To Treat or Not to Treat

[Sauroposeidon]

I bought a dozen pygmy corydoras Saturday and put them in quarantine. They are eating great and active. I was only going to treat if they showed illness, but a knowitall found me in the store after I purchased them and told me I better treat for parasites. I just said okay, because I'm anti-social and didn't want to hear about their 100-gallon saltwater tank masterpiece.

Then I started second guessing my quarantine process. I don't stress out the new fish more unless necessary. Peace of mind is achieved after quarantining for 3 weeks. Google search is telling me otherwise. Have I overlooked a step?

 

[Andy Sager]

If you plan on keeping them in QT for 4-6 weeks, you can treat only if they show signs of an infestation. Since many parasites can be found in the fish as well as on the fish, you need to give them as much time as possible to show up. Just moving them from the store to your tank is a stressful situation for the fish and they should break down fairly rapidly if they are majorly stressed. If they don;t, you are probably good to go after the 4-6 weeks. Most parasite trophants ( intermediate stage between hatching in the gravel and attaching to the fish) should be out by then. But this is why you QT, for the just in case stuff.
But there's another reason why you need to be careful about fish from certain situations. Many stores, especially the big box stores, use a centralized system for their fish so just because the fish in the section you are looking at look healthy, they have been exposed to whatever may be happening in another section of the system. That means that if you see ICH on a fish in the SYSTEM, you can assume that all the fish in the system have been exposed and you should take precautionary action against an outbreak on your fish. This other person may have seen something that the store clerk didn't want you to see or didn't see themselves which was why they made the comment. You just don't know at this point. You might be wise the next time to ask WHY they suggest doing that

Hope this helps

 

[Sauroposeidon]

Yes, it does. Thank you!