Quarintine new fish

[jpcrash1]

Hi, I wanted to know if I should treat all new fish with copper before putting them my tank, or do I just monitor them. Keep in mind I plan on getting a tang for my tank.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

I do use medicine in the quarantine tank even my new fish did not show any sight of sickness yet, it's better safe than feel sorry later.

 

[4FordFamily]

I do use medicine in the quarantine tank even my new fish did not show any sight of sickness yet, it's better safe than feel sorry later.

100% agree each fish I get spends at least 30 days in fully therapeutic copper, and gets two rounds of prazi pro 5-6 days apart. I usually observe for another 30.

 

[JAMSOURY]

100% agree each fish I get spends at least 30 days in fully therapeutic copper, and gets two rounds of prazi pro 5-6 days apart. I usually observe for another 30.

Cool. I didn't know people did this. Any links to the stuff you use?

 

[jpcrash1]

If you treat before they enter the tank and your tank has never had ich, can you still get ich?

 

[4FordFamily]

If you treat before they enter the tank and your tank has never had ich, can you still get ich?

Yes, if you add coral or rock (nearly anything wet) from a tank that has ever had ich that has not run fallow or if you're unsuccessful with quarantine.

 

[4FordFamily]

Cool. I didn't know people did this. Any links to the stuff you use?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

 

[Glasswalker]

Definitely qt new fish. Too much risk of introducing something nasty to your tank due to diseases/parasites running rampant through wholesale and retail systems.

I made this handy chart, it defaults to Chloroquine over copper, which is harder to get ahold of, but more effective at eliminating velvet for example.

Keep in mind not all fish tolerate all treatments. So need to use appropriate options for each species/circumstances. My chart accommodates that.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/qt-protocol-flowchart.312531/

Hope it helps. Good luck!

 

[jpcrash1]

Thanks

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

If you treat before they enter the tank and your tank has never had ich, can you still get ich?

The answer is yes!
Ich present in all tanks and only take advantage once the fish got stressed out, bullied by other fishes, when the weaker fish got stressed out their immune system got weaken and will easier to catch ich.

 

[jpcrash1]

The answer is yes!
Ich present in all tanks and only take advantage once the fish got stressed out, bullied by other fishes, when the weaker fish got stressed out their immune system got weaken and will easier to catch ich.

If this is true why treat a healthy fish before it enters your tank?

 

[Glasswalker]

The answer is yes!
Ich present in all tanks and only take advantage once the fish got stressed out, bullied by other fishes, when the weaker fish got stressed out their immune system got weaken and will easier to catch ich.

This is not accurate. Ich is a parasite, and like any other life in your tank aside from bacterium, it has to be introduced.

It is however true that ich is common, and healthy strong fish can build up an immunity to it, meaning ich would be "managed".

But if you always conduct proper quarantine protocol, you can be reasonably certain that ich is not present in your system.

It is a fairly well understood parasite I believe, with a well defined life cycle, which requires a fish host to perpetuate itself.

If all fish are quarantined and given prophylactic treatment you can be 100% sure that those fish don't carry it in. Leaving the main avenue to be either your live rock (or any other hard wet surface added to the tank) and coral. Both can be cured in a fallow system to prevent the life cycle, again giving 100% certainty it's not bringing it in.

Contrary to the popular myth, ich is not guaranteed to be in every system.

If this is true why treat a healthy fish before it enters your tank?

See above

 

[4FordFamily]

The answer is yes!
Ich present in all tanks and only take advantage once the fish got stressed out, bullied by other fishes, when the weaker fish got stressed out their immune system got weaken and will easier to catch ich.

This is actually not true. Ich is a parasite and a living creature. Much like you can keep sixline wrasse out of your tank, you can in fact keep ich from entering a tank.

This is a common misconception though because some fish can build a resistance to ich and keep it at bay until a stressor event-- in which ich will take over due to the weakened state and weakened immune system. In the absence of the parasite, this would not happen in a stress event. Because of this, it appears that stress "causes" ich but what it really does is "cause" the fish to become heavily afflicted and a "sitting duck" with a stress event where the parasite gains the upper hand.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

I stand corrected, English is not my main native speaking so sometimes cause a misleading or misunderstood.
Thanks for the correction.

 

[jpcrash1]

What level of copper do you keep in your quarantine tank at? How long do you keep the fish in that tank before he enters main tank. Do have to rinse him off , before he enters?

 

[VP616]

What level of copper do you keep in your quarantine tank at? How long do you keep the fish in that tank before he enters main tank. Do have to rinse him off , before he enters?

If using Cupramine, the recommended final copper concentration is 0.5 mg/L, with a minimum therapeutic level of 0.2 mg/L. It is recommended to keep the fish at this 0.5 copper concentration for a minimum of 14 days, possibly longer if disease is suspected/prevalent.

For my own system, most of the water used in quarantine comes from the display tank, so the water parameters are about the same. Once the QT period is over, I transfer the fish from QT into a specimen container with water from the main tank, give it a minute, and transfer the fish into the main tank by hand.

Just as a reference for this thread, Advanced Aquarist had an article a while back about basic QT procedure, equipment needed, etc.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/quarantining-marine-fish-made-simple
All of the information in the article is still relevant today. Follow the steps outlined in the article and you should keep your chances of introducing Marine ich into your aquarium to a minimum (via fish carrier anyway).

 

[Glasswalker]

What level of copper do you keep in your quarantine tank at? How long do you keep the fish in that tank before he enters main tank. Do have to rinse him off , before he enters?

Also see my chart, and for details on how to implement a given protocol, see the stickies in the Fish Disease and Treatment forum such as:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-and-treatment-guidelines-with-chart.283450/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-dos-and-don’ts-of-quarantine.203898/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/treatment-options-index.247573/

Particularly that last one has protocols for each treatment type.

One of the reasons I prefer Chloroquine is that maintaining correct theraputic levels of copper in the tank can be stressful on several species. (see the treatment guidelines with chart for an example). Where Chloroquine at a dosage that is very effective is less harsh on most species (with the exception of wrasses, blue hippo tangs, and anthias).

The other major reason I favor Chloroquine in my QT chart, is that it seems to be much more effective at eradicating Velvet than copper is.

That said Chloroquine is hard to get your hands on without a helpful vet.

Combining the details of the above linked threads and my flow-chart, you can have a fairly "bulletproof" QT process that is easy to follow. But like everything in this hobby it WILL require a lot of patience (Proper QT isn't something that can be rushed).

My chart link again for reference:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/qt-protocol-flowchart.312531/

Also another good one to read, to be careful how you set up your QT physically in your home:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aerosol-transmission.190292/