how long do you quarentine your new fish?

[project5k]

I'm getting close to the 1 week mark on my most recent purchase of fish, and so far, they are active, and eating in the tank, and i dont see anything on them.. one does seem more shy and less active than the others...

oh, they're just 4 little damsels, but i dont wanna be dumping ich or something else in my tank if i can help it... so...

my question is, how long do you "watch" your new fish, before you add them to your main tank?

 

[Bifferwine]

Zero minutes.

 

[wontonflip]

Hrm....I know I should, but I don't :) And I know I'll kick myself if I ever introduce some disease in my tank. But then again, I trust my LFS (for the most part). They stopped qt'ing their livestock...they do a dip instead. If I got a fish from petsmart, for example, I would definitely do a qt.

 

[project5k]

Ok let me rephrase the question. How long should a person qtine them to watch for the more common and or more serious problems?

 

[puttycat]

Depends on the fish I didn't QT my Maroons but They were in a tank by themselves and not connected to any other tank. 4 weeks minimum for most fish especially Tangs. Such a pain in the ___ to catch them in the DT. Just saves me allot of trouble to QT and the transfer.

 

[dcantucson]

I would say 4-6 weeks to be completely safe.

 

[daugherty]

i will not add a fish unless it has been in copper for 3 weeks

 

[cthegame]

+1 James

3 weeks with copper is a good enough amount of time to quarantine new new fish. A sick fish, at leas 4 weeks...6 recommended.

 

[project5k]

wow, ok, thats a lot longer than i was expecting.. now, what copper treatment do you suggest, and do i just do that all the time in the QT?

oh, and just BTW, i went ahead and added 3 of the 4 new guys yesterday... they all looked good and were eating and whatnot... i left the 4th in the QT cause it was pretty obvious that he had been the victom of a bully, and i wanted to give his little fins a chance to heal up a bit...

 

[Bluespace]

i will not add a fish unless it has been in copper for 3 weeks

Is it just an "in case" to use the copper? Doesn't seem necessary to medicate when there are no symptoms. Seems that would put stress that is not needed on the fish.

Not disagreeing with you just wanting to understand your method.:mrgreen:

 

[daugherty]

you have to maintain the copper levels and moniter them to make shure they do not get to high. i use copper unless there is something else that i need to treat than i drain the QT refill it and treat with something else

Aquarium Fish Medications: Cupramine

Aquarium Water Testing: Seachem Copper Test Kit

 

[daugherty]

Is it just an "in case" to use the copper? Doesn't seem necessary to medicate when there are no symptoms. Seems that would put stress that is not needed on the fish.

Not disagreeing with you just wanting to understand your method.:mrgreen:

if you treat fish in copper it kills parasites like ich. i will never have a problem with ich in my tank because it is killed before it ever has a chance to get into my DT

 

[Bluespace]

I understand what the copper is and what it's used for. Just having a problem medicating a fish with zero symptoms. Don't get me wrong it sounds like a sane practice just curious to the effects on a fish that is not sick.

So basically your just CYA yourself for the just in case factor.. I get it..:mrgreen:

 

[daugherty]

many fish have ich and you will never know it untill they get stressed i treat them so that if i decide to get a sensitive fish like a tang that once they are treated i will never have ich i will never have to take my tank apart to get all the fish out to treat them treat them first and you will never have to do it again

 

[Bluespace]

Little work now. No headaches later.. I like it.:mrgreen:

 

[daugherty]

Little work now. No headaches later.. I like it.:mrgreen:

exactly

 

[Bifferwine]

I understand what the copper is and what it's used for. Just having a problem medicating a fish with zero symptoms. Don't get me wrong it sounds like a sane practice just curious to the effects on a fish that is not sick.

So basically your just CYA yourself for the just in case factor.. I get it..:mrgreen:

Fish will often carry ich and not show symptoms. Unless a fish has been quarantined and treated with hypo or copper prior to being introduced to your tank, you can assume that it has ich, and chances are very high that it does.

 

[cthegame]

+1 James & Biff.

 

[project5k]

well, crap... ok, would sound like treating the newbies with some copper is the safe route then... hope i havent boned myself already....

 

[dcantucson]

I have trouble sleeping at night knowing my poor little fishes carry diseases and parasites. It's like a dog or cat with fleas.