Colin_T
Aquarium Advice Addict
Run the Malachite Green medication for 5 days. The deworming medication is flexible enough to do once every 7-10 days. I just say 7 days so it's easier to do (ie: treat them every Sunday for 3 weeks).
That happens a lot. People have a nice happy tank and decide to add a few more fish. Then they all get sick. And you are right, most shops don't tell you to quarantine fish or even do a fishless cycle when starting out unless it's an African Rift Lake tank or a marine tank. You have to do a fishless cycle on these tanks because of the high pH (around 8.5-9.0). Any ammonia produced in water with a high pH becomes extremely toxic to fish and if you don't cycle the tank first, you lose everything in it. Most shops simply want you in and out as quick as possible and to get money off you in that time.
I used to go through this stuff with customers when I was working in shops and would spend up to an hour with a customer helping them set up a tank. The bosses used to come over every now and then and see if I was right, or say they needed my help out the back for a minute. They didn't want me spending too much time with customers but it paid off for them because the customers came back and brought friends and family back to get tanks and fish. Unfortunately though, most shops don't know any better, and don't want to tell their customers anything. It's going back to how it was when people started keeping aquarium fish. When I started out years ago I would ask the shop keeper (usually the owner) how to keep fish. They wouldn't tell me a thing. They would sell you 20 medium size goldfish to go in a 2 foot tank and you would buy the tank the same day. It got better in the late 80s & 90s when staff at pet shops actually cared enough to tell you to set up a tank, let it run for a week or two with plants in and then get a few fish. But nowadays, it's gone back to the 60s & 70s, where nobody tells you anything.
Any way, I have dribbled on long enough. All new fish should be quarantined for at least 2 (preferably 4) weeks before they are added to an established aquarium. If the fish get sick in quarantine, the 2 or 4 week period starts after they have recovered from any illness. I like to deworm them while they are in quarantine so you don't transfer anything into the main display tank. Quarantine tanks should have their own nets, gravel cleaners and buckets to stop cross contamination into healthy tanks.
That happens a lot. People have a nice happy tank and decide to add a few more fish. Then they all get sick. And you are right, most shops don't tell you to quarantine fish or even do a fishless cycle when starting out unless it's an African Rift Lake tank or a marine tank. You have to do a fishless cycle on these tanks because of the high pH (around 8.5-9.0). Any ammonia produced in water with a high pH becomes extremely toxic to fish and if you don't cycle the tank first, you lose everything in it. Most shops simply want you in and out as quick as possible and to get money off you in that time.
I used to go through this stuff with customers when I was working in shops and would spend up to an hour with a customer helping them set up a tank. The bosses used to come over every now and then and see if I was right, or say they needed my help out the back for a minute. They didn't want me spending too much time with customers but it paid off for them because the customers came back and brought friends and family back to get tanks and fish. Unfortunately though, most shops don't know any better, and don't want to tell their customers anything. It's going back to how it was when people started keeping aquarium fish. When I started out years ago I would ask the shop keeper (usually the owner) how to keep fish. They wouldn't tell me a thing. They would sell you 20 medium size goldfish to go in a 2 foot tank and you would buy the tank the same day. It got better in the late 80s & 90s when staff at pet shops actually cared enough to tell you to set up a tank, let it run for a week or two with plants in and then get a few fish. But nowadays, it's gone back to the 60s & 70s, where nobody tells you anything.
Any way, I have dribbled on long enough. All new fish should be quarantined for at least 2 (preferably 4) weeks before they are added to an established aquarium. If the fish get sick in quarantine, the 2 or 4 week period starts after they have recovered from any illness. I like to deworm them while they are in quarantine so you don't transfer anything into the main display tank. Quarantine tanks should have their own nets, gravel cleaners and buckets to stop cross contamination into healthy tanks.
