Fish disease/parasite remedy

[Charlie]

I am only 7 days into my fishless cycle so I will not have livestock in my FOWLR tank for awhile.

Should I have any particular disease/parasite remendy "on hand" just in case a problem arises after I begin to introduce the fish?

 

[roka64]

Do you have a QT? That's probably you best bet. I would think some medications might expire and become useless. But I could be wrong.....
I would suggest you getting some garlic extreme, Zoe and Selcon. These will help the fish's immune systems and health, these you will soak their food in.

 

[melosu58]

A QT and refractometer.

 

[lando]

Kudos to you, Charlie, for thinking of this ahead of time
An once of prevention is worth...well, a lot. Buy healthy livestock and make sure you pratice good QT proceedures and you will be just fine.

 

[Charlie]

I have a new refractometer and a thousand other new SW aquarium items. However, a QT is not one of them. It has been a challenge getting this project off the ground successfully and the display tank isn't quite ready yet. Haven't really thought much of a QT. Besides that, there is no room left in my office for one.

Gotta go now because the balance of my LR will be deliverd this afternoon. I had it shipped overnight so I'm hopeful that it can be put directly into the tank after removing some hitchhikers.

 

[tecwzrd]

Haven't really thought much of a QT. Besides that, there is no room left in my office for one.

IMO this is the main item that is critical to long term success since medicating the main tank is not an option with lr, inverts, or coral. If you kept a FO tank then it’s marginally safe to medicate the whole tank but even then it puts undo stress on all the fish including the ones that aren’t infected. Parasites and diseases do not materialize out of thin air and have to be introduced to the main tank from an infected fish/invert/coral. Using proper QT procedures eliminates the possibility of infecting the main and there are many options to healing infected fish with Hyposalinity being the less stressful (hence the need of a refractometer).

The QT doesn’t have to be at the office and could be kept at home and then the fish could be transferred to the office once the QT time has passed.

By not QT all stock you put yourself at great risk of infecting the whole tank every time you add stock.

A simple 20 gal long tank with an established HOB filter and heater with lighting is all that is needed and the minor investment in that is well worth the hundreds lost to an infection. See this QT article for more info on setup.

Personally I keep my qt tank at the same level as the lfs (ph 8.0 sg 1.019) and slowly raise the sg/ph to the main sg/ph of 1.025/8.3 over the course of 3+ weeks per first & second articles in advancedaquarist.com.

The use of a refractometer is highly recommended while performing any sg changes whether if it’s matching lfs sg level or main sg level to the qt tank. Adjusting the sg down is less stressful to fish coming from that environment and slowly raising it a little bit every other day gives them time to adjust. Since you have to keep them in the qt tank for 3+ weeks anyways it just makes sense to me to provide a less stressful environment.