Alternative to Quarantine?

[NatureFish]

Getting new inhabitants and then having to set up and run a quarantine tank can be costly and takes time. Is there a solution one could make to simply sanitize a seemingly healthy animal just to play it safe?


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[Mebbid]

Nope. None at all.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Yep, nothing replaces quarantine.


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[demo]

I've been thinking about this , hang a little h.o.b. on the back of the tank and have a little tank clean and ready . Take some water out of the main tank,plug in your hob and start your drip acclimation . Plug the tiny heater on in hour.Now the Q.T. is rolling with fish inside.

 

[fish wrangler]

How is it costly? I see the equipment for a quarantine tank as extra stuff for your main tank. That and it can serve as a hospital tank if needed.

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[PoppaRyno]

I've been thinking about this , hang a little h.o.b. on the back of the tank and have a little tank clean and ready . Take some water out of the main tank,plug in your hob and start your drip acclimation . Plug the tiny heater on in hour.Now the Q.T. is rolling with fish inside.

I pretty much do this method. If I need a qt. I just pull out a proper size tank out of the garage. Do a water change on the main tank. I change as much as is needed to fill the qt. Put that water in the qt. add small heater. plug in sponge filter. Good to go. Has worked for me for years.

Happy Tanking!

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[NatureFish]

I know you can dip plants and put them in right away so I was hoping there's something for fish


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[Delapool]

Unfortunately nothing pops to mind. Too many meds and infections.

 

[PoppaRyno]

I know of nothing either for fish. Too many factors and Temp acclimation can't be rushed.

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[Delapool]

Yes, you can't really dip a fish that easily. It would be a great idea.

Hmm, I guess ich would be most common from store bred fish??

 

[MissGurnus]

Personally i have a ten with guppies in it, and when i get new fish i usually put them in there for a bit. So its not an empty tank


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[sinibotia]

Have an empty 10 gallon and a small heater, and run a sponge filter on every single one of your tanks. When you get a new fish, fill the 10 gallon with tank water, swap the sponge filter over, and voila, instant quarantine.

Preemptive treatment is an option. I sometimes add healthy fish to tanks and treat with salt and prazipro.... but that's generally not recommended; frankly it's a big risk.

Your quarantine tank also doesn't have to be a boring empty tank. As mentioned above, our quarantine tank is a 10 gallon with some guppies. The guppies are hardy enough that we don't worry about them too much if we have to treat a quarantined fish. And the fry make a tasty fattening-up treat for the new arrival

 

[biondoa]

How long do you usually keep new fish in QT? I have heard that 2 weeks is good, but some say 4 weeks.

 

[ImACoolguy]

How long do you usually keep new fish in QT? I have heard that 2 weeks is good, but some say 4 weeks.

IMO 3 weeks at least.


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[MissGurnus]

It can kind of depend on what the fish had as an illness or if it was even sick, but at least a week, week and a half regardless


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[ScotJudd]

I quarantine for 4 weeks, enough time to guarantee no illness etc but also time to condition the fish ready for the main tank.


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[NatureFish]

I wish there was something we could come up with... Maybe treat for a bunch of things at once? That would most likely stress and/or kill the fish though...


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[Delapool]

I wish there was something we could come up with... Maybe treat for a bunch of things at once? That would most likely stress and/or kill the fish though...


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Yes, that was the trouble. This is just in theory. Out of interest I was thinking about it on an example of you know the store has bad stock but it's the only store for hundreds of miles and your funds are limited (plus I'm kind of dubious on just treating willy nilly although I confess I was compiling a meds list to do that ).

On that I came back to salt in a short term bath. However the whole point of any med (including so called natural ones) is to stress and kill infections / parasites before the fish follow the same road so it could a fine line at the salt levels needed with new fish that are already a bit stressed.

 

[NatureFish]

Yes, that was the trouble. This is just in theory. Out of interest I was thinking about it on an example of you know the store has bad stock but it's the only store for hundreds of miles and your funds are limited (plus I'm kind of dubious on just treating willy nilly although I confess I was compiling a meds list to do that ).

On that I came back to salt in a short term bath. However the whole point of any med (including so called natural ones) is to stress and kill infections / parasites before the fish follow the same road so it could a fine line at the salt levels needed with new fish that are already a bit stressed.

I guess you could get a sickly fish and try it. I mean I don't think it would be a bad idea...


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[Delapool]

I guess you could get a sickly fish and try it. I mean I don't think it would be a bad idea...


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Have to be pretty desperate me thinks