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Quarantining Fish????
Since we are new, can someone explain the QT process of fish. How to do it and what dipping is for?
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Life me = new Life(); me.live(); me.die(); |
#2
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I am not an advocate of dipping although some people do dip in fresh water or formalin. The reason I don't do this is it is hard on certain species of fish and fish are normally pretty stressed out from transportation either from an online vendor or LFS.
But quarantine of fish is desirable to keep disease from entering your main display. Often times treatment in a main display is infeasible or undesirable. The quarantine process is establishing a small, fully cycled tank to host your fish (preferably only one unless acquired from the same source) for about four weeks. This allows you to insure that your fish is healthy. In my case, I have a 24 gallon tank used only for quarantine. Some people also establish a hospital tank to treat fish that require it.
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Warmest regards, ~Steve~ |
#3
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Thanks for the reply snorvich, I understand what a quarantine tank is but I dont understand how to do the right thing if you find a particular disease on a fish.
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Life me = new Life(); me.live(); me.die(); |
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#5
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i have had great success with soaking my food with garlic to keep my fish healthy, sometimes a qt tank is not a option, good luck in this great hobby
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what the winner dont know, the gambler understands |
#6
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#7
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true and myself i do have a qt tank that i used at first and still got ich and someone on here said to use garlic and i did and within days it was gone and tank is healthy. its been almost a year with no signs of ich. have you ever poped a garlic pill before camping and notice the mosquitos dont bother you, maybe its the same as ich, possible?
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what the winner dont know, the gambler understands |
#8
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The link the Spike provided is a great place to start. All you really need is a small tank with some sort of hang-on, canister, or integrated filtration, a light source, and a heater. The sponge filter that comes with most such devices can be placed in your main tank or sump for 3-4 weeks to develop the necessary biological filtration capacity. Then, when you acquire a new fish, you just return the sponge to the QT and your QT is instantly cycled. After a 2-4 week quarantine, you can sterilize the sponge and return it to your main tank or sump, drain and clean the QT, and you'll be ready to go the next time you want to introduce a fish.
This also means you have a ready, cycled place to put your livestock should something go terribly wrong with your main tank. It's a win-win.
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Ed |
#9
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#10
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Yeah you do not need to run a QT tank all the time. Not QTing fish is terrible though and there is no excuse for it. Its not fair to your fish!
I have my 40G QT set up with a canister filter, heater, small clip on light but I usually just use sunlight and PVC for hiding in. I keep the canister filters sponge and carbon in my sump until I need the QT. When I need it, I use 40G of water from my display tank and the media from the sump and set up the QT. Qt new fish for 3 weeks and if nothing comes up, I add them to the display along with the sponge from the filter. I drain the QT and put it away. If they do get ich in QT, then I go with hypo usually for 8 weeks and when its done, put the fish in the display BUT this time, sterilize the sponge to make sure Im not putting parasites into my display. Then you just have to let the sponge sit in the sump for a few weeks again until bacteria colonize it. Very easy and worth it. Personally, I QT anything new, not just fish. I never get disease in my tank since doing this. Before this, I killed more fish than I care to admit because I never QT'd. Very sad when I look back |
#11
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Thanks for the info justin. I have lost fish in the past too, and i since ihave stopped adding fish due to the frustration. But with the info i just learned it makes QTing more practical for me. Thanks!
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#12
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Ps.....i know QTing is not a matter of practicality. But as a student, living on my own and in a small condo, another full time running tank was very hard. thanks again though
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#14
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Wel there you go. QTing in a nutshell!!
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