers. These can handle around 12 gallons of water without stretching out too bad (I run 10 gallons in mine). They come with clear tops that latch down so good for jumpers, and they let light in, so you have a lot of cheap lighting options... I use a little LED desk light that bends however you want to bend it.

I used a gallon jug filled with water to mark my Sterilite containers/quarantine tanks so I know exactly how much water I have, which helps for adding medications and even when doing water changes.

DoriShults · Aug 17, 2017

pensacola-aquarist said:
They only have two columns of three tanks each with saltwater in them. They usually always have the staples (clownfish, yellow tangs, damsels, chromis, etc.) with a few more specific fish sometimes. Fish prices are pretty good and around Christmas last year they had assorted damsels for $2.50 each with some other deals on fish. They also have corals but I wouldn't buy any of them if you're going to SB Reefs (they almost always look on the verge of death). Lately though they've been having ich and fin rot issues so the tanks are "under observation" and they won't sell you any fish from that section. I almost exclusively go to Petco for my cat's food and betta fish stuff anymore but I still always swing by the saltwater stuff to see what they have in stock. Probably wouldn't buy anything though since the fish always look sick. My neon dottyback came from there though but I bought him like 4 months ago after they redid one section of the saltwater tanks and got in some healthy ORA dottybacks. I don't think SB or Petland will order ORA anymore...