Quarantining clownfish

[Sosuke]

Hey all, I am getting a pair of clownfish Friday and have my QT setup and almost done cycling for them, my question is should I pre-treat the tank before introducing the fish or treat only if I see something? Thanks

 

[DeniseAndy]

Are these captive bred clowns? If so, no need to treat at all. Just observe. Either way, I do not pre-treat that tank. Need to get them eating first.

Caveat: If they came from a captive system and were not exposed to wild fish.

 

[Big G]

Hey all, I am getting a pair of clownfish Friday and have my QT setup and almost done cycling for them, my question is should I pre-treat the tank before introducing the fish or treat only if I see something? Thanks

I'm assuming you are talking about pre-dosing the QT with copper.
That's a great question.

For awhile we were seeing so many fish coming in that were infected with a nasty strain of velvet, many of us started pre-dosing the QT to 1.0 ppm of Copper Power to help cut down on the time to get to therapeutic. Some are still following this as a good prophylactic plan; some are preferring to acclimate the fish first, get them eating, calmed down after their journey to our tanks. So as @DeniseAndy posted, taking into consideration where the fish is coming from can inform your decision. So how much do you trust your supplier?

 

[Sosuke]

Hi, they are captive bred and I trust my supplier that they won't send me sick fish. When I get them I won't add copper or any med unless needed then, and will make sure my QT is what salinity is in the bag and temp acclimate only. Does this sound good? Thank you for your responses

 

[Hot2na]

clowns don't like copper much..I use low salinity 1st for 14 days and for the last 3 food soaked in .Fenbendazole ..

 

[Sosuke]

Ok, will general cure soaked food work for internal parasites?

 

[Big G]

Ok, will general cure soaked food work for internal parasites?

Yes, General Cure contains both Praziquantel and Metro which together usually take care of internal parasites when dosed into the water. Sometimes if the infestation is significant, feeding the GC + food + Focus helps to get the med directly to the gut more efficiently.

 

[Sosuke]

Great! Thank you for your help and everyone else too

 

[javisaman]

clowns don't like copper much..I use low salinity 1st for 14 days and for the last 3 food soaked in .Fenbendazole ..

Not to go too far off-topic, but I never heard this before. I did have two tank-raised clowns die in QT after dosing copper. But I thought it might have been something else.

 

[Zionas]

Were there any physical symptoms of illness?

 

[Hot2na]

javisaman : the copper attacks the heavy slime coat clowns have..and they tend to do poorly with copper as a result...

 

[Sosuke]

Thats good to know lol

 

[Alvi]

Yes, General Cure contains both Praziquantel and Metro which together usually take care of internal parasites when dosed into the water. Sometimes if the infestation is significant, feeding the GC + food + Focus helps to get the med directly to the gut more efficiently.

Hello Big G! I hope you are doing well. I am writing directly to you because you have been of great help to me in the past. I was searching R2R for a cure for white stringy poo (possibly internal parasites) for my red sea angelfish, captive-bred yellow tang, powder blue tang and juvenile emperor angelfish. and I found your suggestion for using General Cure. As I put them in my 55gal hospital tank, the regal angel (my prized possession) died within a matter of two hours. However, I put the other three through the two, 48 hours of GC as API instructs and they still have white stringy poo. Is there anything else that you can suggest? They are eating and breathing fine. Thank you.