Quarantining fish from the beach...questions...

[alphadog808]

Hi guys,
I've decided it would be cheaper and much more fun to catch my fish for my tank...I'm in Hawaii, so there is quite a selection to choose from...

That being said, now that my tank is running, I want to quarantine any new fish coming into the tank...I'd hate to introduce something bad that would kill all my hard work..

I was told by the LFS to use Furazone and then quick-cure. I was told the Furazone will help heal any cuts/etc(I hook most of the fish) and the quick-cure would kill any parasites. They also mentioned that I couldn't run both chemicals at the same time...is that true?

Besides that, I was told to run each chemical for 2 days; another fish collector told me one day of each would be good enough as these are hardy reef fish. Do you think 24 hours of each would be long enough?

Also, do you think there are any other chemicals I should use on the quaratined fish to make sure they are not going to destroy my established tank? BTW, I only have fish, no inverts...

Thanks so much!

[zacusmaximus]

It is very possible, if not likely, that it is illegal to do what you're suggesting.

[Devilishturtles]

In my opinion, assuming what you are doing is legal as zacus said (I don't know the laws in HI) I would not dose anything and let time heal the injuries. Give the fish a few weeks in QT to heal and if no maladies show, add them to your tank. I would not treat unless you see anything develop because it probably isn't needed.

[cmor1701d]

I completely agree with Lindsay. You should check on the legality of collection fish from a reef first. If you do collect locally you should set up a QT tank for all new livestock and follow standard QT practice (30 days in QT) before adding anything to the main tank.

Go the articles section of this forumn and read the article on Quarantine.

Water changes can help fish heal better than any chemical treatments. You should consider doing a daily 10% water change in the QT tank.

Apparently there are areas where it is legal to collect fish for your aquarium according to the Division of Aquatic Resources...
http://www.hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/licenses.htm
7) Aquarium Permit - required for any person to use fine mesh net for collecting aquatic life for an aquarium. Report required if commercial. No fee. HRS §188-31.

[alphadog808]

Thanks for the concern guys, but what I'm doing is 100% legal...I also have the aquarium license for home use(although I'm not using netting to catch these guys). I also make sure the fish I'm catching are not under closure or are not smaller than legal size...trust me, I've done my research on this, I'm ok on that...

Anyways, ok, it seems the consensus is to keep them out a bit longer...do you know if I can run both chemicals at the same time?

[cmor1701d]

Save your money on the chemicals. The fish don't have access to them in the wild. They do have access to clean water. Keep them in QT for 4 weeks to insure you don't introduce parasites to the main tank. Do regular PWCs in the QT tank. If you can keep up with daily 10% changes you should be fine. If not, plan on a weekly 20% PWC.

We are concerned with legality of collecting marine life for ourselves as it is usually against the law. We are all proabably a bit envious and jealous that #1 YOU LIVE IN HAWII !!!!
and #2 you are allowed to legally collect your own fish !!!!

That is just awesome! Good luck.

So, how big a tank? What are you using for filtration? What kind of lighthing are you using?
What type and size of fish are you going to be adding?

[alphadog808]

well, it's too late to not buy the chemicals as I already have them...and I figure it can't hurt to "help them out"...my main concern is if I can run both chemicals at the same time...the instructions on either don't mention that it would be bad to mix them with other chemicals, but I'm not sure if they'll cancel each other out?

As for collecting fish here, the way I'm doing it is not as easy as you would think..but very fun and rewarding...and it's even more difficult to try and catch a targeted fish that's healthy and the right size...you always end up catching fish you don't want, are too big, etc...but when you do get what you are looking for(or sometimes not), it's great!

I'm going to a beachhouse next week and I might try and dive and catch some other fish, especially those that don't eat shrimp...can't catch them with a hook and line...we'll see how that goes...

I have a small tank a 40-45 gallon plexi...I'm using a wet dry box/sump with a bio wheel right now...seems to be doing well. I'm just using flourescent(sp) lighting as I don't have any live rock or corals(now, taking THAT is illegal)...I already have a mamo(not sure what it's mainland name is), a christmas wrasse, a longnose wrasse, and some type of pufferfish in the tank. I'm currently quarantining a saddleback wrasse...I'm thinking about taking out the mamo as it was my "cycle" fish and he's getting aggressive when it's feeding time...but he is great in making sure no food gets to the bottom of the tank...hehe...the fish are very small and I think I'm getting pretty close to maxing out the tank in terms of space...

[cmor1701d]

Hang onto the the chemicals should you need them down the line. The fish will be better of not being treated with chemical compounds. Just do PWCs in the QT to keep water conditions as high possible. My Foxfax got a horrible cut and infection when I out of the country last year. The tank got up to 90 degrees and I lost all my stony corals and some of the soft as welll. I had to frag the soft corals. As for the Foxface, a 50% water change followed by a week of 10% daily water changes helped clear the infection. There was a LARGE brown open wound. Now you can't tell where it was. It was healed in a matter of weeks and that was in the main tank.

[melosu58]

Originally Posted by alphadog808

well, it's too late to not buy the chemicals as I already have them...and I figure it can't hurt to "help them out"

I agree with the others. Just because you made a mistake of buying the chemicals dont compound the problem by adding and treating fish that you dont even know have a problem. I have medicines at home but I`m not taking anything untill I know that I am sick and what the problem is. You`ve had alot of good folks tell you some good advice that would be good to heed.

[alphadog808]

I see...I'm new to this quarantining thing, I used to just throw them inside before... So if I catch a fish with ich, if it gets clean water, it will be able to get rid of the ich and not spread it to the other fish in the tank?

Thanks,
Jon