Another fishissue...about qt'ing

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newtankgirl

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
5
Location
London, Ontario
One of my fish and my pleco had ich last week, as I stated in a different message, I treated them and they seem fine now. I'm keeping the temp raised cause you're supposed to treat for 4 weeks??? (I heard) So since they seem okay now, can I get more fish, then if they are sick, or whatever they are going right into a qt anyhow. ??? I don't know so I thought I'd ask. I 'd like to populate my tank, since the two fish I have just don't fill up the 20gallons very much :?:
 
if you get new fish they should go directly into the qt for a few weeks. This gives you time to observe them to make sure no new illnesses are brought into your tank. You could get a something new and put it in qt right now. When its qt period is over your main tank should hopefully be ich free and you can move them in. Just remember to add new fish slowly and don't increase the bioload too much or the extra waste could stress the fish already in the tank.
 
Yes, QT all new fish no matter what; even if the fish in the main tank look healthy. You never know what the new fish will bring along with them in terms of disease. You could get them now, and keep them in the QT tank for a minimum of 2 weeks. The fish in the main tank should be disease free for at least a week; if after 2 weeks of the new fish in QT, the fish in the main haven't been disease free for a week, just keep the new guys in the QT tank. Won't hurt em. Also, if any of the new fish turn out to be ill, keep in mind QT starts all over again once they are healthy.

As for the heat treatment times, its about 2 weeks, or a week after the last sign of ich if it does not start to go away after 4-5 days.
 
NewTankGirl,

I'm just a bit curious - did you figure out where you think the Ich came from? I ask this because it is a good idea to figure this as to be sure not to repeat the infestation. A few possible causes: Fish stress (most commonly quick or large changes in PH, quick or large changes in Temperature), infected by new introduction to tank.

Also - as for adding new fish, I'm not sure if your plans were to add more than one at a time but if your tank is recovering from a disease outbreak, I have always found it useful to start slow with re-introduction. For your first addition (and after the Qt as suggested above) only pick one fish and monitor it closely for 1 to 2 weeks in your display aquarium (29gl). This reduces stress on the existing fish and your new addition and minimizes your risk exposure if you have another outbreak.

Just some additional thoughts on the subject.

Tom
 
What I read from this is that she wants to add new fish to old fish in the same QT tank.... and wait them all out together in order to add a population to the tank all at once.
What are the thoughts on THAT?

If that is what she means...I would suggest against it. Since her fish were sick, she will be exposing the new fish to something different. And making the QT a bit crowded.
And you neeed your first fish to start the cycling anyway.
 
I agree about waiting. Patience is one thing that I am learning in this hobby, and it is not easy... :?
 
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