How long to QT and what to look for?

[freakinfishgeek]

I just bought a beautiful "healthy looking" black moore. He is currently in a 5 gallon QT and doing well he has been there for about 48 hours. The first thing I did notice was milky clear poo. So I fed him some blanched pease and fasted him 24 hours. I haven't seen him poo yet but I haven't seen any of that clearish white stuff either. I am fairly new to the hobby. I have been working with my fan tail gold fish for a year just trying to get her healthy. I made all my mistakes on her and its a miracle she is alive. But she is and she is happy and healthy and huge. So I need to be 110% certain the new tank mate will not bring her any thing but some companionship. So what do I look for, test for? He did come from a big chain pet store so is there anything I should treat for automatically? I obviously don't want to harm this new guy either. How long should I keep him in QT? Thanks!

 

[mgamer20o0]

i qt for 4 weeks some do as little as 2 weeks and thats after the last sign of problems. i wont treat for anything until i see it. was the 5 gallon qt cycled?

 

[freakinfishgeek]

Yes the 5 gallon was well cycled and in excellent shape when he went in!

 

[mgamer20o0]

ok good to know. just keep a eye every few days to make sure of the levels feed him good food and look for any signs. garlic foods are also good to feed.

 

[freakinfishgeek]

What would a garlic food be? With my other goldie I feed blood worms, baby shrimp melon cucumber ect. But I have that black moore do better with sinking food so they don't get swim bladder. Plus this guys doesn't notice when I drop in food he doesn't seem to know its there unless its drops and hits him on the head. I know they don't have the best vision. As I mentioned I am fairly new so what is considered the best gold fish food? I guessing not flakes.

 

[mgamer20o0]

i feed a flake food from kensfish with garlic in it. i am not a goldfish guy so i am not 100% sure whats the best for them.

 

[jsoong]

Goldfish will do best with a varied diet. Sinking pellets are the best as they can get gut problem otherwise. You can also feed veggies & assorted live food. Serious goldfish fanciers make their own gel food. Here is a recipe if you are ambitious:
Gel Food Recipes | Goldfish

Some people think garlic will boost immunity in fish. There isn't any garlic containing goldfish food I know of; but being herbivore, the fish will eat the garlic as is. I know people do feed SMALL amount of chopped up garlic with their veggies.

Moors tend to have poor eyesight, but they do fairly well finding food by smell. Normally, I just let the food sink to the bottom, and the fish will eventually find it. <Goldies normally root around in the substrate looking for food all day - so called "booking" behaviour.>

 

[jsoong]

And about the original Q on QT ...

The minimum is 2 weeks, 4 week would be better. Look for any sign of disease.

A lot of goldfish from commercial fish farms carry parasites. Some advocate treating prophyllactically with praziquintal during QT. <I use Jungle antiparasite food, which contains Prazi. There are other sources.>

This is one QT regime for goldies:
Quarantine Recommendations for New Goldfish | Goldfish