practicing how to quaratine fish successfully

[Athaocity]

so while reading upon what are some good size tanks for quaratine tanks, this question er.. idea came to thought.
what if I were to go get fish/fishes that has ick or other illness symptons from a fish store and brought them home for the sole purpose of practicing how to hospitalize them and to succesfully bring back to health?
say, practicing how to successfully quaratine fish. eg, feeder fish or minnows that are sold for bait which happens to have ich or just really stressed out. bring them home to quaratine, some die, some survives.
I understand you are supposed to quaratine fish before you put them in your dp tank. but lets say if you are starting out fresh?? it would be like a mini on the side project.
sooo then lets have it that some fish became healthy again after a few attempts and are ready to be put into the dp tank. therefore having practiced and successfully hospitalizing fish, I would now be more confident in the future. hmmm .... well I dont know if its a good thing or not, it will be like buying fish as test subjects only. but unless there is other reasons for the fish. well thats what the idea I thought about....

 

[LyndaB]

If you were to purchase a sick fish on purpose, which I don't condone personally, you would have to be sure you have separate equipment for that tank, i.e., nets and anything else you would put into the tank. If you use a water changer, you would need to bleach it after use in this tank and before using in another tank. I see where you may want to beef up your veterinary skills, but I don't think you understand what you're in for.

Plus, what store would actually purposely sell you a sick fish. And, are they going to tell you what disease it has? I just think this whole plan is too risky. But that's just me.

 

[Athaocity]

true theres a point there about selling sick fish. I guess pet shops wouldnt do that. I did read on here once that a lady bought a stunted guppy once because she just feels bad for it and wants to give it a new home before it passes away. also dealing with sick fish, there are chances of getting sick yourself, but according to the type of illness though. right?

>.<
egh I guess like how I said earlier "a fresh start" that might sometimes also implies "not knowing what you are in for" too.

 

[pcdebb]

I've honestly thought about doing that, more of like "rescuing" the fish. it's definitely risky because that could be money lost, its not like they would give you a discount on them. I've seen fish I really want but were sick.

 

[Athaocity]

it shouldnt be so bad of a money loss even w/o discount on fish like minnows and common goldfish though, they are sold for cheap.

 

[Innovator]

Most fish from lfs, if not all, have had exposure to other sick fish from being in the same system. You can assume virtually any fish purchase, especially in groups, will be contaminated. FW qt is rather simple since most diseases/parasites can be rid through salt additions from 2ppt-5ppt, dewormer, and Formalin/Malachite Green treatments. SW is much more difficult due to underlying infections, underlying parasitic infestations, and their resistances to specific medications. 20g and 40g tanks suffice for a variety of species (I prefer a Navy blue painted bottom and black painted back/side(s) ). For sw, meds. to keep on hand are Copper sulfate and/or Cupramine (basically a chelate), Formalin, Nitrofurazone, dewormers (typically fenbendazole and praziquantel)...I feel I'm missing one hmmm. Methylene blue as an old med. often used for fungal infections, but works quite well in sw for ich, other parasites, and bacterial infections for specie specific such as chromis, damsels, etc. At that point in meds, it comes down to planning medication treatment timeframes throughout the QT monthly process and calculating dosages.