Quarantine feeders?

[Flipmikeskater3]

So About a month or so ago I got a new fish (cichlid) and and some feeder gold fish/rosy reds, all the fish look healthy and I did not quarantine any of them before I put the into my established tank with convicts and jack Dempseys. A couple days after, after all the feeders were gone, I couple of my fish had ich. Luckly I caught it early and treated it with no casualties. So from now on im going to quarantine any new cichlids before introducing them.

My question is should I quarantine the feeder fish before putting them in the tank as well?

 

[LyndaB]

Your best bet is to raise feeders yourself, rather than purchasing them from the lfs, where it's almost 100% positive that they will introduce something nasty to your tank.

 

[kdpuffer]

Quarantine of feeders is good but like posted above its best to breed your own.I have done research on this topic and goldfish and rosey reds have an enzyme that can lead to health issues down the road so I would suggest live bearers. I personally breed guppies but will be breeding mollies or swordtails as my fish grow. Just be sure to feed your feeders a quality last meal before offering them up so the vitamins and such in the food can be transferred into the fish eating them.

 

[Flipmikeskater3]

Yeah I've considered breeding them, but I'm not sure yet because I only give they live feeders every month or so for a snack

 

[kdpuffer]

If only feed live that seldom I would just quarantine them and buy them a month ahead. A 5g bucket with a filter is all you need to do it, dump the quarantined fish in as food and pick up more to qt.

 

[jetajockey]

Actually if you think about it, most of the chain LFS have feeders on the central filtration system, so any fish you buy from them are just as likely to be carrying something.

I do agree that raising your own feeders is the best bet, and either way you go make sure you gut load them with high quality food since it transfers to the fish that's eating them.

 

[boadams87]

So About a month or so ago I got a new fish (cichlid) and and some feeder gold fish/rosy reds, all the fish look healthy and I did not quarantine any of them before I put the into my established tank with convicts and jack Dempseys. A couple days after, after all the feeders were gone, I couple of my fish had ich. Luckly I caught it early and treated it with no casualties. So from now on im going to quarantine any new cichlids before introducing them.

My question is should I quarantine the feeder fish before putting them in the tank as well?

I never feed my oscars rosy reds. They almost died one time and never feed them again.

 

[Flipmikeskater3]

I never feed my oscars rosy reds. They almost died one time and never feed them again.

Why did they almost die?

 

[boadams87]

Why did they almost die?

The Rosy's were sick with ick. And then I didnt know anything about it.

 

[Flipmikeskater3]

The Rosy's were sick with ick. And then I didnt know anything about it.

That sucks at least your oscars made it through it, and yeah I'm not sure if my ich was from my new cichlid or rosy reds but I've learned my lesson

 

[boadams87]

That sucks at least your oscars made it through it, and yeah I'm not sure if my ich was from my new cichlid or rosy reds but I've learned my lesson

I want to start breeding mollies to feed them

 

[Flipmikeskater3]

I want to start breeding mollies to feed them

Yeah I may just get a couple female convicts and breed them, but then again I'd probably be too attached to the little cichlids watching them grow up that wouldn't want to let my other fish eat them lol

 

[boadams87]

Yeah I may just get a couple female convicts and breed them, but then again I'd probably be too attached to the little cichlids watching them grow up that wouldn't want to let my other fish eat them lol

Yea but with mollies they aren't that cute so no love loss

 

[kdpuffer]

You want to be careful feeding cichlids, if you grow them out to a decent size to actually be a meal then you risk injury to the fish eating them. Cichlids have spinier dorsal fins that may pose a risk.

 

[Flipmikeskater3]

You want to be careful feeding cichlids, if you grow them out to a decent size to actually be a meal then you risk injury to the fish eating them. Cichlids have spinier dorsal fins that may pose a risk.

Yeah I've never thought about that